Retrospective: 2019 Road Map

The 2019 Road Map project was successfully completed without issue. The product is an updated company strategy that outlines how, through brands, Cryptiquest will fulfill its newly adopted vision.

Objective Test

Note: While the first two objectives were met, they were done so in terms of Strategy (vs. Road Map). The strategy explains projects by brand and explains the future state of the company without using the term “brand realization.”

Crux

This project started with a goal to design a project road map but it ended with the implementation of a company strategy. Oddly enough, this mutation from the original desire better meets the needs the project set out to solve.

Project History

This project was sparked during Session 02 of the CQ Vision, Mission, and Value Statements project since there was a road map on the company site which was outdated and incorrect. The road map was pertinent to the monthly newsletter and other communications (people new to the studio and its work, for instance). This seemed necessary in order to outline the overall plan toward the future state. However, by removing dates, the road map became less of a plan for moving forward and more of a description of the future state – a strategy.

The first session focused on explaining the need, defining the goal, working out the objectives, and discovering any required tools. This all went very well. There weren’t any missing tools discovered and the session ended with a solid definition of the goal and objectives.

The second session was dedicated to defining the deliverables. Working through this process revealed a need to redefine each of the brands. This was decided to be outside the scope of the project though no new projects were created from this (perhaps there should be). Time estimates were not incorporated for the deliverables.

The third session focused on defining “brand realization” and the milestones that would make up the road map. These were further cemented and fleshed out during the fourth session which focused on creating the body copy that would go on the company’s website.

The fifth session was dedicated to the editing, implementing, and promoting of the content. Based on feedback from reviewers, it was realized that this was more of a strategy than a road map and so the title changed to “Our Strategy”. Also, a new project was revealed with a goal to create a brand for Cryptiquest project management documents.

Lesson(s) Learned

1. New projects were identified in the second session but not created; they need to be created.

Lesson(s) Addressed

The first lesson would not have been learned had this retrospective not existed which forced a revisit to the sessions; still, the best thing to to is to have a “new action items” section at the end of each session.

Action Items

• Add the following projects to the All Project Deliverables page
  • Redefine the CQ StoryHammer brand in light of new vision
  • Redefine the Imbue brand in light of new vision
  • Redefine the Copperwealth brand in light of new vision
• Items to Add to the Cryptiquest Guide to Project Management
  • A “New Action Items” segment must be included at the end of each session.