Project roadmap: which projects will you add to yours in 2026?

The management team of a Quebec SME arrives at its annual planning session with 14 projects on the list: an ERP at the end of its life, a new accounting standard, a warehouse to automate, and two marketing requests. Three business analysts are available. No one has calculated what each project will require from them. The roadmap that emerges from this meeting will be voted on, then bypassed by March.

The figures cited come from public international studies and serve as indicative benchmarks: the success rate of your projects depends on your governance, your data, and the actual availability of your teams.

According to the PMI’s 2018 Pulse of the Profession, 9.9% of every dollar invested in projects is wasted due to poor performance, down from 13.5% in 2013.

How do you build a project roadmap based on business needs?

A project roadmap is built by starting with a specific business need, such as a database to secure or facilities to upgrade, then listing all potential projects before selecting only one.

Running a business means ensuring smooth operations and employee well-being, but it also means seizing opportunities as they arise. Digital transformation is one of them. However, that doesn't justify every project attached to it.

Ten questions help identify the most important and urgent projects:

• Will current projects have a follow-up phase?
• Are any of your systems reaching the end of their life cycle?
• Are there new regulatory requirements imposed on your organization?
• Does a change in organizational structure require new systems?
• Is an acquisition or the sale of a business unit planned?
• Does a new accounting or industry standard require changes to your processes?
• Did any completed projects fail to deliver all the expected features?
• Do any business processes have performance issues or significant challenges?
• Does the business strategy require new systems to deliver your portion of the plan?
• Which projects from other sectors will impact you, and who is delivering prerequisites to whom?

The last question is the one most often skipped. Yet it deserves a separate exercise, described in Project Interdependence: A Reality Not to Be Overlooked.

What should a solid business case contain for each project?

A solid business case contains a cost range rather than a single amount, a complete list of financial, strategic, quantitative, and qualitative benefits, the solutions considered along with their level of maturity, and it is updated throughout the project.

The estimate you have at the time of the proposal is preliminary and high-level. Presenting it as a firm figure is the surest way to create an unpleasant surprise. We detail this discipline in Project Cost Estimation: Simple but Unforgiving.

Next, explain how and why the project will be beneficial, including cost reductions and avoidances. Research the maturity and robustness of the solutions being considered: meet with experts in your field, consult industry best practices, and meet with vendors. An independent opinion, from someone who isn't selling any software, is worth its weight in gold at this stage.

A few key figures to help calibrate your business cases:

• 9.9% of every dollar invested in projects is wasted due to poor performance (PMI, 2018).
• 92% of projects succeed in champion organizations, compared to 32% in low-performing ones (PMI, 2018).
• 45% average budget overrun and 56% less value delivered than expected for large IT projects, according to McKinsey and the University of Oxford (2012).
• 15% additional cost overrun for every extra year of project duration (McKinsey, 2012).
• 1 cost range, never a single amount, in every business case submitted for funding (PlanAxion).

Finally, understand your company’s prioritization and funding allocation process. The more profitable and strategically aligned a project is, the higher its chances of being selected by senior management. The business case then serves as a compass for major decisions during execution.

Why do your own resources dictate the pace of the roadmap?

Your internal resources dictate the pace because certain expertise unique to your company cannot be bought on the market: it must come from your own staff, and that is often the ultimate constraint that sets the delivery speed of the portfolio.

Prepare a human resources plan for every proposed project. It reveals whether your organization can provide all the required expertise and which roles will need to be filled externally. Most importantly, it reveals that the same controller, the same warehouse manager, and the same analyst are listed on four projects at once.

A roadmap that ignores the actual availability of your people is not a plan: it’s a wish list voted on by a committee.

Arbitration between projects competing for the same scarce resources is not systematic in most organizations. It is settled based on influence, and that approach rarely leads to the best decisions.

The Harvard Business Review named the phenomenon in 2018: initiative overload. Its causes range from blindness to cumulative impact and unfunded mandates to organizational inertia. The proposed remedy begins with an accurate count of ongoing initiatives and an exit clause for each one.

Before launching a project, form the team that will lead it. Our article Recruitment: 14 Questions to Ask Before Hiring Project Team Members offers a framework to do so without improvising.

So, which projects will you add to your roadmap?

Add projects that address a defined business need, whose business case presents a cost range and explicit benefits, and for which you have verified that the necessary scarce internal resources are actually available. The others can wait for the next cycle, without shame. A short, delivered roadmap is better than a long, stalled one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a project roadmap?

A project roadmap is the prioritized list of projects an organization commits to delivering over a given period, including their sequence, dependencies, and the resources they mobilize. It stems from business needs, regulatory obligations, and strategy. Every project included should be supported by a business case and a human resources plan.

Why present a cost range rather than a single figure?

Because the estimate available at the business case stage is preliminary and high-level. A single figure becomes a promise the project likely won't be able to keep. A range reflects actual uncertainty, protects the team's credibility, and avoids unpleasant surprises. In fact, McKinsey notes that large IT projects go over budget by an average of 45%.

How do you prioritize projects when internal resources are limited?

Prepare a human resources plan for each project, then identify the people appearing in multiple projects at once. They are the ones who set the pace for your portfolio. Make decisions systematically, using established criteria rather than based on influence. The Harvard Business Review also recommends including an exit clause for every initiative.

What does a project business case contain?

A business case includes the target business need, a cost range, all expected benefits (financial, strategic, quantitative, qualitative, cost reductions, and cost avoidance), the proposed solutions and their maturity, risks, and required resources. It is updated throughout the project and serves to guide major decisions during execution.