Concepts: Initiative, Plan, Task

Three terms get used a lot in Roadmap OS. Knowing the distinction prevents confusion.

Initiative

An initiative is a strategic-level item that lives on the Roadmap.

Examples:

• "Launch mobile app v2"
• "Hardware certification for VBU581 in Kenya"
• "Migrate billing to Paystack"

Initiatives have:

• Name, owner, priority (P0–P3), status (Strategy / In Progress / Released / At Risk / Delayed)
• Date range (start–end)
• Section (organizing pillar like Mobile / Core / Growth)
• Optional revenue projection, labels, comments, attachments

Initiatives are what your CEO, board, and stakeholders look at. They answer "what are we shipping when?"

Plan

A plan is a project-level breakdown of how to deliver one initiative.

When an initiative is big enough to need its own task hierarchy, dependencies, and dates — make a plan.

Examples:

• A plan called "Mobile app v2 launch" linked to the initiative of the same name
• A plan called "VBU581 Kenya certification" with sub-phases (regulatory submission, lab testing, documentation, certification)

Plans have:

• WBS hierarchy — phases → tasks → subtasks
• Four views — List, Timeline, Gantt, Kanban
• Predecessor / successor dependencies
• Two hundred plus templates ("Product Launch — SaaS", "Hardware Certification", "Pricing Change", etc.)

Plans are what your engineering manager, designers, and contractors look at. They answer "how does this get built?"

Task

A task is a single unit of work inside a plan.

Examples:

• "Submit ICASA Type Approval form"
• "Code-review billing migration PR"
• "Schedule beta user interviews"

Tasks have:

• Name, owner, status (To-Do / In Progress / Blocked / Done)
• Due date
• Hours estimate / actual
• Linked predecessor / successor
• Comments, attachments

Tasks are what your team members look at daily. They answer "what do I do today?"

How they connect

Initiative (on Roadmap)
   ↓
   linked to
   ↓
Plan (project breakdown)
   ↓
   contains
   ↓
Tasks (daily work units)

A status update on a task rolls up to the plan; a status update on the plan rolls up to the initiative; the initiative reflects on the roadmap. Done right, the CEO sees a slipping initiative on the roadmap before the team feels the pain.

Common confusion

"Should this be an initiative or a plan?"

If it's strategic and goes to the board → initiative. If it's project execution with 30+ tasks → plan. Most things are initiatives that contain a plan.

"Should this be a plan or just tasks on the initiative?"

For initiatives with <10 tasks, just add them on the initiative directly. For >10 tasks with dependencies, make a plan.

"Can a task exist without a plan?"

Yes — the To-Do module supports standalone tasks not tied to any plan. Useful for personal work and quick asks.

Next steps

• Creating your first initiative
• Creating your first plan