The 5 statuses

Roadmap OS uses 5 statuses for initiatives. Each has a clear meaning — pick the one that matches reality, even when it's uncomfortable.

Strategy (gray)

Meaning: Approved as a roadmap commitment. Not yet started.

Use when: the team has agreed this is something we'll do, but no one has started building.

Don't use when: it's still being debated or is just an idea. Those go in your icebox / parking lot, not on the roadmap.

In Progress (blue)

Meaning: Actively being built. Resources are committed.

Use when: an engineer / designer / cross-functional team is heads-down on this initiative this week.

Don't use when: it's been "in progress" for 6+ weeks with no visible movement. That's actually At Risk or Delayed.

Released (green)

Meaning: Shipped to users.

Use when: the feature is in production, hardware has shipped, the launch is complete.

Don't use when: it's "code complete but not rolled out." That's still In Progress until users can use it.

At Risk (amber)

Meaning: Something has changed and the original date is unlikely.

Use when:

• A dependency has slipped
• A team member is unavailable
• Scope has expanded mid-flight
• Customer feedback has shifted requirements significantly

This is an active warning to stakeholders. The earlier you mark it, the more time you have to course-correct.

Delayed (red)

Meaning: The initiative will not ship by the original date. Re-baseline needed.

Use when:

• The original deadline has passed
• A new realistic date is being worked out
• The reasons for the delay are known

Don't be afraid to use Delayed. Hiding slips is worse than admitting them.

Status workflow

Most initiatives flow:

Strategy → In Progress → Released

When something goes wrong:

In Progress → At Risk → Delayed → In Progress (re-baseline) → Released

Or, less commonly:

Strategy → Cancelled (the "we decided not to") — this is a separate state, see below

Cancelled / Killed initiatives

Roadmap OS doesn't have a "Cancelled" status by default. To kill an initiative:

1. Add the label cancelled or INLINE1
2. Move to a "Cancelled" section, or filter it out of active views
3. Optional: archive — ⋮ menu on the initiative → Archive

Archived initiatives are searchable but hidden from default views. They're never deleted unless you explicitly delete them.

How statuses look in each view

• Gantt timeline — colored bar (gray, blue, green, amber, red)
• Kanban — card in the status column
• Reports — counted in Initiative Health pie/bar charts

Update cadence

Update statuses at least weekly (we recommend Monday morning, before your team standup). The roadmap's value compounds with how recently it was updated.

Next steps

• Gantt view
• Kanban view