Now Next Later

---
name: product-roadmap-now-next-later
description: 'Sub-skill of product-roadmap: Now / Next / Later (+3).'
version: 1.1.0
category: business
type: reference
scripts_exempt: true
---

# Now / Next / Later (+3)

## Now / Next / Later


The simplest and often most effective roadmap format:

- **Now** (current sprint/month): Committed work. High confidence in scope and timeline. These are the things the team is actively building.
- **Next** (next 1-3 months): Planned work. Good confidence in what, less confidence in exactly when. Scoped and prioritized but not yet started.
- **Later** (3-6+ months): Directional. These are strategic bets and opportunities we intend to pursue, but scope and timing are flexible.

When to use: Most teams, most of the time. Especially good for communicating externally or to leadership because it avoids false precision on dates.

## Quarterly Themes


Organize the roadmap around 2-3 themes per quarter:

- Each theme represents a strategic area of investment
- Under each theme, list the specific initiatives planned
- Themes should map to company or team OKRs
- This format makes it easy to explain WHY you are building what you are building

When to use: When you need to show strategic alignment. Good for planning meetings and executive communication.

## OKR-Aligned Roadmap


Map roadmap items directly to Objectives and Key Results:

- Start with the team's OKRs for the period
- Under each Key Result, list the initiatives that will move that metric
- Include the expected impact of each initiative on the Key Result
- This creates clear accountability between what you build and what you measure

When to use: Organizations that run on OKRs.

## Timeline / Gantt View


Calendar-based view with items on a timeline:

- Shows start dates, end dates, and durations
- Visualizes parallelism and sequencing
- Good for identifying resource conflicts
- Shows dependencies between items

When to use: Execution planning with engineering. NOT good for communicating externally (creates false precision expectations).