Implementation Plan: [plan name]
Based on approved [spec / requirement / decision record],
approved by [approver name or role] on [approval date].
1. Work Breakdown
Workstreams and vertical slices
Each workstream is a vertical slice — an end-to-end deliverable that provides
independent value. Prefer vertical slices over horizontal layers.
| ID |
Workstream |
Description |
Completion criterion |
Owner |
Estimated effort |
| WS-1 |
[name] |
[what this delivers, end to end] |
[observable condition that means it is done] |
[name or role] |
[team-weeks] |
| WS-2 |
[name] |
[...] |
[...] |
[...] |
[...] |
Workstream detail
WS-1: [workstream name]
- Scope: [what is in and explicitly out of scope]
- Dependencies: [what this workstream needs from others, with owners]
- Acceptance criteria: [testable conditions that define done]
- Verification: [how completion will be verified against the original requirement]
2. Dependency Map
Complete the dependency record for the full dependency
graph. Summarize key dependencies here.
Critical path
The critical path is the longest chain of dependent work that determines the
earliest possible completion.
Dependency interfaces
| From |
To |
What |
Contract (API, schema, event) |
Hard or soft |
| [WS-X] |
[WS-Y] |
[description] |
[the interface artifact] |
[hard / soft] |
3. Sequencing and Parallelism
| Phase |
Workstreams (concurrent) |
Depends on |
Duration |
Synchronization gate |
| Phase 1 |
[WS-1, WS-2 (parallel)] |
[none] |
[N weeks] |
[what must be true to exit phase 1] |
| Phase 2 |
[WS-3 (sequential after WS-1)] |
[WS-1] |
[N weeks] |
[...] |
4. Ownership and Coordination
| Role / Team |
Owner |
Workstreams owned |
Coordination mechanism |
| [team name] |
[name] |
[WS-1, WS-3] |
[sync meeting, Slack channel, dashboard] |
Cross-team coordination
- Integration checkpoints: [when cross-team work is verified together]
- Escalation path: [who to escalate to if a dependency is blocked]
- Communication cadence: [how often teams sync, what artifact tracks status]
5. Rollout Strategy
Rollout stages
| Stage |
Scope (who gets it) |
Duration |
Gate (condition to proceed) |
Observability signal |
Rollback trigger |
| Stage 1 |
[internal / 1% / single region] |
[N days] |
[e.g., error rate < 0.1%, p95 latency < baseline +10%] |
[dashboard, alert] |
[specific condition] |
| Stage 2 |
[10% / beta users] |
[N days] |
[...] |
[...] |
[...] |
| Stage N |
[100%] |
— |
— |
[...] |
— |
Rollback plan per stage
| Stage |
Rollback procedure |
Data rollback |
Time to rollback |
Post-rollback state |
| Stage 1 |
[how to revert] |
[yes/no, how] |
[minutes] |
[what the system looks like after rollback] |
For data migrations
- Dual-write / backfill strategy: [how the transition period works]
- Schema compatibility: [forward-compatible, backward-compatible, or breaking]
- Cutover procedure: [step-by-step cutover]
- Reconciliation: [how to verify old and new data match before cleanup]
6. Verification Traceability
| Requirement (from approved input) |
Workstream |
Acceptance criterion |
Verification method |
Verified by |
| [REQ-1 from spec] |
[WS-1] |
[testable condition] |
[test, demo, review] |
[name or role] |
7. Unresolved Decisions and Risks
| ID |
Description |
Impact |
Owner |
Resolution deadline |
Status |
| DEC-1 |
[open decision] |
[what depends on it] |
[name] |
[date] |
[open] |
| RSK-1 |
[risk] |
[severity, likelihood] |
[name] |
[date] |
[open / mitigated / accepted] |
8. Assumptions
| Assumption |
Made by |
Date |
Valid until |
If invalid... |
| [assumption] |
[name] |
[date] |
[date or event] |
[what changes in the plan] |