Roadmap? We don't need no stinkin roadmap!

A well constructed roadmap can be a Product Manager's best friend. Everything we do is rooted in the principle of communicating early and often in a multitude of media. A product roadmap is all about communicating your vision and provides a framework for conversations with everyone from the C-suite to your desk neighbor. A 12 to 18-month roadmap is not the end-all-be-all but it is an essential starting point for the journey of successfully delivering quality software.

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1. ©2015 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Lauri Hofherr Geekfest November 15, 2016 Roadmap? We don’t need no stinkin’ roadmap?
2. The PM Role
3. Communication •A Product Manager’s job is communication •Communication is at the heart of collaboration. •Communication is the fuel for the development engine •Everything we do is rooted in the principle of communicating early and often in a multitude of media
4. So Why A Roadmap? gTo communicate your vision gTo communicate your decision making process gEnsure your team is aligned to company goals /Be able to trace back to a company goal
5. We don’t need a roadmap. We’re Agile!!! gIs there such a thing as an agile roadmap? Yes. gIt’s how you communicate gFocus on Themes, not Features gPlan for “now”, “next”, & “someday” The Art of Building a Roadmap - Atlassian Summit 2016 Sherif Mansour, Principal Product Manager, Atlassian
6. Not A Roadmap gList of Features gJIRA or any story board tool
7. Where to start? Start as a Team gMission Statement gGoals gObjectives
8. Sound like a team charter? gMission Statement /Aspirational rather than actionable gGoals /Goals do not define how you are going to achieve something; they are an opportunity to think about what you would like to achieve as you work towards fulfilling your mission. gObjectives /How you achieve goals, concrete, measurable and tangible.
9. Real Quick - An Example gMISSON /Build the best web platform for the next generation of Morningstar professional products. Goal Objective Excellent User Experience Provide a consistent user experience, improve ease of use via continuous improvements. Stakeholder Satisfaction Provide consistent availability, responsiveness, and communication. Achieve positive assessment of product roadmap planning and delivery. Be transparent and timely in communicating changes to priorities. Reliably provide valuable updates, reports and metrics. Quality Product Build for the long term considering total cost of ownership. Requirement Management Continuous improvement in quality of stories and specifications based upon completeness, clarity, consistency and readability. Delivery Management Team will consistently and reliably release quality product per sprint commitment.
10. The Roadmap Journey Company Goals Business Model
11. Essential Elements gGoals – Solutions gFall in love with the problem /Not the solution /Not the product /Not a feature
12. Complex Problem Solving Teams that fall in love with a problem have more successful outcomes than teams that fall in love with particular solutions. . . . knowing that a problem is worth solving continues to be motivating even when a team doesn’t come across the right solution . . .. “ Julie Zhuo, Facebook
13. Essential Elements gPrioritization Framework gYour job is to decide what not to do (Now, Next, Someday) gInputs /Hippo /Revenue Or OpEx /Technical implementation /Foundation Building /Lottery or bidding games
14. Essential Elements gMeasuring Success /Feedback Channels /CSR questions, User Research, Focus groups, /Cost of getting the feedback? /What’s the weight of any given piece of feedback?
15. Essential Elements gMeasuring Success /Metrics /Help report progress and guide our decision making /A good metric is: /Comparative /Understandable /A ratio or rate /Behavior changing Measuring What Matters: How To Pick A Good Metric Ben Yoskovitz, co-author of Lean Analytics
16. Essential Elements /Understand Time and Risk /Bugs vs. Features /Time – Scope - Quality /Lots of feature requests– test it on your vision
17. Speak to your Audience
18. What’s it look like?
19. It’s All About Delivery – gQuarterly Plans /OKRs /KPIs /Share these in a quarterly stakeholder meeting to confirm
20. Epics gFeature Documents gKick offs with the dev team
21. Tools are Just Tools gDon’t get hung up on what tool to use gAvoid “feeding the beast”
22. Roadmap Potholes gBottom Up Approach gCXO or Senior Management Dictate gMaintenance Fatigue gUsing a Roadmap as a performance metric
23. Guidance not Promises gChange is inevitable gIt’s always harder than it looks
24. Why All the Hard Work? gUse your roadmap to your advantage gOnce done, the benefits of solid documentation far outweigh the pain of effort gUse your documents as tools in framing conversations, aligning expectations, creating consensus or just to show off all you’ve accomplished gUse your Roadmap as a means to stay connected with your stakeholders and to create transparency around your team gYour roadmap is your calling card
25. Questions? Lauri Hofherr Lauri@pobox.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurihofherr @laurihofherr