Ask Steve: Roadmaps and leadership

What do you do when you present a roadmap, yet leadership has a different feature development priority?

Understand your leadership's perspective.?Take the time to understand the reasons behind leadership's different feature development priorities. Ask questions to gain insights into their rationale, such as business objectives, market trends, customer feedback, or any other factors that may have influenced their decision. This will help you see the bigger picture and align your understanding with theirs.

Discuss the roadmap in detail.?Have a thorough discussion with leadership about your roadmap. Explain the rationale behind your prioritization decisions, the anticipated benefits of the chosen features, and how they align with the overall product strategy. Emphasize the value and impact of the proposed features and try to address any concerns or gaps that leadership may have.

Listen actively.?While presenting your roadmap, be open to feedback and actively listen to leadership's concerns and priorities. Take note of their input and seek to understand their perspective. This will help you have a constructive conversation and find potential areas of compromise.

Analyze the gap.?Compare leadership's proposed feature development priority with your roadmap and identify the gaps or conflicts. Evaluate the feasibility of adjusting your roadmap to accommodate their priorities without compromising the overall strategic direction or the viability of the existing features.

Collaborate and find a middle ground.?Engage in collaborative discussions with leadership to find a middle ground. Explore alternative ways to incorporate their priorities into the roadmap, such as reprioritizing certain features, adjusting timelines, or identifying dependencies that could be addressed. Seek to balance their requests and the existing roadmap while considering the available resources and constraints.

Iterate and revise the roadmap.?Iterate on your roadmap based on the discussions and agreements reached with leadership. Adjust the feature development priorities, timelines, and other necessary aspects to reflect the decisions made. Communicate the revised roadmap to all stakeholders, including the rationale behind the changes and the impact on the overall product strategy.

Maintain open communication.?After revising the roadmap, maintain ongoing communication with leadership. Keep them informed about the progress of the roadmap execution, share relevant updates, and address any further questions or concerns they may have. Regularly revisit the roadmap and adjust it based on evolving priorities and feedback.

The roadmap defines only one set of elements for a release plan. A release plan also includes requests from buyers and users, defects, and tech debt.

Roadmaps are not set in stone, and adjustments are often necessary based on changing circumstances and stakeholder input. Flexibility, collaboration, and effective communication will help you navigate these situations and ensure alignment between the product team and leadership.