Reflecting on Our Roadmap Royale Experience

We introduced "Roadmap Royale" to gamify how our product development teams work. If you have not read the article, please read the article here before continuing.

As we reflect on our journey through the first quarter with Roadmap Royale, our approach to gamifying product development has yielded amazing results, and learnings to be implemented in Q2, 2024.?

Celebrating Our Achievements?

Our first foray into Roadmap Royale resulted in surpassing our collective goal by achieving a team score of 106?points. That is 6 points above the goal of 100 points. We have gone from talking about how many points it will take to get something done to how many chips each player will earn, how they will contribute to the success, and who will win the grand prize. The enthusiasm and commitment displayed by every team member have been pivotal to our achievements, demonstrating the potential of Roadmap Royale as a defining moment for how we work as a team in the future.?

Key Learnings and Strategic Insights?

Throughout this journey, several key learnings have emerged, each contributing to our evolving strategy:?

• Adaptability in the Face of Change: Like any other startup, we saw our roadmap items shifting to meet the emerging needs of the business through the quarter. The 28% variance in roadmap items emphasized the importance of flexibility and adaptability. Our response, the creation of a Staging Area for Roadmap Royale items, allowed us to manage this dynamism effectively, keeping teams focused while adeptly prioritizing our backlog. The Roadmap Staging area is set up for the Sales, Delivery, CS, and Product + Engineering teams to list out items that should be prioritized with the expected outcome, impact, and value delivery. “The House” (Product and Engineering leadership) then decides if we add bonus chips to complete these items or prioritize them for the next round of work (Quarter 2, 2024). Bonus chips are built to introduce new items without shifting the goal of 100 points for the team.
• Navigating Last-Minute Challenges: We had to push hard in the last two weeks of March to meet our 100 chips goal. We got to this point in round one due to under-scoping the work and chips for the work in the beginning. It highlighted the need for improved planning and scope definition leading into each new quarter or round of Roadmap Royale.?
• The Importance of Quality Assurance: We spent 11% of our time on maintenance work for customer support items. We are a Smart Building Platform that integrates with hardware and software systems. We learn from our experience in the field as much as we learn from strategic needs of the market. With that in mind, we are broadening our team's focus to emphasize quality beyond just engineering (QA work). We aim to deepen our understanding of implementation, support, and customer value so we can estimate based on the scope of delivery, not just the scope of (product engineering) work.
• Reliable Forecasting of Deliverables: Leveraging data has enhanced our ability to forecast workloads and manage risks, particularly for tasks with external dependencies. We're also clearly distinguishing between strategic initiatives and urgent contractual deadlines. This clarity allows commercial teams to sync their objectives with product and engineering timelines, fostering better planning all around the company.?

Moving Forward with Enhanced Strategy?

Our strategy for the upcoming rounds of Roadmap Royale is to embed these learnings in our work. Our commitment to refining Roadmap Royale extends beyond the mechanics of the game; it’s about fostering a culture of continuous improvement, strategic foresight, and collective achievement.?

Roadmap Royale is a reflection of our team's resilience, creativity, and commitment to excellence. Looking ahead, We'll have our wins and learnings along the way, and I'm excited to share this adventure with the world!