🎙️ Pod Review

Getting Curious About Roadmaps? Dive Into This "Product Podcast" Episode!

11 Nov

Written By Alastair Preacher

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes - time saved 32 minutes 🔥

🤔 Intrigued by Roadmaps?

Check out Lily Smith and Randy Silver as they unpack the nitty-gritty of roadmaps on "The Product Podcast." They've got the lowdown on everything from their purpose to crafting them like a pro here.

BUT if you're short on time, no worries – we’ve got you; you’ll find the key takeaways right here! 👇

Summary

Lily Smith and Randy Silver delve into roadmaps with a variety of guests. They explore the purpose of roadmaps, and the different approaches to structuring them, and offer valuable tips for creating effective roadmaps.

🎯 Theme 1: Purpose of Roadmaps: Alignment

First up, Lily and Randy chat about why roadmaps are key. Think of them as your GPS for aligning teams and nailing objectives. Roadmaps serve as a storytelling device, allowing stakeholders to understand the product journey and providing clarity amidst ambiguity. Storm Fagan, Chief Product Officer at the BBC, emphasizes the need for simplicity in roadmaps, focusing on outcomes rather than outputs. She suggests that if a roadmap cannot fit on one slide, it may be too complicated.

📆 Theme 2:Dates or Themes?

What Goes on the Roadmap? To date or not to date, that's the roadmap question! The hosts explore the ongoing debate of whether roadmaps should include specific dates or focus on themes. They acknowledge that it depends on the context and the organization's needs. While dates may be crucial for compliance or time-sensitive projects, themes provide flexibility and allow teams to prioritize outcomes. Roshi Proven and Maggie Crowley both advocate for theme-based roadmaps, emphasizing the importance of empowering teams to find the best solutions within a given theme.

Alexander Hipp suggests that instead of fixed dates, roadmaps should focus on the time allocated to specific items to allow teams to prioritise and allocate resources effectively, emphasising the importance of time investment rather than rigid deadlines.

📈 Theme 3: Roadmaps as Living Documents:

The concept of roadmaps as living documents is emphasized throughout the episode. Cassidy Fine highlights the importance of compiling roadmaps as a team, using them as artefacts for communication and alignment. The roadmap should be accessible to all stakeholders, inviting questions and feedback. It should evolve and adapt as the product journey progresses, reflecting the dynamic nature of product development.

🗣️Theme 4: Metaphors and Language:

Janice Fraser and Petra Vili use pretty neat metaphors for roadmaps. Janice's is like an accordion (detail up close, big picture from afar), and Petra's got this "Onion Roadmap" concept where circles representing value are added over time. Remember, whatever model you use the key is using language everyone gets, try to minimise acronyms and provide explanations when necessary.

🛠️ Theme 5: Pro Tips for Killer Roadmaps

The gang share top tips: involve your team, embrace a bit of vagueness for future plans, and see your roadmap as a guiding intention, not a strict promise.

🧠 Wrap-Up: A Roadmap Masterclass:

Roadmap lowdown: Roadmaps are about storytelling and alignment. Keep things flexible, use a Now, Next Later structure. Don’t be rigid, no-one knows the future be prepared to change the plan. Keep language simple and use terms everyone gets. Embrace vagueness!

Whether you are a seasoned product manager or new to the field, this podcast episode is a great summary of how to enhance your roadmap skills.

⁉️ Got questions?

Want to know more? Why not have a chat with this episode yourself? I know, mind blowing right? You can ask this episode anything 🤯

🔗 Catch the full episode on Mind the Product