How do you define and communicate the scope and timeline of your product road map?

A product road map is a strategic tool that shows how your product vision, goals, and priorities align with your customers' needs and expectations. It also helps you plan and communicate the scope and timeline of your product development activities to your stakeholders. But how do you define and communicate the scope and timeline of your product road map effectively? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Understand your audience

The first step is to know who you are creating the product road map for and what they care about. Different audiences may have different levels of detail, interest, and influence on your product decisions. For example, your executives may want to see the high-level strategic direction and business outcomes, while your developers may want to see the technical dependencies and risks. You should tailor your product road map to suit your audience's needs and expectations, and use the appropriate language, format, and channel to communicate it.

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Justin Dielmann

Senior Product Manager at 6sense
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Early in my career, providing the right level and type of detail for my audience was a huge struggle. Finding that balance is hard, and your roadmap format will need to be iterative as the level of detail required will change over time and with the exact projects you are doing. Reusing assets as much as possible will make your life much easier. I recommend starting with an exec level out line, and then getting more granular the closer you get to working on a project.

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2 Define your scope

The scope of your product road map is the set of features, improvements, and experiments that you plan to deliver in a given time frame. It should be based on your product vision, goals, and customer feedback, as well as your resources, constraints, and assumptions. You should define your scope clearly and realistically, and avoid overcommitting or underdelivering. You should also prioritize your scope based on the value and urgency of each item, and use a framework such as MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) or RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) to help you.

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Sahil Shirbhate

Certified Product Manager | CSPO | MBA, IIFT-Delhi | B.E. BITS-Pilani
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In an Agile SDLC, new and competing high priority requirements emerge from all quarters at some point. A few tips to deal with this: 1. Create a stakeholder map. Identify the key stakeholders, the decision makers and the influencers across the organisation. RACI matrix helps. 2. Ensure that the prioritisation framework has the buy-in of key stakeholders and has been documented so that the decision making process is transparent across the organisation. 3. Start any periodic product reviews or planning sessions with the product vision and goals that have been agreed to for the period to manage stakeholder expectations 4. If scope changes need to be accommodated, inform the key stakeholders and get consent from the decision makers.

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3 Estimate your timeline

The timeline of your product road map is the expected duration and sequence of your product development activities. It should be based on your scope, dependencies, risks, and milestones, as well as your team's capacity, velocity, and quality standards. You should estimate your timeline realistically and transparently, and avoid setting fixed dates or deadlines that may change or cause stress. You should also use a time scale that suits your product development cycle, such as quarters, months, weeks, or sprints, and use a format such as a Gantt chart or a Kanban board to show it.

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4 Validate your assumptions

The assumptions of your product road map are the hypotheses and beliefs that you have about your customers, market, competitors, and technology. They influence your scope and timeline, and may change or be proven wrong over time. You should validate your assumptions regularly and systematically, using user research, data analysis, prototyping, testing, and feedback. You should also document your assumptions and their validation status, and update your product road map accordingly.

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Justin Dielmann

Senior Product Manager at 6sense
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Scope changes are common, and they should not be avoided. In fact, if you are not occasionally changing directions, it is a sign you are not talking to your users enough. When you do need to shift or modify your roadmap communicate it proactively and loudly. Remember you are in the trenches with your product area, but the rest of the company has many other things to think about and they can easily miss or forget an email or slack message.

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5 Communicate your updates

The updates of your product road map are the changes and progress that you make on your scope and timeline. They reflect your learnings, achievements, challenges, and pivots. You should communicate your updates frequently and consistently, using the same language, format, and channel that you used to create your product road map. You should also highlight the value and impact of your updates, and solicit feedback and input from your stakeholders.

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6 Manage your expectations

The expectations of your product road map are the outcomes and benefits that you and your stakeholders anticipate from your product development activities. They may be based on your goals, metrics, user stories, or testimonials. You should manage your expectations realistically and proactively, and avoid overpromising or underdelivering. You should also align your expectations with your scope and timeline, and use evidence and data to support them.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you define and communicate the scope and timeline of your product road map?

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1 Understand your audience

2 Define your scope

3 Estimate your timeline

4 Validate your assumptions

5 Communicate your updates

6 Manage your expectations

7 Here’s what else to consider

Product Road Mapping

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