Building great products is a team effort requiring a development process flexible enough to accommodate any decisions strategically called for that leverage progress and value, rather than disrupt them.

Product planning should not be approached as a one-time event seen to by the Product Owners on their own. It is more strategic to make decisions throughout the product development process, so that you constantly weigh new information and raw realities, and be able to apply the required changes that are strategically called for. In other words, product planning should be interwoven in the whole product building process, as realities on the ground might easily change for your company, customers, competitors and market.

An example of a very possible change is obtaining new demographic, psychological and behavioural data regarding the targeted personas. Customer surveys and user testing sessions might reveal new, or even counterintuitive information regarding which features should be prioritised in the next release.

Start from the inside: create an organisational culture that views product planning as an ongoing process.

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Another situation might present itself in the form of a new shareholder might have been brought in while the product is being worked on, which was not considered in the previous insights. The views and business goals of said shareholder will surely affect the initial scope of the product, and might also introduce a new audience – which in turn affects which features need to be prioritised – new budget, a different timeline and also varying KPIs. This scenario should be enough to send the wiser product owners and managers running to change product gears to scalability and flexibility.

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How it works

If you are that kind of person who reads self-help books, you probably already read what is coming next: any kind of change has to start from the inside. This does not only apply to situations such as sticking to some crazy fitness regimen or getting rid of some old habit you have been trying to for years; not at all. Give an older engine high grade fuel, and it will run smoother – build and sell a more functional mentality to your teams, and your company will also be more efficient and effective. By creating an organisational culture that views product planning as an ongoing process, you are revolutionising the perspective of all the individuals working together towards the same goal – i.e. launching the product – and also fulfilling one of your many responsibilities as Product Manager.

It is also important to establish a culture of frequent communication: this does not mean that a whole panel has take part in all decision making, but keeping every involved individual in the loop avoids misinformed conclusions as a consequence of knowledge gaps. Since we have touched on the subject of knowledge, of which most originates from acquired data, a relevant significant piece of advice is to make sure to create a top-sheet summarising your research by phases, with conclusions and key takeaways. Everyone hates data dumping – and it also deducts a lot of value from your research efforts – so avoid doing that at all costs.

The product roadmap’s main three pillars should be: scalability, flexibility and testability.

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A (very) concise summary of better product planning

Product vision: This consists of a statement describing the initiative and overarching long-term mission of a product: where it is starting and where it aims to go. This is valuable given the fact that product planning is quite a complex process with many variables to consider, making it challenging to stay focused on what you has set out to achieve in the first place. Having a vision paves the way to shaping product strategy.

Product strategy: Here is where product scope, budget, SMART goals, initiatives (Releases) founded on the target audience-based user journey map and KPIs for success measurement come together to form the way forward. Other details can of course be also included.

Product roadmap: This is not a feature list or a timeline; every release is an initiative which needs to be re-iterated through user testing. Start the roadmap with an MVP mindset: the earliest testable product, and move forward from there. The product roadmap’s main three pillars should be: scalability, flexibility and testability.

Strategic roadmap: A cross-functional roadmap that factors in dependencies needing alignment. Instead of having siloed talents, have people work together consistently towards the same goal while sharing the same vision. One scenario could be: what kind of sales push does the sales team need to implement in order to ensure a more successful product launch? This strategic road map is where T-shaped individuals are brought together as a cross-functional team.

Struggling to manage your remote team? We have the solution for you in this article.

Understanding product planning as an ongoing part of your role gives you a new framework that allows you to make strategic changes to your initial planning. One thing is for certain: product planning is never finished as long as new releases are being launched, and if you want to be a successful product manager or owner, make sure that your first release is far from being the last one.