Last updated on Jul 14, 2024

What's the best way to get your team on board with product road mapping?

Product road mapping is a strategic process that helps you align your vision, goals, and priorities with your stakeholders, customers, and team. It's a way to communicate what you're building, why you're building it, and how you're going to get there. But creating a product road map is not enough. You also need to get your team on board with it, so they can understand the direction, collaborate effectively, and deliver value. How do you do that? Here are some tips to help you.

1 Involve your team early

One of the best ways to get your team on board with product road mapping is to involve them in the process from the start. Don't just present them with a finished road map and expect them to follow it blindly. Instead, solicit their input, feedback, and ideas throughout the road mapping process. Ask them about their pain points, challenges, and opportunities. Listen to their perspectives, insights, and suggestions. Incorporate their expertise, skills, and creativity into the road map. By doing this, you can build trust, ownership, and commitment among your team members, and ensure that the road map reflects their needs and expectations.

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Seif Abdelghany

Head of Product | Category Director | Master Product Manager | Product Management Consultant & Coach | PDMA Global Board of Directors | Home Appliances & Consumer Electronics Expert
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Your team needs to be involved early enough in the product roadmapping. A product roadmap maybe accountable by product manager but it is a shared ownership and you cannot just do it alone and dump it on your team. You have to follow a process, similar to below 1. Get the consumer insights updates with existing range and feedback from costumers 2. Hold design thinking workshop to have clarity on new product new platforms and new versions of the product 3. Align with the different functions on the assessment and evaluation of the different aspects of the roadmap and get their feedback 4. Assess the different risks and challenges and opportunities 5. Create accountability with the different departments 6) establish communication guidance

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Insha Manzoor Khan

Group Product Manager l LinkedIn Top Voice I Brand Strategist I Product Marketer I Growth, Marketing, Strategic Communication, Media and Public Relations Advisor: Maximizing Impact and ROI
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The best way to get your team on board with product road mapping is to Involve your team from the start. Collaborative brainstorming on product goals and priorities fosters buy-in. Clearly explain how each initiative aligns with the bigger vision, and create a roadmap that's flexible to adapt based on team input, fostering a sense of ownership and shared success.

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Charles Jessup

Product Manager & Gen AI Enthusiast | MBA | PMP | Facilitator | Oil & Gas | Built 5 web applications | Certified Professional Scrum Product Owner Level 2 | SAFe Agilist
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Not only your team -- involve other stakeholders too. I like to start roadmap development workshops with the product vision & OKRs as inputs, and then spend time discussing how we can best achieve those results. The output of our discussions gets written down (in real time) on a roadmap.

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Joseph P.

Oracle Software Senior Data Analyst - Salesforce Administration Lead Functional Analyst | SAFe Practice Consultant | Agile Mentoring
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Engaging your team in product road mapping involves transparent communication and inclusive collaboration. Utilize Agile frameworks for adaptive planning and involve team members in backlog prioritization. Leverage collaborative tools like Miro or Jira for interactive, real-time road mapping sessions. Implement AI-driven data analytics to inform decision-making and validate roadmap objectives. Conduct workshops and utilize e-learning platforms for upskilling in road mapping techniques. Ensure clarity in vision, objectives, and milestones. Recognize and incorporate team feedback, fostering ownership and alignment. Regular checkins, updates, and celebrating milestones enhance motivation and collective adherence to the roadmaps strategic path.

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2 Make your road map clear and flexible

Another way to get your team on board with product road mapping is to make your road map clear and flexible. A clear road map is one that defines the vision, goals, and outcomes of the product, and shows how they are linked to the features, initiatives, and tasks. A clear road map also uses simple and consistent language, formats, and visuals, and avoids jargon, ambiguity, and clutter. A flexible road map is one that acknowledges the uncertainty, complexity, and change that are inherent in product development, and allows for adjustments, revisions, and iterations. A flexible road map also prioritizes the most important and valuable items, and leaves room for experimentation, learning, and feedback. By making your road map clear and flexible, you can help your team understand the big picture, focus on the right things, and adapt to changing circumstances.

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Hemanth Babu Shekar

Product @ Rivian | Speaker | Ex-Amazon, META | AI Product Management
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In my experience, explicitly allocating a certain percentage to big bets, can’t fails and maintenance ensures the team is not just working on immediate priorities, but is thinking about how the problem space might evolve in the future.

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Bharath Kumar

Senior Manager | Product Management
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Usage of prioritization methods will help to create better roadmaps. Ask your team regularly give votes or ranks on items in the roadmap.

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3 Share your road map regularly

A third way to get your team on board with product road mapping is to share your road map regularly. Don't just create a road map and store it in a folder or a tool that no one looks at. Instead, make your road map visible, accessible, and up-to-date for your team. Share your road map in meetings, presentations, newsletters, dashboards, and other channels. Use your road map as a tool to align, inform, and inspire your team. Highlight the progress, achievements, and challenges of the road map. Celebrate the wins, learn from the failures, and acknowledge the contributions of your team. By sharing your road map regularly, you can keep your team engaged, motivated, and aligned with the product vision and goals.

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Charles Jessup

Product Manager & Gen AI Enthusiast | MBA | PMP | Facilitator | Oil & Gas | Built 5 web applications | Certified Professional Scrum Product Owner Level 2 | SAFe Agilist
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As a PM, I like to host regular (monthly or quarterly) roadmap reviews with the product team and any key stakeholders to discuss & align on priorities.

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4 Solicit feedback and act on it

A fourth way to get your team on board with product road mapping is to solicit feedback and act on it. Don't assume that your road map is perfect or final. Instead, invite your team to give you honest and constructive feedback on the road map. Ask them what they like, dislike, agree, disagree, or wonder about the road map. Listen to their opinions, concerns, and questions. Thank them for their feedback and show them that you value it. Act on the feedback that is relevant, useful, and actionable. Update, improve, or change your road map based on the feedback. Communicate the changes and the reasons behind them to your team. By soliciting feedback and acting on it, you can improve your road map, build trust and respect with your team, and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

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