Roadmaps! Who hasn’t been asked for one?

As a Product lead, you get asked for roadmaps with delivery dates regularly, aka the good ol’ “timeline” roadmap. And at the same time, you also need to solve problems, which isn’t exactly a predictable activity. This creates a constant tension, which can be hard to navigate.

Luckily, there are solutions. One of the strong approaches being Janna Bastow’s Now-Next-Later roadmap, with dates! It helps you with the discovery part, while being able to give dates to other teams. The closer the deliveries, the more accurate the dates of course.

Check out the episode “Roadmaps with Dates” on Spotify or Youtube, in which Jonas and Christian speak with Janna about her approach.

Janna’s ProdPad has two useful links for everyone: a Now-Next-Later course, and for inspiration on how to sell this to your CEO - a handy Convince your boss presentation template 🙂

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Episode summary:

In a podcast discussion focusing on product management, Jenna, Jonas, and Christian delve into the evolution and challenges of product planning and roadmapping. Jenna, co-founder and CEO of ProdPad and one of the original founders of the community Mind the Product, shares insights on developing tools for OKR, roadmapping, and feedback management. Jonas brings two decades of product management experience across various industries, emphasizing the integration of marketing and engineering functions with product development.

The conversation shifts to the traditional versus agile roadmapping approaches. Christian recounts his early career frustrations with rigid, year-long waterfall roadmaps that often failed, leading him to seek more adaptable product management strategies. This journey reflects a broader industry shift from inflexible planning to agile methodologies, which prioritize adaptability and responsiveness to customer feedback and market changes.

Jenna introduces the Now, Next, Later roadmap model, which she helped pioneer. This approach segments tasks into immediate, near-term, and future activities, providing flexibility and clarity without committing to specific completion dates for longer-term projects. The model allows teams to focus on immediate priorities while maintaining a strategic view of future goals. It offers a balance between providing necessary structure for planning and retaining the flexibility to adapt as new information and opportunities arise.

Jonas and Jenna discuss how this model has been received in various organizational contexts, particularly how it aligns with different teams' operational rhythms and expectations. They highlight the practical challenges of integrating agile practices in environments accustomed to more traditional, date-specific roadmaps.

The conversation also touches on how the Now, Next, Later approach can complement other frameworks like SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), enabling large enterprises to remain agile and responsive despite their scale. The discussion concludes with reflections on the ongoing need for product teams to balance detailed planning with the flexibility to adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities.

This detailed exploration of product management strategies underscores the importance of adaptive planning in modern product development, advocating for a balanced approach that accommodates both immediate project needs and long-term strategic goals.