How Roadmaps Accidentally Make Teams Powerless

Four usual traps with roadmaps that makes teams helpless and how to escape from them.

Originally published in GoRetro

What’s your common reaction when you see your product roadmap?

I’d summarize my feelings as anxiety and fear. As we got closer to the end of the quarter, I often got anxious. The reason was always the same. The top management would present the roadmap. I got nervous as I didn’t know what to expect.

Most times, the roadmap made me panic because I had no idea how to deliver on the expectations. I felt powerless and even feared losing my job.

Once during a roadmap presentation, the CEO said, “I count on all of you to make it possible. We may all go to the job market if we cannot get this done.” The roadmap had an extensive list of features for each team. I wondered, “How can this be agile? Where’s the learning part?”

Photo by Agos Tino on Unsplash

This story may not surprise you. Probably you’ve been in a similar situation already. If not, it’s just a matter of time. I learned that roadmaps aren’t evil by design. They are accidentally miscreated because some people simply lack the experience to do it differently.

Let me walk you through four common reasons roadmaps trap teams and how you could improve them. I hope you get some actionable insights by the end of this read.

1 — The Top Secret Roadmap

Please, have a look at the following image. How do you interpret it?

Throwing roadmaps over the fence — Author’s courtesy — d-pereira.com

This image represents a significant part of my experience with roadmaps. It goes more or less like the following:

1. Top management gets together to evaluate what matters most
2. They assess possibilities for the short, medium, and long term
3. They exchange ideas and potential solutions
4. They agree on what will go into the following roadmap
5. They define who does what by when