Death to anemic roadmaps: Lets build roadmaps that actually help us work together

If you have a roadmap that no one uses, it may be an anemic roadmap. An anemic roadmap is just a list of features that goes on as far as the eye can see. This is harmful to your organization. John Heintz explains how to build truly useful roadmaps that actually help us define goals and work jointly by weaving together marketing, product, architecture, and more.

Roadmapping is a powerful method for planning ahead. Roadmaps show us a way forward, enable us to break down silos, and allow us to collaborate on building a plan that works for the entire organization. However, an anemic roadmap, which includes only a list of features that goes on seemingly forever, does none of this and usually marches us into a future that’s full of technical debt and finger pointing. John Heintz demonstrates how to do things differently through collaborative planning: the best roadmaps involve both business leaders and technologists working together to weave the needs of both groups in a single, whole plan. The plan should also knit together the customers and market segments, the features and benefits important to those segments, the architectural growth and evolution to support it, and the organizational changes required during that evolution. John explains how the following separate “maps” can be woven into a single, cohesive whole to create an effective roadmap that helps us work towards shared goals: Learn the skills and requirements to collaboratively create effective roadmaps. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves! Post-it notes included.