Video: Annual Planning and the Art of Roadmapping



Video: Annual Planning and the Art of Roadmapping with Sachin Rekhi

It's that time of year that product managers find themselves engrossed in annual planning. But the traditional frameworks PMs have come to rely on for roadmapping, like RICE, often are ill-suited for putting together a highly strategic product roadmap for the upcoming year.

I joined Reforge recently to give a talk about a new process I developed, called 4D Roadmaps, that leverages 4 distinct lenses to develop your roadmap, including a strategy lens, vision lens, customers lens, and business lens. In the talk, I share this actionable process for putting together a more strategic, aspirational, and well articulated roadmap for your product.

The talk covers:
  • Common feedback from product leaders on what's missing from their team's annual planning process
  • RICE prioritization and the limitations that prevent it from producing highly strategic and ambitious roadmaps
  • The 4D roadmapping process, including a deep discussion of each lens: strategy, vision, customer, and business
  • How to craft narratives around why you are prioritizing each objective to drive buy-in from leaders

If you are looking for a better way to develop your annual plan, I'd encourage you to watch the talk recording.

The content from this talk comes from my Mastering Product Management course, which dives deep into the 8 deliverables that product managers are responsible for, including roadmaps, specs, strategy, vision, and more, and offers rigorous frameworks for doing each well. Join us for the upcoming cohort starting Oct 4th. Learn more here.
Want to accelerate your product career?
I've finally distilled my 15+ years of product experience into a course designed to help PMs master their craft. Join me for the next cohort of Mastering Product Management.
Are you building a new product?
Learn how to leverage the Deliberate Startup methodology, a modern approach to finding product/market fit. Join me for the next cohort of Finding Product/Market Fit.
Enjoyed this essay?
Get my monthly essays on product management & entrepreneurship delivered to your inbox.