Why You Need an Agile Roadmap—and How to Create One

Bart has been in ecommerce for over 20 years, and can't imagine a better job to have. He is interested in all things agile, or anything new to learn.

  Agile   Product Management  

In order to be successful, modern product managers need to maintain a delicate balance between short-term delivery and long-term strategic thinking. While agile allows for flexibility and gives the product manager the ability to change their mind—or even the entire course of the project—this doesn’t mean they can attempt to manage without a roadmap at all.

Creating an agile roadmap is thus an exercise in attempting to achieve this balance by enabling teams to react to changes in the market and to customer feedback, while still providing some level of predictability and alignment with the strategic goals of the organization.

Agile roadmapping is not just a process and methodology, but also a mindset that product managers need to evangelize to leadership, stakeholders and customers on a constant basis. The product manager needs to prioritize flexibility, continuous improvement and rapid iteration in the face of changes in the market and customer needs—while also providing some level of certainty about what is being delivered, and when it can be expected to be completed.

Rather than focus on detailed, long-term plans that are at risk of getting out of date quickly, the roadmap needs to be able to pivot based on new information, a change in company direction, or a shift in customer needs and desires.

The challenge is to find the right balance. A …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.