Responsive Roadmapping
Responsive Roadmapping is a knowledge management process used by teams to create and guide a continuous flow of impactful product line results. It’s a deliberate feedback loop that helps teams advance a product line as a system. It focuses a team on speeding the product line system’s flow.
Systems Flow
The product line’s flow matters more than any single activity. And to improve the flow, teams must make adjustments to projects, programs, and all system parts and forces. Managers must respond to issues and opportunities while redressing driving forces and eliminating bottlenecks and hindrances.
This work is the core job of managing the product line as a system. And it’s why Responsive Roadmapping is crucial to outstanding product line performance.
Deliberate Work, Deliberate Results
Most companies approach product line oversight in an ad-hoc manner. Often they work to exploit commonly known opportunities. Other times they work to put out fires caused by misjudgments or unforeseen events.
But a makeshift approach seldom seeks to find opportunities early or prevent fires before they start. That’s not the case for Responsive Roadmapping. Instead, predictive measures and forethought, both focused in the best strategic direction, are fundamental to the process. They provide essential feedback to induce and enable a faster product line system flow.
Product Line Insights and Foresight
Insights and foresight combine to drive Responsive Roadmapping. And the tools and practices that comprise the process help to create and analyze these system flow enablers. Teams use the knowledge to make decisions and judgments that facilitate faster product line velocity.
Roadmap Graphics
The Responsive Roadmapping title suggests the process merely uses a roadmap to address changes, but it’s more. Responsive Roadmapping changes roadmap graphics into a dynamic, real-time dashboard. And the graphics become more like a GPS screen with a changing destination than a fold-up map referred to only when you’re lost. This dashboard is an interactive tool to aid insight building through discussions, explorations, and scenario planning.
Responsive Roadmapping’s purpose is to speed product line velocity. It’s not to achieve a singular objective. The work is continual. And Responsive Roadmapping helps teams to keep pace and maintain perseverance and agility.
Process Flows
The process has two connected workflows. Product line teams conduct the first workflow on an annual or semi-annual basis to carry out strategy formation and execution planning.
The other workflow enables rapid feedback that drives fast learning loops and strategy move adjustments. It’s continuous and responsive to insights and foresight.
The process uses an array of System Lenses to create, merge, and apply insights and foresight. Each Lens aids teams to focus knowledge and insights on their product line system and its flow. Managers familiar with product portfolio management should recognize it as one of many system lenses.
Unique Implementation
Setting up Responsive Roadmapping is unique to each team, the product line, and the company’s structure and culture. One size does not fit all. And System Lens selection and adjustments are always situation-specific.
Read More about Responsive Roadmapping HERE
