Building your roadmap

We've talked a lot about getting your clarity as a team really nailed down. And in this episode we'll take it to the next level. How can you maintain clarity of direction and also adapt as conditions change, and as you learn?

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[00:00:00] Pia: We've talked a lot about getting your clarity as a team really nailed down, and in this episode we'll take it to the next level. How can you maintain clarity of direction and also adapt as conditions change and also as you learn? I'm Pia.

[00:00:17] Dan: And I'm Dan, and this is Squadify Connects. We'll be looking in this series about how you can break your team's work into time boxes or sprints, um, that deliver some sort of shippable product. This isn't, doesn't have to be a product, but it's definitely a solid deliverable of your team, some output. It's been said that in Agile, what you do in each of these sprints is the thing that will add most value to your audience right now, but in reality, You have to balance this with the desired direction of your team. We've talked a lot about purpose and vision, and those things still matter.

[00:00:51] Pia: So the first step is to create a timeline and then put that vision out there in the future. Then as a team, get clear on the key phases that will get you there. We call these horizons and they. Break that macro goal into manageable chunks that may take a year to get to.

[00:01:09] Dan: You can then break that first year into quarters. There's no need to fill them all out. Just focus on what you are deliver in the coming three months and we and our team add a little detail on the next quarter out to, and we call this pro process three plus three as it's three months. Very clear and three months a little less clear and detailed.

[00:01:28] Pia: You now have your vision statement and an idea how that will play out over the years, and you know what to focus on in the coming quarter. All this should only be as detailed as you need it to be.

[00:01:41] Dan: Yes, and the crucial point to remember is that these are all hypotheses. It's important that everybody has clarity, but the essence of agile is that you learn as you go. So things will change sometimes when they do repeat the process, keep moving while maintaining clarity.

[00:01:57] Pia: You might find that you and the team are very clear on the three year outcome and you know exactly what the team are doing, but the rest is completely unknown. That doesn't really matter.

[00:02:08] Dan: Yes, as long as you know what you're doing this week and this month, you will keep moving and learning. So this week you are going to be building your roadmap. Yes. It really won't take too long as you don't need too much detail. This is work that is best done with a small group.

[00:02:22] So if you have a large team, get the okay to have a subset of people working on this. The tasks you'll complete are one, break the vision into annual horizons two. Get clear on what you need to deliver in the coming quarter. On the way to that first horizon, see the show notes for an example of a roadmap, but it'll give you a visual assistance in completing this week's experiment.

[00:02:45] Pia: I think that's gonna be really important actually. So have a look at those show notes. 'cause when you see it completed, it really isn't that complicated. And then just go and enjoy your week painting a picture of the future that will help bring a combination of clarity and agility to your team. And then see you next week to get into the planning of the next month ahead.