Is your product roadmap driving success?

Exploring Alternative Strategies

Overview

Traditional roadmaps can be a challenge to get right for early-stage startups. Managing timelines is a science that requires a few different dimensions of understanding, including where your product currently is, what features your team is pursuing, the value you’re unlocking for your users, and many others. GIST is a complementary framework to OKRs unlocks idea generation, and aligns tasks to broader outcomes.

The Traditional Product Roadmap

A product roadmap traditionally acts as a blueprint, linking an organization’s objectives with the tasks needed to achieve them. It outlines the vision, direction, and priorities over time. However, the accuracy of a roadmap decreases the further out it projects, which can make long-term planning challenging.

What is GIST?

GIST roadmaps offer a dynamic way to align team efforts with organizational goals. They stand for Goals, Ideas, Step-Projects, and Tasks. This method shifts focus from fixed deliverables to a more flexible structure that prioritizes key goals.

Aligning with OKRs

OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, is a framework used by organizations to define and track their outcomes. The “Objective” represents a clear, actionable goal. The “Key Results” are specific, measurable outcomes towards achieving the objective.

When working with OKR’s remember that achieving 100% of OKRs isn’t the aim; your key results should be aspirational, with a target of about 70% to encourage stretching beyond comfort zones.

Benefits of the GIST Framework

Flexibility in Idea Management

A feature-based roadmap is like a checklist of deliverables to reach a desired outcome. With GIST, your team can align ideas to goals for your product, users, or organization. This line of thinking is more strategic and focused on goals, first and foremost. By aligning potential ideas with goals, you can build a repository of initiatives to assess against your company’s objectives.

Task Breakdown

In the GIST framework, ideas are broken down into step-projects and tasks. This methodical breakdown helps in detailed planning and execution, ensuring that each task aligns with the overarching goals.

Dynamic Adjustments

One of GIST’s key strengths is its adaptability. It allows teams to adjust their focus and strategies based on the evolving business needs and the progress toward goals.

Conclusion

If your team is considering different approaches to prioritization, the GIST method offers a compelling alternative. It provides flexibility, a clear connection to organizational goals, and the ability to make adjustments as needed.

For those interested in deeper insights into GIST roadmaps, I recommend exploring resources like those provided by Itamar Gilad, which can offer valuable guidance in finding the planning method that best suits your team.

Originally posted on the Bicoastal Agency blog