How to Run an Effective Product Roadmap Meeting in 2024

If you’ve ever run a roadmap meeting, you know how things go. Everyone’s got an opinion, some have too many, and others just shut down all the ideas you thought were great with a few choice words.

Product management is no stranger to chaos, but instead of embracing the madness, there’s a better way: learning how to run a product roadmap meeting the right way.

Say hello to productive conversations, relevant strategies, and a roadmap that makes sense. We’re about to dissect:

• The Essence: What’s a product roadmap meeting, why do you need them, and how can they work in your product’s favor?
• The Execution: Winging it isn’t the answer – so what can you do to host a successful meeting?
• The Exceptions: When to ditch the product roadmap meeting entirely.

What is a Product Roadmap Meeting?

A product roadmap meeting is all about discussing the game plan with stakeholders, your marketing team, and other important players involved in creating or refining your product. 

Sounds boring, doesn’t it? It might conjure up images of whiteboards, a boardroom, and hours of checking the time on your watch. Dull as they might seem, they’re usually important, considering that they’ll tell everyone everything they need to know about the product objectives, features, and timelines, all ready to go.

It acts as a hub of discussion for everyone to get full visual clarity on what needs to be done, when, and why. It’s a chance for people to ask questions, get answers, and work together. 

Why Have a Product Roadmap Meeting At All?

So, why invest time and resources into a product roadmap meeting at all?

• To get everyone aligned: A roadmap exposes the entire product strategy for what it is, letting stakeholders understand the goals, features, and timelines – essentially the whole shebang, in just one meeting. If marketing’s pushing for a flashy add-on and sales reject that and have a different view on things, teams will instead be able to find a middle ground or a new solution altogether.
• Make the process a transparent one: With these plans laid out for everyone to see, everyone gets a better feel of their roles and responsibilities across teams. The backlog is exposed for what it is, and deadlines won’t feel as frightening. This transparency encourages trust, as no one is left in the dark.
• Prioritize rather than drown: Product management is littered with constraints, like time, resources, and budget. That’s a given – and it’s not likely that you can remove them entirely. It’s what you choose to do with these constraints is what counts. A meeting will let you knuckle down and prioritize your tasks and resources that deliver the best value.

How Should You Run a Product Roadmap Meeting?

Convinced and ready to run your own meeting? Here’s a step-by-step for running a productive meet.

1. Conduct Some Bulletproof Prep Work: Before the meeting part even happens, you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and put in plenty of background work. The first task should be to revisit the product strategy and pinpoint all the hotspots on the roadmap. These are areas where you’re bound to see some push and pull among teams – those potentially touchy subjects that spark various viewpoints and require a little more love to figure out. And it’s not just what’s happening internally – it’s also about figuring out how the winds are blowing in the market and among the user base.
2. Harness the Right Tools: If the audience you’re presenting to isn’t engaged, then you might as well scrap the meeting altogether. Make the visuals compelling, the data easy to understand, and say a firm goodbye to boring presentations and outdated spreadsheets. Tools like Prezi are great for a dynamic and imaginative presentation style, while Fibery can help you slice and dice an engaging roadmap to fit your goals for the meeting.

3. Set An Agenda: Without an aim, you’re destined to get lost or go around in circles. With objectives for the meeting, however, you’ll set a target everyone can aim at. Since meetings are time-sensitive, you’ll want to pick topics you plan to cover, placing the most important as a top priority in case you run out of time. Making this agenda public for all attendees will also help them gather their thoughts and bring their A-game to the meeting.
4. Facilitate an Open Dialogue: With product roadmap meetings, the more ideas and conversation, the better. Rather than leading the meeting all on your own, create an environment where attendees are comfortable expressing their thoughts and opinions. Encourage members of all teams to speak up so you can collectively gather a multitude of perspectives for more refined solutions.
5. Seek Feedback: Every stakeholder plays a valuable part in the product strategy, and actively soliciting feedback is essentially telling each of them, “You’re valuable.” That crafts a much more productive and multi-dimensional culture where you can extract worthy inputs to refine your roadmap.
6. Articulate the Decision-Making Process: It’s quite common for teams to experience changes in priority. Maybe a task that was formerly pressing is now just an afterthought that can be addressed later. But promoting that understanding as to why exactly that happened ensures that team members aren’t left out. When these key players understand why, it fosters trust and flexibility.
7. Identify Risks and Roadblocks: Now it’s time to play detective. You’re searching for the “What ifs” and the worst care scenarios. Although this might be unsettling, being well-versed in what bumps in the road you’re likely to experience keeps your roadmap ready for anything. Feeling extra paranoid? Why not have a Plan B, C, D, or F in place?
8. Present the Updated Roadmap: After all that effort, the moment will come when all those thoughts, ideas, tweaks, and techniques come together to create one stellar vision. So, make sure you give it the grand reveal it deserves. Don’t just recap each point like it’s a to-do list. Show off the roadmap like a story with plot twists and cliffhangers to get everyone hanging off the edge of their seat.

When It Makes No Sense to Have a Product Roadmap Meeting

It’s strange to admit, but there are actually times when roadmap meetings are pointless – for the moment.

In most cases, a product roadmap meeting isn’t the way to go if your product is too early in its lifecycle. If you’re still looking into market fit and trying to figure out who your customer is, there’s no need to have a meeting.

Likewise, if you’re unsure where your product is going, you might want to brush up on those objectives first. Got unprepared teams and data that looks a little like Swiss cheese? Let’s tackle those aspects before anything else.

Until your product vision is crystal clear, your team is ready to align, and your business is prepared to move on from reactive to proactive, hit the pause button for the product roadmap meeting.

The PM’s Hot Take

Having a product roadmap without conducting a roadmap meeting is like having a shiny new car with an empty fuel tank. It might look aesthetically pleasing and ready to go, but it’ll stay stationary until you bring it over to the gas station. The product roadmap meeting is a necessary pit stop to make sure your product can reach its goals. 

Conclusion

When your product is ready for it, step up to the plate and host that roadmap meeting. Revel in those shared insights, get everyone on board, and turn idea chaos into a success story. 

Ready to take your roadmap meetings to the next level? Give Fibery a try with a 14-day free trial and watch your planning, process, and productivity soar. Want more product management insights? Dive into our insights on our blog.