You’re presenting a well-crafted product roadmap to a room of stakeholders and workforce members when a senior chief begins to take over the assembly. This individual is asserting their very own judgments, suggesting alterations, and customarily shifting focus away out of your plan. Whereas these actions might come from a spot of excellent intentions and former expertise, the impact might be demoralizing. If not dealt with appropriately, this situation may have damaging penalties on the product roadmap.
In the event you’ve been a product supervisor for any size of time, you’ve possible discovered your self on this scenario, face-to-face with the HiPPO: the “highest-paid individual’s opinion.” The opinions of a high-ranking or influential individual within the group—who is commonly the individual in a gathering with the best wage—are inclined to take priority over the insights of different workforce members. With such authority, the HiPPO can have a major impression on the path of the product roadmap; thus, going up in opposition to, and even disagreeing with, the HiPPO might be extraordinarily intimidating.
I’ve been constructing merchandise for greater than a decade and I nonetheless repeatedly encounter the HiPPO. Over that point, nevertheless, I’ve developed methods to enact earlier than any product roadmap presentation to make sure stakeholder satisfaction and the most effective roadmap doable.
Why HiPPOs Are Harmful
In a product improvement context, the HiPPO’s impression might be harmful once they impose adjustments primarily based on private expertise, instinct, or with out full information of the product or the vary of things that would have an effect on its success. Moreover, these adjustments is probably not in step with buyer wants or market developments, leading to merchandise which might be outdated, irrelevant, or fail to fulfill buyer expectations.
One other drawback arises when the HiPPO is threat averse, preferring the relative security of ways they’ve seen work nicely prior to now. This could result in an absence of innovation or a stagnant product roadmap. It will probably additionally result in losing time and assets on tasks that find yourself failing, being axed, or getting redirected down the road.
Generally, government enter may end up in roadmaps which have much less room for creativity and experimentation. Agile product roadmaps ought to talk outcomes quite than the outputs that Waterfall roadmaps usually do, however the 2023 State of Product Administration Report discovered that 70% of roadmaps most affected by requests from government management give attention to speaking outputs over outcomes.
Product roadmaps regularly influenced by the HiPPO can stifle creativity and harm the morale of the product workforce. That is probably probably the most detrimental impression of all, as a high-functioning workforce is significant to success.
Methods to Handle the HiPPO
Whereas HiPPOs pose many challenges, there are steps you possibly can take to keep up management of your product and get buy-in from management.
Develop a Excessive-quality, Proof-based Roadmap
Step one is to make sure you have a product roadmap that works. This can be a essential basis for countering any opposing views, as you possibly can have full confidence that your roadmap is the proper strategy to go.
A powerful product roadmap ought to embody a transparent imaginative and prescient and targets, in addition to a timeline for reaching them, with key milestones plotted. Establish the stakeholders concerned at every stage of the method. Select how you’ll measure success. Determine which metrics to trace (e.g., buyer satisfaction, engagement, income). Use this information to validate the standard of your future roadmaps.
For good product roadmap execution, establish how you’ll observe progress, evaluation and replace the roadmap, and check and validate concepts. Quantitative information from surveys, mixed with qualitative sentiment assortment from interviews and different interactions, affords compelling insights which might be onerous to refute. Knowledge from different sources, comparable to market analysis and competitor evaluation, ought to be utilized too. You need to have the ability to reply to buyer suggestions and adapt to altering wants; you are able to do this by incorporating a suggestions loop into the roadmap.
Set up a Choice-making Course of
In an effort to keep management of your product roadmap, create a strong course of for decision-making. In the event you don’t have one already, develop a framework for gathering buyer information and evaluating this info. This course of and its outcomes ought to be clearly documented and communicated to all stakeholders, together with the senior determine. Refer again to this evaluation to counter any opinions that don’t align together with your evidence-based roadmap.
Put collectively a workforce with representatives from all related departments, together with product administration, engineering, advertising and marketing, and buyer assist. This workforce may have the authority to make collaborative choices primarily based on each information and material experience at sure factors within the roadmap (though you must take steps to make sure that having this workforce in place doesn’t decelerate your improvement course of). Ought to the HiPPO intervene, this constant analysis will make sure the product stays on observe.
Talk Commonly With Stakeholders
Each stakeholder—together with the senior determine—is vital in making a profitable product, however it’s essential to make sure that there’s a clear understanding of the product roadmap and every individual’s position in it throughout all departments.
Set up one system for maintaining stakeholders knowledgeable of adjustments to the roadmap, and one other system for gathering, evaluating, responding to, and incorporating their suggestions. When everybody feels heard, you’ll encounter fewer points alongside the journey.
Foster Belief within the Product Staff
Belief shall be an important part in constructing constructive long-term relationships between the senior determine and the product workforce. Strengthen belief by celebrating evidence-based choices from workforce members that produce profitable outcomes. A way that has labored nicely in my expertise is a month-to-month or quarterly award given to a person or group that tackled an issue having a detrimental impression on the product. This serves to reveal the worth and experience of the workforce, which can afford higher autonomy from senior figures sooner or later. It additionally emphasizes the significance of data-driven decision-making.
Set Clear Expectations
Lastly, and maybe most significantly, previous to any roadmap discussions, develop a system in partnership with the senior determine and your product workforce to handle their involvement in decision-making. You must permit all events to really feel heard whereas setting clear expectations for his or her roles and tasks. Everybody—together with senior figures—ought to be held accountable for his or her choices and enter and be anticipated to supply proof to assist them. Make sure to doc these processes formally and clearly for all workforce members. (This course of might even deter the senior determine from providing unfounded opinions.)
Meet with the senior determine in a one-on-one setting a day or two earlier than any giant shows, giving them a discussion board through which to precise their considerations and you a chance to handle these previous to the assembly. An intimate surroundings makes it simpler to have tougher discussions with out the added stress of an viewers.
Product Roadmaps Are Pushed by Knowledge, Not Expertise
The success of a product roadmap depends on being pushed by information quite than private expertise or instinct. The HiPPO can, subsequently, have a major impression if their enter will not be dealt with nicely. Making use of the easy however efficient methods I’ve laid out right here can mitigate and forestall harm to the roadmap, product, and workforce. Having clear roles and limits in place, constructing belief, and making evidence-based choices are essential.
Sturdy, constant processes will show you how to and your workforce confidently design and execute product roadmaps which might be in step with buyer wants and market developments—and that may result in worthwhile merchandise. Suggestions from senior figures can undoubtedly be precious, however on the subject of the product and its roadmap, you and your workforce ought to have the insights that matter most.
