Product vision workshop
“We know what we're building this year. We don't know where the product's going.”
Sound familiar?
“The roadmap is a list of requests from sales.”
Whoever shouts loudest gets the next feature.
“The roadmap changes every week.”
But the person changing it doesn’t think it changed at all.
“The engineers ask why. Nobody has a good answer.”
So they build what’s asked, and stop suggesting what’s possible.
What we do
We start from the customer experience you want to create, expressed in the words they would use themselves. We work backwards from there to what needs to be built to create that experience, and what trade-offs you’re going to make to do so.
What it looks like when it works
The roadmap starts from the customer, and requests that don’t fit get a clear no.
The vision holds from week to week, and the CEO doesn’t have to decide every feature.
Everyone can say where the product’s going, and why, and the roadmap gets easier to agree.
Engineers know who they’re building for, and bring ideas of their own.
How it runs
Before
A conversation with each leader and a short preparation assignment for each to get their view of what the customer wants.
During
We view each idea from the perspective of the customer and debate the best approach. We capture the outcome in a single document to be shared, with experiments to run to confirm the direction.
After
An optional follow-up meeting to review customer feedback, maintain momentum and clarify next steps.
You leave with
A product vision the whole team can explain.
Typical format
How long: from two hours to a full day
Where: online, in your office, or at an offsite
Preparation and support: by email and video call, as much or as little as you need
Case studies
From a strategy on paper to a confident strategic call
A Series A B2B software startup's leadership team turned a strategy on paper into OKRs they still run, and found the confidence to make a big strategic call.
Read more
+
A strategy reset that broke a risky dependency
A seed-stage SaaS startup of about 30 people reset its strategy in a one-day offsite, broke its dependence on a single platform, and pivoted fast when that platform changed.
Read more
+
Who you’ll be working with
I run every session myself.
I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation. Since then, I’ve worked with over 200 leaders and 16 startup leadership teams as a facilitator and coach.
If I’m not the right person to help, I’ll introduce you to someone who could be.
What usually comes first: Strategy workshop
What usually comes next: OKR workshop
Know someone this would help?
Here’s a line you can send them:
Richard runs a product vision workshop that works back from the customer, so the whole team can explain where the product is going.
Next steps
Start with a free, 20-minute Clarity Call. Confidential, and no preparation needed.