2013 Roadmap

We all make resolutions in the new year - and as product managers, we're spending the last part of December and beginning of January setting our goals for the upcoming year.  Each year, I've experienced different ways of approaching the new year, and this year was the most successful.

My advice is to focus on a few business objectives.  Keep your goals fairly high level and make sure they support the company mission/vision.  After you've done that, choose projects that support this goal and then rank the in two ways - by priority and by level of effort.  Take a look at what you have on that list, and set realistic goals on what you can accomplish.  Look at your work load - can you accomplish everything you have on your plate?  Finally, plan out your year- review the data you've collected and make decisions about what you can and cannot accomplish. 

Some tools that have helped me complete my roadmap are...

• Excel and Powerpoint
• TouchDraw (for MacUsers)
• Prezi - a really fun presentation tool

Here are a few useful resources for roadmapping...

• Creating the Right Product Roadmap 
• Product Roadmaps from Pragmatic Marketing
• Quora: Best Practices for Roadmaps 

What are your thoughts?  What tools have you used for road-mapping?  Do you have best practices?  What successes, or failures have you seen when you've done your planning?