Introduction
It always starts with good intentions
If you have ever planned a family holiday, you will already understand one of the hardest parts of product management. Everyone has an opinion, not all of them line up, and you still need to come out with a plan that makes sense.
At first glance, planning a holiday feels simple. Pick a destination, book the time off, and count down the days. But before long, different needs start to appear. One person wants rest and relaxation. Another wants adventure or culture. Someone else just wants a waterpark. Suddenly, you are doing roadmap planning without even realising it.
Watch Louise break this down…
Vision makes the decisions easier
Just like in product, the first thing you need is an overarching vision. A holiday built around rest and relaxation leads to very different decisions than one focused on sightseeing or adventure. The same is true for products. Without a clear vision, every request feels equally valid and every conversation becomes harder than it needs to be.
Stakeholders are everywhere
Next come the stakeholders. In holiday planning, that might be your partner, children, friends, or relatives. In product, it is customers, leadership, sales, or delivery teams. Each has their own needs and expectations, and all of them deserve to be heard.
The role of the product manager is to align those needs to the vision. That does not mean saying yes to everything. It means understanding what matters most, what fits, and what does not. When a request clashes with the vision, like a waterpark holiday in the middle of a rest and relaxation plan, it is often better to park it for later than force it in now.
Trade offs are the real work
Good roadmap planning is about making these trade offs deliberately. Some ideas move forward. Some wait. And some resurface at a better time when the vision changes.
If planning a family holiday feels familiar, that is because it is. Product management is full of these everyday moments. The Kitchen Table Product Manager just learns to recognise them and use them to make better decisions.
