Stakeholder alignment on a product roadmap

You

The pilot review went well. In November the two clinics placed 8 of their 9 orders through the form, and neither ran out of anything.

Alex Tutor

That's evidence, not a hunch. What does it change?

You

February for all 14 PurrPoint clinics stays on, once clinic orders move in January. And we can finally set the phone-order target: 60% of clinic orders without a call by the end of next year.

Ian

Good. The board meets on the 16th, and I want everyone behind next quarter's plan before then. Get them all in a room and put it to a vote.

You

A vote sounds fair. Everyone gets a say.

Alex Tutor

Everyone gets a say, and nobody owns the result. Picture the Monday after the vote: who won, and what do the others do?

You

Brandon's clinics win, probably. Lucy quietly keeps the warehouse first anyway, and support goes back to answering the same calls.

Alex Tutor

So the vote settles nothing. Before you plan any meeting, work out what Ian actually needs from it.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

What does Ian actually need before the board meets?

Choose one answerA unanimous vote on every item planned for next quarterA date next to each feature, so the board sees a firm commitmentPeople who do the work understand the plan, know their part and act on it, even where they'd have ordered things differentlyOne item from each person's wish list, so that nobody feels left out

Alex Tutor

What you need is alignment: everyone understands where the roadmap is going, why, and what their own part is. They can still disagree on the details.

You

And consensus is something else?

Alex Tutor

Consensus means everyone agrees with every decision. In practice that's long meetings, a watered-down plan and decisions nobody feels responsible for.

You

“It wasn't my decision.”

Alex Tutor

Exactly. Add collaboration: people working towards the same result even when they'd choose different steps. Alignment plus collaboration is enough; consensus isn't required.

You

And buy-in is when they actually stand behind it?

Alex Tutor

Buy-in is commitment that comes from understanding the reasoning and having helped shape it. The opposite is grudging acceptance of a plan someone handed you.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Match each term to the situation that shows it.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

Alignment
Consensus
Collaboration
Buy-in

Answers left to place

You

So I get everyone in one room and walk them through the reasoning?

Alex Tutor

Eventually. First, talk to each person on their own. It's called shuttle diplomacy: you go back and forth between people, one at a time, before anyone meets as a group.

You

Isn't that slower than one meeting?

Alex Tutor

Each talk is shorter than the argument it saves. One to one, people say what they really need, including things they'd never say in front of the CEO.

You

Like how fragile the old warehouse system really is.

Alex Tutor

And by the time the group meets, their input is already in the draft. They walk in defending our plan instead of attacking yours.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Before a group meeting about the roadmap, it's best to show the draft to everyone at the same moment, so nobody feels someone else got a head start.

TrueFalse

You

What do I actually ask in each conversation? I don't want it to feel like an interrogation.

Alex Tutor

Borrow a structure coaches use, called GROW: goals, reality, options, way forward. What they want to achieve, what they're dealing with now, what they think would help, and what they'd back.

You

Do I open with the roadmap?

Alex Tutor

Open with them. Then tie what you hear to the two objectives, so every conversation stays about the same plan.

Lucy

Heard you're doing one-to-ones. I'm free after four. If it's about the warehouse, bring coffee and a calendar.

Alex Tutor

Start with her. Put your questions for Lucy in the order the conversation should go.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Put Sofia's questions for Lucy in GROW order.

Tap an item, then tap where it should go. You can also drag or use the arrows.

Ian

Honestly? I still think a bonus tied to the stock-out number would make people care. I dropped it for the board, not for good.

You

His goal isn't really the bonus. It's people caring about the numbers.

Alex Tutor

Right. And the reality is that people report features shipped, not numbers moved. Which option serves his goal without paying people for a number they could game?

You

The key results at every monthly review, in front of everyone. And Ian opens the workshop by naming the two objectives himself.

Ian

Fine. No bonus on the numbers. But I want to see them every month, and I'm opening that workshop.

Alex Tutor

Now put all the conversations on one sheet. A row per person: what they answer for, what worries them, what they'd give up, and which themes they back.

You

Clinics: Ian, Brandon, and Lucy once clinic orders move. Subscribers: Ian and support. New owners: only support. The warehouse: only Lucy.

Alex Tutor

Then you already know what's agreed before Friday, and what the room needs its time for.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Sofia's overlap sheet: the clinic theme is backed by Ian, Brandon and Lucy (once clinic orders move); the subscriber theme by Ian and support; the new-owner theme only by support; the warehouse only by Lucy. What should she bring to Friday's workshop?

Choose one answerDrop the new-owner theme and the warehouse, since only one person backs eachThe clinic and subscriber themes as the agreed starting point, with the room's time kept for the new-owner theme and for why the warehouse goes firstNothing from the sheet: start from a blank page, so nobody feels steeredThe whole sheet on screen, including what each person said they'd give up, so the group can negotiate openly

You

So how is a workshop different from presenting the plan and taking questions?

Alex Tutor

In a co-creation workshop, stakeholders build the final version with you. You arrive with a draft; they leave with a plan they've shaped.

You

What goes on the agenda?

Alex Tutor

First what's settled: the vision and the objectives, stated by Ian and not debated. Then what's changed since the last version. Then the open choice: the order of work for next quarter.

For the choice, try a quick budget: everyone splits 100 points across the themes. In five minutes you see where each person's weight really is.

You

Points. Let's not tell the founders.

Alex Tutor

The points start the discussion; the criteria and the dependencies still decide. End with the decisions written down: the order, who owns what, and the “not now” list.

Alex Tutor

Question 6

Which of these belong in the plan for Friday's co-creation workshop? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyIan opens by restating the vision and the two objectives as settledThe group rewrites the vision together, so everyone owns itA short look at what has changed since the last version, such as the pilot resultsEveryone splits 100 points across the themes, then the group discusses the biggest gapsThe order is set by the points total, with no further discussionThe session ends with the decisions written down: the order, owners and the “not now” list

You

Ian wants the invitation out today. Six people, two hours on Friday.

Alex Tutor

Then say what the session will decide, what's already settled and what to bring. People prepare for a decision differently than for a status update.

You

Should I really write that the vision isn't up for debate? It sounds harsh.

Alex Tutor

Say it kindly, but say it. If the vision is open, two hours go on wording, and the quarter stays undecided.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the invitation to Friday's workshop (4–6 sentences): what the session will decide, what's already settled, how the 100 points work and what people should bring.

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You

Friday worked. The clinic theme got 170 of the 500 points, subscribers 160. Support put 60 on new owners, so the group moved the cheap quiz test up to March.

Alex Tutor

That's co-creation doing its job: the room changed something, for a reason everyone can repeat. And the warehouse?

You

80 points, 60 of them Lucy's. Nobody else really sees it.

Alex Tutor

Enabling work rarely wins points. It still goes first, because everything else waits for it. The points just showed you who needs that explained again.

Brandon

Quick one. A PurrPoint admin says the form looks basic next to a supplier portal she uses. Can we put the portal back on the table?

You

We decided that on Friday, with him in the room.

Alex Tutor

Don't reopen a decision without significant new information. One admin finding the form plain isn't that. But tell him what would count.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Short answer · AI-checked task

Write Sofia's reply to Brandon (3–4 sentences): the decision to use the form, not the portal, stays for now. Say why, and what would count as new information.

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Alex Tutor

My friend at the accounting SaaS has her quarter planning next week. Last time, the director set the order in one meeting, and nobody in the room said a word.

You

The one with AI recognition at the top?

Alex Tutor

The same. She has a better ranking now. What she doesn't have is anyone standing behind it, least of all the director.

You

So she needs the conversations before the meeting, not a better spreadsheet.

Alex Tutor

Write her the plan. And remember the director: he needs a way to change his mind without losing face.

Alex Tutor

Question 9Case · AI-checked task

Plan how Docketly's PM gets people behind next quarter.

Docketly is a Ukrainian B2B SaaS that small accounting firms use to collect and store their clients' documents. Its objectives: fewer firms cancelling (from 2% to 1.5% a month) and more revenue per firm. The product team's outcome: documents uploaded by the accountant's deadline, from 45% to 70%.

Last quarter the director set the order alone, in one meeting, with AI document recognition first (“This is where the market is going”). Nobody argued. The PM has since ranked next quarter from the evidence:

Automatic reminders to firms' clients: 7 of 10 firms chase clients at month-end, and a large firm would pay more for reminders.
Uploads from a phone in the existing client portal: about 40% of support tickets; sales lost two deals to a competitor with phone uploads.
AI document recognition: explore first; no firm has asked for it yet.

The people involved:

The director (he): AI recognition, revenue per firm, the board.
The head of sales (she): the lost deals; wants a mobile app.
The engineering lead (he): storage costs up 30% this year; the upload component, the oldest part of the system, breaks on large files.
The head of support (she): tickets from clients who can't upload a scan from a phone.

Quarter planning is in a week. Write the PM's alignment plan (150–300 words): who she talks to one to one and what she wants to learn from each; where you expect overlap and conflict; how the planning meeting runs, including how she'd use 100 points; and what she does if the director asks to reopen the order afterwards.

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You

Lucy knows why the warehouse goes first, Brandon knows what would bring the portal back, and Ian opened the meeting himself. Nobody was outvoted.

Alex Tutor

People back what they helped build. Your job is to make building it together easy.

Alex Tutor

Key ideas

Alignment means everyone understands where the roadmap is going, why, and what their part is, even while disagreeing on details. You need alignment and collaboration, not consensus.
Buy-in comes from shaping the plan, not from being shown it.
Shuttle diplomacy: talk to each stakeholder one to one before any group meeting. Use GROW (goals, reality, options, way forward), then note on one sheet what each person answers for, worries about, would give up and backs.
A co-creation workshop starts from what's settled, looks at what's changed, surfaces differences (for example, 100 points each) and ends with decisions written down. Points start the discussion; criteria and dependencies decide.
Don't reopen a decision without significant new information, and say in advance what would count.

Next time: one roadmap, four audiences. The board, sales, engineering and PurrPoint each need their own view of the same plan.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Presenting the roadmap to different audiences