Roadmapping and crystal balls

Having a great new process, or idea of one, or maybe a new material, or even none of the above but a desire to grow your business is great. The next logical step is to map out how this is going to work. 

Think of the process as a satnav for the company's product development process, but one which also tries to be holistic in its approach. A roadmap will help alignment interdisciplinary groups, and I hope we can all recognise that no department is an island of supreme knowledge, but rather when teams with varying background collaborate, the quality and speed of innovations improves.

Ideally the roadmap will incorporate multiple planning periods of 3 - 5 years, with decreasing detail to allow for the technological innovation process that necessarily disrupts and enhances future predictions. I usually advocate building a detailed roadmap, whilst "distilling" a public one from the documentation, since quite often, sharing visions with selected external contacts can be a great way of proving dynamics in a company, and also testing concepts.

Over the years, in various companies and in varying roles, I've been responsible for

• Product development
• Product management
• Process design
• Factory organisation
• Marketing
• Sales
• Project management
• Training

With this breadth of experience, and both failures and successes on the way, I can help bring market insights and pragmatic decades of do's and don'ts to the discussion.