Every product needs a roadmap: that cool chart that CTOs and Product Managers use to explain how a technology will get to market, complete with important features and timelines. What if we take this roadmap concept and apply it to people?
A few weeks ago, I locked myself in the conference room at influencers@ and created a “People Roadmap” for each of the members of my team. Each Roadmap outlines:
- Goals: What do they need to accomplish and when? This is how their success is measured.
- Core Responsibilities: What are the most important things they should be working on?
- Daily Focus Areas: What should they be thinking about outside of their core responsibilities?
- Skills to Develop: What should they learn and improve on? Hard skills (PHP) or soft skills (writing).
- Strengths and Areas for Improvement: Where are they strongest versus where are there opportunities for improvement?
- Progression: What are their next steps in our business? Ex: Designer > Creative Director > Chief Creative Officer.
- Notes: What else is worth noting about the teammate? Qualitative description of what they do best, how they work most effectively, etc.
Creating these Roadmaps takes a lot of thought – it forces you as a leader to analyze your team and gain a deeper understanding of your people’s abilities. Once the Roadmaps are created, the next step is to schedule meetings with each team member to walk through the document, get their insight on it and collaboratively edit it (this ensures that both you and your teammate feel ownership for the process).
Every team member should keep their Roadmap close and reference it often. This allows everyone to always be on the same page with what their goals are, what they should be focusing on, and how their success is being measured.
For full transparency, take a look at my Roadmap here.
