WARNING! This is a LONG post so you may have to click out to Substack to read the full article.
The CRO comes to you with yet another major request. You’re beginning to feel overwhelmed because, quite frankly, you’re behind on current deliverables. If you push back on the request by simply saying no you may come off as an internal blocker. Do that enough times and you may be perceived as a real barrier to organizational progress.
Enter the RevOps roadmap.
It is a statement of intent. It communicates the HOW and the WHY behind a RevOps Strategy.
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Now back to our regular scheduled programming.
You might be asking:
Do I really need a RevOps Roadmap? Can’t I just use my RevOps backlog or my to-do list instead?
RevOps Roadmap vs. RevOps Backlog Differences
The roadmap includes high-level themes. The backlog includes task-level jobs. Roadmap tells the strategy. The checklist/backlog are the tactics.
The roadmap’s audience will include your key stakeholders. The checklist/backlog is an internal document primarily for the operations team.
The roadmap conveys your strategy. The backlog conveys your plan to implement it.
SCALING NEEDS THE WHY
As your business SCALES, a RevOps Roadmap communicates WHY you’re building something. It shows that value to your stakeholders. Whereas, a backlog is merely a to-do list to get to that point. A RevOps Roadmap is a VISUAL way to communicate your priorities. Below is an example of an initiatives focused RevOps roadmap. Initiatives are to the right and the sub-projects are to the right. Let’s say for example that one of your initiative was to increase SAL-to-SAL conversion rates. You might develop five core hypotheses which turn into sub-projects.
Conversion Tracking
Data Appending Process
Design Sequencing Process & Content
Implement Outreach
Streamline Meeting Scheduling
The roadmap is dynamic. It can and will change, so don’t stick to your guns. Fluidity is a natural part of roadmapping. As the weeks and months pass by, the facts on the ground might change on you. The assumptions or what you thought were true might be completely reversed on you. Ideally, as a RevOps leader you are regularly reviewing your roadmap.
Does our existing strategy still make sense?
From a visual perspective you have three options to present your roadmap:
The “No Dates” RevOps Roadmap
The “Hybrid” RevOps Roadmap
The “Timeline” RevOps Roadmap
So which one should you choose?
It DEPENDS on your maturity lifecycle.
Say for example your business is constantly changing. Your priorities shift from one day to the next. You do not want to be bogged down by a date. Instead, you may want to operate similar to an Agile team (product management term). The “No Dates” roadmap works best.
Here you’re organizing your swim lanes by theme. Items are organized on a dynamic grid with headers that can be adjusted and customized by theme; including by owner, team, or status.
The “Hybrid” roadmap makes sense as a business moves up the maturity curve. Not only will it still feature themes but it will also consider dates. Months or quarters are great here as opposed to specific dates. This roadmap type still leaves plenty of flexibility.
With a hybrid roadmap you’re starting to time box deliverable dates. It’s helpful but isn’t constraining.
The last roadmap type is more date oriented. This works extremely well at mature companies where careful cross departmental coordination is required.
Now remember, RevOps Roadmaps evolve with the maturation of the business.
Risks of not updating your roadmap
Failure to regularly update your roadmap could mean that everyone on your cross-functional team might be working with outdated or incorrect information leading to repeated questions, confusion around initiatives, and general misalignment.
So how should you decide what goes into your roadmap?
RevOps teams die not because they're starving. They normally die of indigestion.
When an Ops function is reactive it tends to say no problem, consider it done. Having the ability to identify the initiatives that will make the most impact in a timely fashion is a skill every RevOps leader must possess.
So let's dive into specifics on how to prioritize your roadmap. There are several prioritization methodologies which RevOps could leverage. I’ll name a few then go into which one I prefer to use myself:
RICE Method
MoSCoW Method
Value Effort Method
Eisenhower Matrix
Kano Model
Weighted Scoring Decision Model
I suggest you take the time to learn each one. Product and Engineering teams have been using these tools for a very long time. RevOps team can easily leverage these frameworks for themselves.
Let’s describe each method.
The RICE Method
First popularized by the company Intercom, the RICE scoring model is a project management methodology used to prioritize projects by quantifying the impact and effort associated with each project. RICE stands for four factors: Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. By evaluating projects across these dimensions, teams can make more informed decisions about which projects to prioritize. This methodology is particularly useful for Revenue Operations (RevOps) teams, which often juggle multiple initiatives aimed at driving revenue growth and operational efficiency.
Understanding RICE Components
Reach: Measures how many people or transactions will be affected within a certain timeframe (e.g., a quarter or a year).
Impact: Assesses the degree of change that a project will have on your desired outcome. Impact is often subjective but can be categorized (e.g., "massive" (3x), "high" (2x), "medium" (1x), "low" (0.5x)).
Confidence: Reflects your certainty about your estimates. It's usually expressed as a percentage (e.g., 100%, 80%, 50%). Confidence helps adjust for the uncertainty in your Reach and Impact estimates.
Effort: Estimates the total amount of time a project will require from all team members, often measured in "person-months" or "person-weeks".
The MoSCoW Method
The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique used in project management and business analysis to reach a common understanding with stakeholders on the importance of delivering various requirements. It's particularly useful for managing expectations and ensuring that critical deliverables are identified and focused on. MoSCoW stands for:
M - Must have: These are critical requirements that the project must deliver for it to be considered successful.
S - Should have: These are important but not critical; they are high-priority items that should be included in the project if possible.
C - Could have: These are desirable but not necessary; they could improve customer satisfaction or user experience but are not essential for project success.
W - Won't have (this time): These are the least critical requirements, agreed upon as not part of the current scope but may be considered in the future.
The Value Effort Matrix
The Value Effort Method is a project prioritization framework that helps teams decide which projects or features to work on first. This methodology is particularly useful in environments where resources are limited, and decisions must be made to maximize impact. It evaluates projects based on two main criteria: the value they provide and the effort required to implement them. By plotting projects on a Value vs. Effort matrix, teams can visually prioritize projects that offer the highest value for the least effort.
Understanding Value Effort Method Components
Value: Represents the benefit or return a project is expected to deliver to the organization. This could be financial return, customer satisfaction, risk reduction, or strategic alignment.
Effort: Estimates the resources, time, and complexity involved in completing the project. Effort can be quantified in terms of person-hours, cost, or other units of measure relevant to the team.
The Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix, is a time management tool that helps individuals and teams prioritize tasks and projects based on their urgency and importance. This method is attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, who was known for his ability to sustain productivity over a long period. The matrix divides tasks into four quadrants:
Urgent and Important (Quadrant I): Tasks that require immediate attention and are critical for success.
Important but Not Urgent (Quadrant II): Tasks that are important for long-term success and goals but do not require immediate action.
Urgent but Not Important (Quadrant III): Tasks that require immediate attention but do not contribute significantly to long-term goals.
Neither Urgent nor Important (Quadrant IV): Tasks that are neither urgent nor important and could be considered as distractions.
The Kano Model
The Kano Model is a theory for product development and customer satisfaction developed in the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano. It offers a unique perspective on product features and how they relate to customer satisfaction. The model categorizes features into five main types based on how they are perceived by customers and their effect on customer satisfaction:
Basic Needs (Must-Be Quality): These are features that customers expect by default. Their absence causes dissatisfaction, but their presence does not significantly increase satisfaction.
Performance Needs (One-Dimensional Quality): These features result in satisfaction when fulfilled and dissatisfaction when not fulfilled. Their impact on satisfaction is directly proportional to the level of performance.
Excitement Needs (Attractive Quality): Features that customers do not expect but are delighted by if present. These can significantly boost customer satisfaction if delivered but do not cause dissatisfaction if absent.
Indifferent Quality: Features that do not significantly impact customer satisfaction whether present or absent.
Reverse Quality: Features that can cause dissatisfaction if present and satisfaction if absent, depending on the customer's preferences.
My personal take is that the Kano model looks a lot like the MoSCoW model.
The Weighted Scoring Method
The Weighted Scoring Decision Model, also known as the weighted scoring method, is a versatile and systematic approach used in project management for evaluating and prioritizing a set of items, projects, or initiatives based on multiple criteria. This model allows teams to assign weights to each criterion based on its importance, and then score each project against these criteria. The final scores help in making informed decisions about which projects to prioritize.
Understanding the Weighted Scoring Decision Model
Criteria Identification: Identify the factors or criteria that are important for evaluating the projects. These could include cost, potential revenue, strategic alignment, customer impact, and implementation difficulty.
Weight Assignment: Assign a weight to each criterion to reflect its importance relative to the others. The weights should add up to 100% or 1.0 if using a proportion.
Scoring: Score each project against each criterion on a consistent scale (e.g., 1-10). The score represents how well the project meets the criterion.
Calculation: Multiply the score for each criterion by its weight for each project, then sum these weighted scores to get a total score for each project.
Prioritization: Compare the total scores to prioritize the projects, with higher scores indicating higher priority.
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