Annual Planning for Maximum Impact

David Jesse September 30 2024

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”  – Pablo Picasso

As we head into Q4, many companies are gearing up for annual planning, and product leaders play a critical role in shaping the path forward. For product leaders, this time of year is especially pivotal for setting clear goals, aligning teams, and ensuring the right resources are in place to deliver results.

Even in today’s uncertain environment, where change is constant, having a solid plan is more important than ever. Planning provides teams with direction and focus, while still allowing the flexibility to adapt as new information or challenges arise.

The levers we pull during planning—defining goals, providing context, setting expectations, and securing resources—are what set the stage for success. The work we do now will influence our team’s performance not just for the next quarter, but for the entire year ahead.

In this post, we'll explore some of the key considerations for annual planning, drawing on our experience as product executives and advisors, and offer strategies to help you set your team up for success in the year ahead.

 

Elements of a Valuable Plan reduce package 2

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra

A strong plan outlines what your team needs to accomplish and how to get there. It’s not just about hitting short-term business goals but also building long-term product value for your customers.

It's common for product teams to have plenty of “good” ideas, but the difference between a good team and a great one lies in selecting the ideas with the highest potential impact. This requires intent, discipline and a focus on iteration and learning along the way.

At a minimum, your annual plan should clarify:

  • Key product problems to solve and why they matter
  • Team ownership and accountability for each problem
  • Resources and staffing available to support each team
  • Business goals and product KPIs to measure success

By clearly outlining these elements, your team can have clarity and can prioritize the most important work. Anything not included in the plan should be considered lower priority, or even explicitly “unfunded” to avoid distractions. This prevents resources from being spread too thin and keeps the team focused.

These need to be defined at the organizational and team level. Teams should have no ambiguity around what they are responsible for, how their progress is being measured and how they are staffed. This alignment keeps the team on track, avoids random, off-course work, and reduces the risk of unrealistic expectations that lead to failure.

 

Results-1Informing Your Plan's Goals

“You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans.” – Harry Truman

When creating your annual plan, start with two key elements: 1) an updated product vision and 2) the overall business goals.

Product Vision
Your product vision defines the future state you’re working toward and maximizes value for customers. It provides both inspiration to think big and focus to deliver consistent progress. A strong vision should be:

  • Achievable: Realistic for the team in a 3+ year time horizon
  • Bold: Ambitious, pushing the team to focus on high-impact areas
  • Clear: Specific enough and communicated clearly so it’s actionable
  • Differentiated: Shows how your product will succeed against competition
  • End-to-end: Covers all phases of the customer journey

Business Goals
Business goals clarify the impact your roadmap must deliver to meet financial objectives. They inform which parts of your vision to prioritize first and help balance different objectives such as growth vs. retention and innovation vs. iteration.

Product vision and business goals must work together. Without business goals, a vision might not be commercially viable. Without a vision, you risk chasing short-term wins at the expense of long-term value.

If you don’t have an updated product vision, it’s worth investing time up front, even via a one-day workshop, to develop one. The clarity it brings can be game-changing.

 

flywheelEmbracing Flexibility in Planning

“Just because you made a good plan, doesn’t mean that’s what’s gonna happen.” – Taylor Swift

One common pitfall in annual planning is overcommitting to a false sense of precision. Teams often spend weeks creating detailed 12-month roadmaps, complete with scoped features and business impact predictions. Much of this effort can be wasted—or even counterproductive.

This leads to problems like:

  • Jumping to solutions before understanding the real problems and their root causes
  • Detailed scoping of features that haven’t gone through discovery
  • Over-planning things that are based on untested assumptions
  • Holding onto commitments that should be revised based on new learnings

A better approach is to plan with flexibility. Focus on what’s most likely to stay constant—core competencies and strategic pillars—and leave room for iteration. For example:

  • Commit to key strategic themes that align with your product vision
  • Identify customer and business problems to solve, but allow for testing and iteration on solutions
  • Define your “big rocks”—the major initiatives that drive innovation—while maintaining capacity for unplanned opportunities

Instead of stacking up 50 feature ideas, aim for 2-3 key themes per team each quarter. These can be backed by feature ideas, but don’t lock yourself into detailed solutions too early.

By prioritizing problems to solve, metrics to move, and allowing features to evolve as hypotheses, your team will be better equipped to adapt to new insights and focus on impact—not just delivery.

 

TeamSetting Team Up for Success & Accountability

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” – Peter Drucker

A solid plan isn’t just about what needs to be done—it’s also about who will do it. Without clear ownership and adequate resources, even the best ideas can fail.

Every team feels stretched, and while it’s healthy to strive for ambitious goals, your job as a leader is to ensure your team is set up for success. If they succeed, you succeed.

Start by involving your team in the planning process from the beginning. Teams that help create the plan are more invested in its success and bring valuable expertise from their domain. Share top-down context, such as the product vision and business goals, and a simple framework for them to build on. This collaboration leads to better alignment and ownership.

Next, review staffing for critical initiatives. For each major goal, identify:

  • The “directly responsible individual” (DRI) leading the charge
  • Specific names from the cross-functional team supporting it
  • Whether the team has the right resources to succeed

Look at both quantity (do they have enough people?) and quality (are they the right people?). Assess:

  • Is the DRI capable of driving the initiative?
  • Is there enough capacity and the right skill mix across PM, engineering, design, and data science?
  • Are the team's commitments realistic and focused?

Where there are gaps, be prepared to reallocate resources, revise expectations, or bolster teams with new hires. Use this year’s performance as a guide to what’s achievable, rather than over-promising.

This is also a good time to revisit overall staffing and team structure:

  • Strengthen critical teams by reallocating or hiring
  • Form new teams for top priorities not already staffed
  • Reward high performers with increased responsibility and new opportunities
  • Address underperformance where needed to make the team stronger

 

target-1Bringing It All Together

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” – Thomas Edison

Creating a strong plan requires a holistic approach, balancing:

  • A long-term product vision
  • Annual business goals
  • Product priorities
  • Staffing, organization, resourcing and ownership

Depending on your team’s size, company stage, and maturity, this process can range from light to in-depth. Either way, addressing these key areas during your planning cycle will set your team up for success throughout the year.

To ensure alignment, bring together your cross-functional teams for a deep dive. Share the plan across departments to validate assumptions, promote transparency, and work through any tradeoffs. Keep iterating until everyone is on the same page—each team’s plan should support the overall company and product goals, with clear commitment from all stakeholders involved.

If you need support, whether through coaching, consultation, fractional product leadership, or leading a workshop, we’re here to help you refine your plans and set your team up for success. 

Feel free to email me at david@prodify.group or request a call.

Written by David Jesse

David is a Senior Product Advisor / Coach and Fractional Product Executive at Prodify. Prior to that, he was a product executive at DoorDash, Fetch Rewards, and Groupon. David also worked as a product leader at eBay on Marty Cagan’s team.

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