Product Management
Product Management
Group portfolio items into initiatives, connect them to the outcomes they serve, and show when they land on roadmaps.
Planning looks at one idea at a time. Product Management steps back and looks at the bigger picture: which pieces of work belong together, what they are meant to achieve, and when they are expected to land. It does this with three linked records.
| Record | The question it answers | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Initiative | What are we committing to? | A named piece of work that groups related portfolio items (features). |
| Objective | What should it achieve? | A strategic outcome, with optional measures and target values. |
| Roadmap | When does it land? | A view that places initiatives into time periods, such as Now / Next / Later or quarters. |
How the records connect
- Portfolio items are the features planned in Planning → Portfolio. Each item can belong to one initiative.
- Initiatives group those items. When every item in an initiative has finished review, you can send them all to delivery together.
- Objectives record the outcome the work is for. You align an initiative to one or more objectives from the initiative page, and record why it supports each one.
- Roadmaps are built from initiatives. Each initiative brings its features with it, and nothing is copied: the same initiative can appear on several roadmaps, each with its own timing.
- Strategic themes are the broad categories, such as Growth or Customer experience, that initiatives and objectives are filed under. Your administrator sets the list in Governance → Planning → Strategy.
Where Product Management fits
Work in Paradym Next follows one path:
- An idea is submitted and reviewed in the Inbox.
- It is planned and prioritised as an item in the Portfolio.
- Product Management groups items into initiatives, aligns them to objectives and places them on roadmaps.
- Planned work is handed over to the Intake Queue, one item at a time or a whole initiative at once.
- Delivery shapes it into Projects and work streams.
- Once it is live, problems come back through Support.
The Product Management section of the sidebar holds Initiatives, Objectives and Roadmaps.
Everyone who can open these pages can view them. Buttons for creating, editing and deleting only appear if your role lets you make changes.
Pages in this section
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Initiatives | Creating initiatives, grouping features under them, aligning them to objectives and promoting them to delivery. |
| Objectives | Recording strategic outcomes, adding measures, and seeing which initiatives are aligned to each one. |
| Roadmaps | Building roadmaps from initiatives, and arranging them on a board or a timeline. |
Typical workflow
- Create an objective for an outcome your organisation wants, and add a measure or two.
- Create an initiative for the work that will deliver it.
- Add the relevant portfolio items to the initiative.
- Align the initiative to the objective and record why it supports it.
- Add the initiative to a roadmap and place it in a period.
- Promote the initiative to delivery once every item in it has finished review.
- Update the objective’s measures as results come in.