How can you ensure R&D teams understand the product development team's vision?

A common problem that sets the seeds for failure is when the R&D Team, whether internal or external, is treated as just worker bees. The most succesful R&D Teams are powered by a strong synergy that flows first from the founders or senior management. It's like a fund raising pitch. You must gain emotional engagement by answering the "why" of the project and then inspire collaboration on the "how". Bear in mind that the "how" of the project is never just about R&D. Every project involves marketing, sales, manufacturing, finance and QC. You are building a 10,000 ton fast ship. While the engine dept and steering dept work well on their own if they don't work well together the ship will simply go in circles.

Clear and effective communication is essential. The problem statement should be communicated in a concise and understandable manner, highlighting the key challenges and objectives. Providing context and background information can help them understand the problem's significance. It is crucial to create an open and collaborative environment where individuals can contribute their ideas and expertise, ensuring that the problem statement aligns with their skills and capabilities.

Research and Development (R&D) is fundamental for innovative, tech-driven products. Collaborating with Product and Development teams is key for effective outcomes aligned with business goals. For instance, if the product strategy involves AI-powered features on a SaaS platform, constant communication is essential. The R&D team, informed about priorities, integrates necessary ML models and libraries, ensuring efficient testing and optimal solutions. This continuous communication streamlines decision-making, selecting the right resources for development, and ensures the timely realization of the product vision.

It is an art to repeatedly create successful plans. The plan must be a living thing. Attention should be paid to the challenges & risks anticipated at each step. That plan must address them, balance them and constantly ferret any new ones using the skill sets of the Team. One approach is to use the concept of "equal pain". A poor plan will be blind to the Team's strengths and weaknesses and put extraordinary pressure on one person or group. By knowing your Team you can balance the pain by partitioning the risks, challenges and planned solution paths so that everyone is stressed and working equally hard. By doing this, communication, synergy and learning flows in many directions. Roadmaps built this way tend to have repeated successes.

This is important to foster motivation and a sense of accomplishment. This can be done by acknowledging individual and team achievements through public recognition, such as team meetings or company-wide announcements. It not only boosts morale but also reinforces a culture of appreciation and encourages continued dedication and excellence in product development.

In reviewing our projects, our Team uses a "post mortem" type meeting. No, nobody died but such meetings can still be quite stressful. To set the meeting context, I always start off with some clear rules: 1. We as a Team must identify and own, both what went wrong AND what went right. 2. This isn't about you personally and we will not make it into that. Yes, this may have been an area of your responsibility but the discussion is about us as a Team and how to improve. 3. Any and all honest feedback, presented tactfully and focused on the issue is allowed. 4. No idea for improvement is dumb. But be thoughtful in what you say. Some awesome ideas have come from these meetings. We sometimes grease the wheels by making it a lunch with beer...