Business Needs & Technical Roadmap - A hide-and-seek game

CTO Diaries #01

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Jun 15, 2024

Intro

Hey 👋 This is Stephan from Amazing CTO. I am a CTO coach and have been a CTO with multiple startups and organizations like eBay. Working with multiple startups as a CTO, I’ve had the privilege of steering our development team through numerous challenges and wins at one of my startup journeys. One of the most critical aspects of this CTO journey has been bridging the gap between business objectives and technical execution. In this article, I have tried to distill my personal experiences on how other CTOs/engineering leaders can effectively do it, ensuring growth & innovation in their teams.

"In a world where technology is reshaping every industry, the ability to connect deeply with the business vision and understand its nuances is crucial for driving innovation and achieving long-term goals.”

Satya Nadella - Microsoft CEO

Where to start from? Firstly, deeply understand the business vision!

The foundation of aligning technical goals with business needs starts with a profound understanding of the company’s vision and objectives. This goes beyond just knowing the mission statement. Engage with all key stakeholders—founders, C-level executives, and department heads. Participate in strategic meetings and listen actively to understand their perspectives and expectations.

When I first stepped into the role of CTO, I made it a priority to spend substantial time with our CEO and other executives. We discussed where we saw the company in three to five years, our unique value proposition, and the competitive landscape. These conversations were invaluable in shaping a technical strategy that was not only aligned with but also actively supported our long-term business goals.

How do I translate this vision?

Once you have a clear understanding of the business vision, the next step is translating these goals into technical requirements. This requires a mix of strategic thinking and technical acumen.

Break down high-level business objectives into actionable technical tasks. For instance, if the business goal is to enhance customer satisfaction, the technical requirement might involve improving the platform’s performance, adding new features based on user feedback, or enhancing the user interface. Each business goal should be dissected into SMART technical objectives.

One of our key business goal was to increase user retention. After discussions with our marketing and sales teams, it was clear that enhancing our app’s performance and reliability would be critical. We translated this into specific technical initiatives, such as optimizing server response times, refactoring legacy code, and implementing more robust testing procedures.

Does everyone need to align?

The success lies in collaboration. Foster a culture of collaboration where business and technical teams work closely together. Encourage cross-functional teams and ensure that engineers understand the business impact of their work. Regularly update stakeholders on the progress of technical initiatives and be clear about any challenges or changes in priorities.

In our startup, we implemented monthly “all-hands” meetings where different departments, including engineering, marketing, and sales, could share updates and insights. This not only fostered a sense of unity but also helped engineers understand how their work directly impacted business outcomes. When engineers see the bigger picture, they are more motivated and aligned with the company’s goals.

But, business teams always want everything ‘now’?

In a startup environment, resources are often limited, and it’s crucial to prioritize effectively. Not every business need can be addressed immediately, so use a framework to identify which initiatives will have the most significant impact on your business goals. But, don’t get into the loop of executing it to the detail - keep it a bit flexible as some business needs will be dynamic.

We have found JTBD framework to be most effective for us that considers what customers need to accomplish, shifting the emphasis from features and products to customer outcomes. By identifying and prioritizing the jobs that customers are trying to get done backed by usage-data, we are able to focus on the most critical and impactful areas.

And, Stay Agile!

Embrace an agile mindset, where continuous iteration and improvement are part of the process. Regularly revisit and reassess your technical priorities to ensure they remain aligned with the business needs. As the business grows, your technical solutions need to scale with it. Invest in technologies and infrastructure that can handle increased demand and allow for future growth. Scalability should be a core consideration in your technical roadmap.

Lastly, how do I know if it’s working?

Data never lies. Leverage analytics and key metrics to guide your technical decisions and demonstrate the impact of your work on business objectives.

We use a range of metrics to track the performance of our technical initiatives, from system uptime and response times to production incidents and retention rates. These metrics provide valuable insights into what is working and what needs improvement, allowing us to make informed decisions that drive business success.Last words

Aligning technical roadmaps with business needs is an ongoing challenge that requires a deep understanding of the business, strategic thinking, and effective communication. By fostering a collaborative culture, prioritizing ruthlessly, investing in scalable solutions, and embracing continuous improvement, CTOs, and engineering leaders can ensure their technical strategies drive business success.

One thing you can take away from this blog -

The most critical answers to balancing business and tech needs will come from prioritizing customer needs from the outset. We've flipped the script on product development. This approach ensures we're not over-engineering or just building something cool, but something that solves real problems for the people who matter most in the short & long term. By truly understanding what customers want, not what we think they want, we can build products that resonate, driving success for both our customers and our business.

Ciao!