Product Management: Balancing Short and Long-Term Product Goals
Published: 2023-12-24 13:42:08

As a product leader, you constantly juggle tradeoffs. On one hand, you need to drive near-term results and show continuous improvement to stakeholders. On the other hand, you must make bets and investments that pay off months or years down the road to stay competitive. Walking this tightrope is no easy task.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all formula, establishing core principles can guide effective decision-making as you balance your short and long-term product priorities.
## Anchor with your North Star
First and foremost, be clear on your overarching product strategy and [North Star](https://amplitude.com/books/north-star/about-the-north-star-framework) metric. 
Having an aligned vision and goals for your roadmap ensures you’re pointed toward the right destination. Whether it’s revenue, engagement, daily active users, or something else, choose the one metric that cuts through the noise as your product’s true North Star.
This strategic clarity provides an anchor when determining which initiatives deserve resources and priority. If a potential feature doesn’t ladder up to moving the needle on your north star metric in some way, it likely shouldn’t make the cut, given constrained time and headcount.
You can also use tools like the [MoSCoW prioritization method](https://monday.com/blog/project-management/moscow-prioritization-method/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=How_do_you_balance_your_product_short_and_term_performance_and_growth&utm_term=queueVTA_link_1) to define must-haves, should-haves, could-haves, and wont-haves in alignment with your North Star. 

## Take a portfolio approach

With your guiding light established, structure your roadmap and investments to include a [balanced portfolio](https://monday.com/blog/project-management/portfolio-management/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=How_do_you_balance_your_product_short_and_term_performance_and_growth&utm_term=queueVTA_link_2) across short and long-term horizons. 
Allocate bandwidth for quick wins that incrementally improve performance now and lay the foundation for bolder ideas later. You should also nurture moonshots and transformative bets that can redefine what’s possible down the road.
The [70/20/10 principle](https://www.itonics-innovation.com/blog/702010-rule-of-innovation) provides one popular framework – spend 70% of resources improving core products, 20% exploring incremental innovations, and 10% on game-changing initiatives with undisclosed upside. 
Your precise mix will depend on your product’s current maturity, team size, availability of resources, and more. But maintaining a diversity of horizons avoids the traps of solely maximizing for either the present or future.
**To achieve strategic alignment:**
* Set clear, measurable short-term goals that contribute to long-term objectives.
* Understand how daily operations impact the broader vision.
*Ensure that short-term wins do not compromise long-term success.

## Double down on what works
Within your framework, relentlessly prioritize based on what initiatives have the highest leverage against your strategy and North Star. Chase down additional data to pressure test assumptions about the impact before going too deep with any effort. Not everything will work, which is why testing and learning is so vital.
Be prepared to double down when you find something that gains traction swiftly. Did that referral program show a promising lift during its beta test? Shift funding from another lower-performing effort to accelerate and optimize at scale. 
Just as important is having the courage to pull the plug on ideas not getting requisite results, even if you had high hopes. Making the portfolio call to redeploy resources elsewhere is key.

## Adapt as you learn
Finally, continually revisit your balanced approach as the market evolves and new evidence emerges. 
Perhaps that long-term investment is now showing enough positive signals to warrant more funding. Or that short-term project uncovered additional complexities you need to address first.
Regularly reevaluating your portfolio composition based on outcomes allows you to respond fluidly to where the puck is going next.

## Executing on your multipronged roadmap
Actually implementing and managing a diversity of short and long horizons brings its own complications. That’s where a dedicated work OS – built for development teams – like monday dev comes into play.

With monday dev, product teams plan roadmaps, allocate resources, and analyze progress across projects big and small – all from a centralized hub. 
The level of transparency, flexibility, and integration provides the real-time visibility leaders need. It enables them to make informed tradeoff decisions on where to double down and where to pull back.
** To streamline your strategic planning and execution, I recommend you [explore monday dev](https://www.monday.com/dev) **  to learn more about how it could fit into your workflow. 
In today’s complex product environment, leaders must optimize across multiple timeframes to drive sustainable growth. You can deliver both short-term value and long-term innovation by grounding your efforts with strategy, taking a portfolio approach, prioritizing ruthlessly, and staying agile.