Executive Communication for Engineering Managers - Guide to give an effective roadmap presentation

Audience

Directors and cross-functional stake holders

Subject

Engineering Roadmap Presentation

Points to remind yourself as an Engineering Manager 

Speak slowly, may be 2x slower than you normally speak. You have been spending day and night preparing this roadmap presentation, but your audience hasnt. You have way more context and will naturally speak fast to the subject. Its important to go slow, give the audience a chance to consume the context, keep the presentation interactive and take them along the roadmap. So speak slowly, give pauses, take questions. 

Set context about the

1. background of the team and the overall goal and strategy
2. workstream breakdown within the team and how it fits into the goal
3. sizing comparison legend and costing granularity (design + engineering + ML + iOS + Android) which will be dimensions your projects will be compared on
4. staffing and distribution of staffing across workstreams
5. definition of P0s, P1s, P2s. This is the definition I like to use : 
1. P0s - team will absolutely cover it or the team fails
2. P1s - stretch goal
3. P2s - good to have
6. opportunity sizing, costing and strategy to motivate your P0s and the difference with a P1. More than the what highlight why is something a P0. 
7. staffing crunch to highlight what is being dropped to P1. Ideally quantify P1s with missed impact. This can help you create a case for new Head Count. Noob managers often overlook the P1s and dont talk about it because they are not working on it. 
8. measurement methodology for tracking goals
9. goaling details and project level breakdown with motivation behind why your goal is a P10, P50, P80
10. risks - a good manager should always call out risks. if this section is empty, then the team is not aggressive enough and coasting. Or the manager is flying blind and not aware of variables