Release Plan

A release plan helps Product Owners communicate how a product is expected to evolve over time---and what outcomes each release should achieve. Scrum doesn't define release planning, but in practice, many teams find it useful to align stakeholders, manage expectations, and focus on delivering impact, not just output.

Release planning isn't about locking down exact dates or long feature lists. It's about giving direction---linking releases to goals and measurable results. Each release becomes a step toward the Product Goal---and a chance to inspect, learn, and adapt.

A helpful tool for this is the GO Product Roadmap by Roman Pichler. It connects product goals to releases and includes metrics to track success, helping teams stay focused on outcomes over output.

Used this way, a release plan becomes more than a schedule---it's a strategic tool to guide product development and maximize value creation.