Have you ever felt like your engineering and product teams were speaking different languages? One wants to ship features fast, and the other is worried about technical debt and scale issues. It's not uncommon, but how do you navigate this dynamic without derailing your growth? 

As a product leader, your role isn’t just to set the product vision—it’s to ensure that engineering input is integrated into the roadmap in a way that supports both short-term goals and long-term sustainability. The question isn’t whether engineering should have a say in the roadmap; it’s how their input should shape the plan to improve efficiency, reduce technical debt, and ultimately create a better product. Finding the right balance is crucial for building a scalable and maintainable product while keeping your business goals on track.

Why engineers need a voice in the roadmap

Your engineering team understands the technical landscape in ways that product managers and business stakeholders often don’t. They see the hidden costs of technical debt, the risks of accumulating workarounds, and the opportunities to make the system more robust. Yet, too often, technical improvements are sidelined in favour of rapid feature development—until the debt piles up and becomes an obstacle to growth.

Take the example of upgrading an existing authentication system instead of rolling out a custom-built alternative. Engineers know that using well-maintained third-party solutions can save development time, improve security, and reduce long-term maintenance costs. But if they’re not given room to voice this in roadmap discussions, the team might end up reinventing the wheel, leading to unnecessary complexity.

To prevent this, engineering teams need structured opportunities to weigh in on roadmap discussions—not just to decide how to build something, but to highlight when and why foundational improvements should be prioritised.

In our experience working with SaaS teams (and especially the management or leadership), we often see that ignoring engineering input on technical priorities leads to a buildup of technical debt, which eventually becomes a bottleneck for growth and will cause frustration in your team. Our guide on managing technical debt dives deeper into why staying on top of these issues is crucial for sustainable development.

Product and engineering: A well-orchestrated collaboration

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that product defines “what” should be built, while engineering decides “how.” Yes, this approach will simplify roles, it often leads to misalignment.  

At madewithlove, we like to compare product and engineering teams to a philharmonic orchestra. The product team acts as the conductor, setting the pace and vision. But the musicians—the engineers—understand the intricacies of their instruments. If the conductor ignores their input, the performance suffers. A violinist with a broken string can’t deliver their best work, just as an engineering team working with outdated infrastructure can’t efficiently build new features.

In this analogy, product leaders must allow engineers to highlight when a system is out of tune and give them the time and resources to make adjustments. This means making technical work an integral part of the roadmap rather than treating it as something that happens in the background.

Balancing business needs with technical improvements

Of course, it’s not all about technical perfection. As a founder, you need to ship features, demonstrate value, and meet the expectations of investors and customers. Engineers, on the other hand, are often more cautious, advocating for stability and scalability over rapid feature releases. So, how do you balance these conflicting goals?

Start by making space in your roadmap for technical improvements. This could mean allocating a percentage of each sprint to reducing technical debt or planning dedicated time blocks for infrastructure upgrades. When technical initiatives are embedded into the roadmap rather than added as an afterthought, engineering teams feel empowered, and the product benefits from better maintainability and scalability.

When communicating a roadmap to your VCs or investors, transparency matters. While it’s unnecessary to go into technical details, presenting an authentic, high-level view of engineering priorities builds trust and ensures realistic expectations.

Encouraging clear communication & a culture of collaboration

Communication is key. Engineering should feel comfortable raising technical concerns, and the product team should understand how these concerns impact the business. Transparency here can be a game-changer.

At madewithlove, we often recommend using methods like regular check-ins, dependency tracking, and a unified roadmap to make sure both teams are on the same page. It’s also helpful to document the time lost to technical inefficiencies, which can justify the need for technical improvements in business terms. For example, if your team is spending hours every week dealing with an outdated system, that’s time that could be spent shipping new features instead.

Creating effective communication protocols helps improve clarity and alignment across teams, which is particularly important in remote or hybrid setups.

Making technical direction part of your culture

A successful product roadmap isn’t an easy feat. It’s not “ just a list of features”—it’s a strategic plan that balances innovation with sustainability. Engineering input shouldn’t be limited to implementation details but should actively shape the roadmap to ensure long-term success.

Similarly, product leaders need to be receptive to input from engineering, even when it may not align with immediate product goals. Technical initiatives, like refactoring or infrastructure upgrades, might not yield immediate visible features, but they lead to a healthier, more scalable product in the long run.

It's crucial to understand that technical improvements are not just about fixing what's broken, but about providing long-term value to both users and the business. By creating an environment where technical suggestions are valued, you empower your engineering team and ultimately enhance the quality of the product.

If you’re a SaaS founder struggling to balance technical and product goals, madewithlove can help. Our CTO Soundboard service provides behind-the-scenes support to align your product vision with technical excellence, ensuring you get the best of both worlds.