Preparing For the Annual or Biannual Planning

Biannual planning at Big Tech and Amazon. Efficient planning approaches for managers and engineers.

The time to start planning for the new year is around the corner at many larger tech companies, while at others it’s already in full swing. This issue of the newsletter is about approaches you can take, both ahead of and during the planning period, so that you end up with a sturdy roadmap. We cover:

Annual and biannual planning approaches

• At most large tech companies.

• Amazon’s Operational Plan process with the OP1 and OP2 stages.

Engineering managers

• The big picture: getting an early peek.

• Product roadmap: getting involved early.

• Engineering roadmap: areas worth focusing on.

• Peer teams: using planning to strengthen relationships with them.

• Headcount asks: strategies for these.

• 🔒 Checkist: Checklist for planning preparation as a supporting resource

Engineers

• Getting involved in planning: how can you do this, and what are the benefits?

• Helping your manager and your team: things you can probably already do.