Monthly focus documents instead of roadmaps

In the day-to-day operations of an early-stage company, it's easy to become reactive by addressing every piece of feedback and bug, but it's crucial to balance this with working on significant projects that drive progress. The company uses monthly focus documents, which are one-page plans created at the start of each month, to guide the team on which projects to prioritize, ensuring alignment and ownership across the distributed team. Each document includes a summary of goals for the month, a review of the previous month if necessary, and a list of projects with designated owners, descriptions, and links to relevant resources. While the focus documents provide direction, the team remains adaptable, ready to tackle unplanned work and prioritize tasks based on frequency and impact of user feedback, maintaining a calm backlog and flexibility. For the company, which is currently a team of five and expanding, these documents have been instrumental in fostering trust and direction, and they also serve as useful tools for investor updates by summarizing key achievements and challenges. As they grow, the challenge will be maintaining the effectiveness of these documents in a larger team setting, but the practice encourages thoughtful planning and prioritization, essential for navigating the limited time and resources available in a startup environment.