Product planning is one of the most collaborative and strategic phases in product management. It defines the vision, roadmap, priorities, and execution approach for a product or portfolio. However, one of the most common questions that organizations face is: who should be involved in product planning?

The answer is rarely simple. Product planning touches nearly every aspect of a business—from strategy to engineering, marketing to finance, and customer success to sales. A successful plan requires perspectives from all key stakeholders to ensure alignment, feasibility, and impact. Excluding the wrong people can result in missed insights, lack of buy-in, or execution bottlenecks.

In this article, we’ll explore the key participants in product planning, their roles, and how to build a collaborative planning culture.

Why Participation in Product Planning Matters

Product planning isn’t just about building a roadmap—it’s about ensuring the roadmap is achievable, aligned with customer needs, and strategically valuable to the business. Participation matters because:

• Diverse Perspectives Reduce Risk: Different functions bring unique insights (e.g., engineers highlight feasibility, sales brings customer demands, finance focuses on ROI).

• Inclusion Builds Buy-In: When stakeholders feel heard, they’re more likely to commit to executing the plan.

• Alignment Prevents Miscommunication: Cross-functional planning reduces the chance of different departments pursuing conflicting goals.

• Innovation Emerges from Collaboration: Ideas often arise when diverse minds work together.

Core Participants in Product Planning

1. Product Managers (PMs)

At the center of planning are product managers, who are ultimately responsible for defining vision, strategy, and roadmap.

• Role in Planning:

  • Lead the process, ensuring discussions are customer-centric.

  • Prioritize features and align trade-offs with business goals.

  • Synthesize inputs from all stakeholders into a cohesive plan.

• Why They’re Essential: Without PMs, planning risks becoming either purely technical (engineering-led) or overly commercial (sales-led), losing balance.

2. Engineering / Development Teams

Engineering brings technical feasibility into the discussion.

• Role in Planning:

  • Estimate effort and complexity of proposed features.

  • Highlight dependencies, risks, and technical debt.

  • Suggest innovative technical solutions.

• Why They’re Essential: A plan without engineering input risks being unrealistic or impossible to deliver within timelines.

3. Design / UX Teams

Product planning isn’t just about “what” gets built—it’s also about “how” users experience it.

• Role in Planning:

  • Advocate for usability and accessibility.

  • Provide customer research insights and usability testing results.

  • Ensure design aligns with brand and customer expectations.

• Why They’re Essential: UX ensures that products don’t just function—they delight.

4. Marketing Teams

Marketing aligns product development with positioning, messaging, and market trends.

• Role in Planning:

  • Share insights on customer needs, competitor positioning, and brand alignment.

  • Plan go-to-market strategies in sync with product launches.

  • Provide feedback on potential demand generation opportunities.

• Why They’re Essential: Without marketing involvement, even the best product may fail to reach the right audience.

5. Sales Teams

Sales interacts with customers daily, giving them frontline visibility into needs and objections.

• Role in Planning:

  • Share direct customer feedback and feature requests.

  • Provide competitive intelligence from conversations in the field.

  • Align sales enablement with upcoming features.

• Why They’re Essential: Sales bridges the gap between customer expectations and product delivery.

6. Customer Support / Success Teams

Support teams are the voice of existing customers, bringing a post-purchase perspective.

• Role in Planning:

  • Identify recurring issues, complaints, and friction points.

  • Highlight opportunities to improve retention and customer satisfaction.

  • Suggest features that would reduce support costs.

• Why They’re Essential: They ensure planning doesn’t just focus on acquisition but also on long-term retention.

7. Finance Teams

Financial input ensures the plan aligns with business goals and resources.

• Role in Planning:

  • Analyze ROI of proposed features.

  • Provide budget constraints and revenue forecasts.

  • Help evaluate pricing or monetization strategies.

• Why They’re Essential: Finance ensures that the product plan contributes to profitability and sustainability.

8. Executives / Leadership Team

Executives provide strategic alignment with company vision and long-term priorities.

• Role in Planning:

  • Ensure the product plan aligns with overall business strategy.

  • Approve budgets and resources.

  • Set high-level expectations and KPIs.

• Why They’re Essential: Leadership support is critical for resource allocation and organizational commitment.

9. Operations / Legal / Compliance Teams

In regulated industries or large organizations, operations and compliance must also be involved.

• Role in Planning:

  • Flag regulatory requirements and risks.

  • Ensure operational processes can support new products.

  • Address privacy, security, and accessibility obligations.

• Why They’re Essential: Compliance failures can derail products even before launch.

10. Customers (Direct Input)

Although not part of every internal meeting, customer feedback should always inform planning.

• Role in Planning:

  • Participate through surveys, interviews, beta programs, or advisory boards.

  • Validate assumptions about needs and priorities.

• Why They’re Essential: Without the customer voice, product planning risks being internally biased.

Striking the Right Balance

While many stakeholders should contribute, involving everyone equally can slow progress. Successful planning requires balancing inclusivity with efficiency:

• Core Team: PM, engineering, design.

• Extended Team: Marketing, sales, support, finance.

• Advisory Input: Executives, compliance, customers.

Think of product planning as concentric circles of influence, with PMs at the center orchestrating input across layers.

Pitfalls in Stakeholder Participation

1. Too Many Voices = Analysis Paralysis – Over-collaboration can lead to endless debates.

2. Excluding Key Functions – Leaving out engineering or support can create unrealistic plans.

3. Domination by One Group – If sales or executives dominate, the plan may skew toward short-term wins.

4. Token Involvement – Inviting stakeholders without genuinely considering their input leads to mistrust.

Best Practices for Stakeholder Collaboration

• Define Roles Clearly (e.g., RACI framework: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).

• Use Structured Processes (workshops, backlog grooming, prioritization sessions).

• Communicate Transparently (share planning docs, roadmaps, and decisions openly).

• Timebox Discussions to prevent endless debates.

• Seek Evidence, Not Opinions—ground input in customer data and metrics.

Real-World Example: Spotify

Spotify’s success in product planning comes partly from their squad model, which balances autonomy and alignment. Each squad (cross-functional team) participates in planning, but PMs ensure customer needs and company goals remain central. This inclusive-yet-structured approach helped them innovate rapidly while scaling globally.

Conclusion

So, who should participate in product planning? The answer is: everyone who impacts the product’s success—but with the right level of involvement.

From PMs, engineering, and design at the core, to marketing, sales, finance, and executives in supporting roles, to customers as the ultimate voice—planning must bring diverse insights together. The art lies in balancing inclusivity with efficiency, ensuring everyone has input without creating chaos.

Involving the right stakeholders doesn’t just improve the plan—it builds organizational alignment, customer focus, and long-term product success.