“Seamless collaboration among team members”, said no one ever about Microsoft 365
Especially when trying to share documents or follow anything in Teams channels. And yet, ‘collaboration’ and ‘productivity’ are exactly the words Microsoft tends to highlight when describing Teams’ product vision.
So what happened? Why is the in-product experience so far removed from the vision? Was the vision too ambitious? Retroactively imposed onto a product that couldn’t deliver? Or was the vision forgotten, with the execution taking a wrong turn somewhere, drifting farther and farther away?
In reality, there’s rarely just one simple reason, and some reasons are more understandable than others.
In Microsoft’s case, it’s a story of a vision retroactively imposed onto an existing product that simply can’t deliver. Extending a product beyond what it was originally designed to do - like transitioning overcomplicated desktop software into a Cloud-like experience - is a humongous challenge. Sometimes, it’s an impossible one.
While this is a terrible outcome for the user, at a push product teams can at least sympathise (a little) and see how it happened. But when a product isn’t constrained, and was built with a clear vision from the start, letting the design drift is inexcusable.
Product, we have a problem
Here’s the TL;DR: As long as the product vision lives only in glossy slides - and not every day decisions - it won’t matter. People see it, nod politely and move on. The result? You’ll end up with Teams although your vision painted a picture of perfect collaboration and productivity… 
The cure: Make the vision matter
The solution is simple: breathe life into the vision. Take it off the slides and embed it into everyday product work:
1. Master the art of storytelling
A vision is not a flat statement, it’s a story. Whenever you share it, explain why it matters. Anchor it in your users:
- Who are they?
- What do they struggle with?
- What do they aspire to?
- Why does it matter?
- Now reveal the vision: Tell the world how the product is going to help.
- Make the vision something every team member can relate to.
2. Evangelise, evangelise, repeat
Noise is a given. While requests flood in and priorities shift, your role is to keep the vision alive. Share it often and retell it in different ways to make sure every team member knows it, feels it, and works towards it every day.
3. Let the vision guide prioritisation
Use your product vision as a filter to cut through the noise. Ask: ‘Does this solve a problem that moves us closer to the vision?’ If not, drop it and focus on what matters.
4. Let the vision guide product design
Your product vision is your best design adviser. Evaluate every solution through this lens: Does this solution fit the vision? If not, find a better one.
5. Build tiny vision habits
Embed the product vision into everyday product work and make it part of your definition of done. Use it as a filter and a design guide. Make it so easy to follow that ignoring it takes effort. Build it into your definition of done, and it becomes a habit everyone can’t ignore.
Bringing your product vision and execution together
If your product vision does live only on a slide, act now. Don’t let the execution drift. Don’t let the users suffer.
Let the vision guide every product decision, every feature and every line of code. Do that, and you will see decisions become easier, and with every step, the product will start to reflect the ambition that was once just painted on a slide.
