Step 5.3: Scale launch management across your organization
Airtable
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Airtable
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Guide for product operations
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Scale launch management across your organization
Managing any launch is a complex task—and that complexity multiplies when you’re managing multiple features, assets, and processes across multiple teams.
Make sure your company’s next launch goes off without a hitch by creating an org-wide hub for launch materials and a centralized run-of-show.
Follow along in Airtable.
In this step, we'll explore this org-wide template. Dive deeper into the product operations workflow here.
Manage releases spanning multiple features
Does your product launch involve multiple features, each requiring launch assets created by multiple teams? If so, try adding an “Assets/Materials” table to the organization-wide base so you can easily view and manage all of the associated materials for each feature. This way, you can clearly see which assets are related to a particular project or a bigger launch.
When scaling launch assets across the organization, we recommend syncing your assets table from the organization-wide base to other cross-functional team bases. For example, you should sync to the support team’s base for support articles/documentation, product marketing team’s base for other cross-functional launch asset tracking, and content team’s base for relevant blogs.
This way, other teams are guaranteed to get updates in real-time, but they also have the flexibility to manage their own content production workflows.
Manage day-of alignment & execution
Your months of research, planning, and delivery have led you to this long-awaited moment: launch day. It’s finally, finally time to get your product into the hands of eager customers.
To make this process as smooth as possible, create a “run of show” interface to keep everyone aligned around what’s happening.
This interface includes things like:
Schedule of tasks at the top
Timeline and summary to highlight materials that are completed or at risk (use the Timeline element for this one!)
DRIs/points of contact
Charts that highlight the number/percentage of outstanding materials or tasks
A grid view or list of the bill of material (BOM) items so that no one needs to search for links (external-facing content or internal enablement/roadmap content)
FAQ table/doc that people can refer to on day-of
⚡ Pro tip
Remember to only include the most relevant information for launch day, as this interface is designed as a cheat sheet of sorts. Too much info can—and will—create confusion!
After publishing your interface, use the created link to share across your organization. Now everyone has access to the same information and knows what to expect on launch day.
And with that, it’s time to roll out your product launch 🎉 Take a bow—you’ve earned it.
By centralizing your launch—both across your team and your organization—you can keep everyone informed and ensure their voices are heard.
At this stage of the product operations process, you’ll be able to influence and measure metrics like:
% task automation (like launch status updates and soliciting approvals) and reduction of time spent on manual work
Clarity around key points of contact and action items
Improved centralization of retrospective feedback
Product launches involve so much more than just day-of logistics, requiring clear, company-wide communication. When you implement the workflows above in your company’s base, you can get your product out the door on time and make sure teams learn from the process.
The most successful teams reflect on their work and strive to continuously improve the product launch process. Check out Stage 6 to learn how you can do this in Airtable.
