Project Management for PMM: Generic Tools vs. PMM-Specific

The VP Product asked: "When does Product X launch?"

I opened Asana. We had 127 tasks for the Product X launch project. Some were green (complete), some yellow (in progress), some red (overdue).

But which tasks actually mattered for launch readiness? I couldn't tell from Asana.

I spent 15 minutes reviewing tasks, clicking into details, checking dependencies. Finally, I messaged the Product Manager: "What's the actual launch date?"

She responded immediately: "October 15th."

We were using Asana ($10K/year) to track 127 launch tasks. But to answer "when do we launch?", I still had to ask directly.

That's when I realized: Project management tools track tasks. PMM needs to coordinate launches.

Those are different problems requiring different solutions.

The Spreadsheet Project Management Era

Before Asana, I managed PMM projects in spreadsheets.

Projects I tracked:

• Product launches (4-6 per year)
• Major campaigns (2-3 per quarter)
• Sales enablement initiatives
• Competitive intelligence programs

The process:

• One Google Sheet per project
• Columns: Task, Owner, Due Date, Status, Dependencies, Notes
• Color coding (green/yellow/red)
• Weekly manual updates

Time investment: 6 hours/week on project tracking and status updates.

The problems:

Problem 1: Manual status updates Nothing automatic. I had to ask people "is this done?" and update sheets manually.

Problem 2: No visibility Stakeholders couldn't see project status without asking me for an update.

Problem 3: No collaboration Tasks lived in my sheet. Owners didn't interact with it.

Problem 4: Duplicate tracking Engineering used Jira, Product used ProductBoard, Design used Figma. PMM tracked everything separately in sheets.

I told my boss: "We need real project management software."

Evaluating PM Tools for PMM

I evaluated 8 options:

Generic PM tools: Asana, Monday, ClickUp, Notion (project management features) PMM-specific tools: Product launch platforms

My criteria:

• Task management and subtask nesting
• Timeline/Gantt views for visualizing launch schedules
• Dependencies tracking (critical path identification)
• Team collaboration (comments, @mentions, file sharing)
• Integrations (Salesforce, Slack, Google Drive)
• Templates for launches/campaigns
• Custom fields for PMM-specific metadata
• Reporting on project status and team capacity

I spent 3 weeks testing:

• Asana: Clean interface, powerful dependencies, great integrations
• Monday: Colorful, flexible, but felt overwhelming for PMM needs
• ClickUp: Feature-rich but complicated, steep learning curve
• Notion: Loved for docs, but weak project management features
• LaunchNotes, ProductBoard (PM features): Too focused on roadmapping, not launch coordination

Winner: Asana ($10K/year)

• Best integrations with tools we already used
• Most flexible custom fields
• Great timeline view showing critical path
• Popular enough that cross-functional partners (Product, Design, Sales) already used it
• Strong mobile app for on-the-go updates

Month 1-2: Building the Perfect Launch Project

I spent 12 hours building our first launch project in Asana:

Project structure:

• 6 sections: Strategy, Messaging, Enablement, Marketing, Launch, Post-Launch
• 127 tasks across sections
• 44 dependencies
• Custom fields: Priority, Launch Tier, Department
• Timeline view showing critical path

It looked comprehensive. Every task, every dependency, every deadline tracked.

The team was impressed at kickoff: "Wow, this is way more organized than spreadsheets."

Week 1-2: Great! People were updating tasks, dependencies were clear.

Week 3: Some tasks showing overdue but owners said work was actually done—they just forgot to mark complete in Asana.

Week 4: Critical dependency broke. Task A was marked complete but deliverable was unusable. Task B blocked even though Task A showed "done."

Week 5: Asked in launch meeting: "Are we on track?" Asana showed 78% complete but Product Manager said we were actually 55% complete.

The problem: Asana tracked task completion, not launch readiness.

A task could be "complete" (checkbox clicked) while the deliverable was wrong or incomplete.

Month 3-4: The Task vs. Outcome Gap

After two launches in Asana, I realized the fundamental problem:

Project management tools track tasks. Launches are outcome-driven.

Example from Launch 2:

Task: "Create competitive positioning for launch" Asana status: Complete ✓ (marked done by PM) Reality: Positioning doc exists but it doesn't address our main competitor's new feature announced 2 weeks ago. Sales tried using it in a demo and got destroyed by competitive objections we hadn't prepared for.

Task: "Build sales enablement deck" Asana status: Complete ✓ (marked done by designer) Reality: Deck exists with beautiful slides, but uses messaging from our old framework before the repositioning. Sales team confused about which deck to use. Not actually ready.

Task: "Update website" Asana status: Complete ✓ (marked done by web team) Reality: Copy is live on the website, but the messaging doesn't match what's in the sales deck or launch email. Three different value propositions across three channels. Inconsistent.

Task: "Prepare FAQ document" Asana status: Complete ✓ (marked done by me) Reality: I created an FAQ with 12 questions, but sales came back with 8 customer questions we hadn't anticipated. Document incomplete.

I asked the Product Manager in our launch meeting: "Are we ready to launch?"

She looked at Asana: "78% of tasks are complete, so we're mostly ready."

I looked at the actual deliverables: "Our competitive positioning doesn't address the competitor's new feature, our messaging is inconsistent across channels, and sales isn't confident in the materials. I'd say we're 55% ready."

Asana showed 78% task completion. Actual launch readiness was 55%.

Tasks completed ≠ launch ready.

Month 5-6: The Complexity Overhead

For launch 3, I tried to fix the task vs. outcome problem by adding more granularity:

More tasks: 127 → 189 (broke down deliverables into smaller pieces) More dependencies: 44 → 78 More custom fields: Added "Quality Check" field More sections: 6 → 9

This was more sophisticated. It should work better.

It worked worse.

189 tasks = overwhelming. Nobody could see the big picture.

78 dependencies = fragile. One delayed task cascaded into 15 blocked tasks.

Quality check field = ignored. People marked tasks complete without doing quality check.

Time I spent managing Asana:

• Launch 1: 8 hours/week
• Launch 2: 10 hours/week (more tasks to manage)
• Launch 3: 14 hours/week (189 tasks + 78 dependencies = constant updating)

I was spending 35% of my time managing the project management tool instead of managing the launch.

The PMM-Specific Alternative

After three launches in Asana, a friend suggested PMM-specific launch platforms:

"Generic PM tools solve generic problems. PMM has specific problems: coordinating competitive positioning, messaging, and enablement for launches."

I researched platforms designed specifically for product marketing workflow.

Platforms like Segment8 approached launch management differently:

Generic PM (Asana):

• Track 189 tasks
• Manage 78 dependencies
• Hope task completion = launch readiness
• Manually build launch assets in separate tools

PMM-specific (integrated approach):

• Track 12 key milestones (not 189 tasks)
• Focus on launch readiness (not task completion)
• Auto-generate launch assets from messaging frameworks
• Competitive positioning + messaging + enablement in one system

Instead of task management, outcome coordination.

Testing the PMM-Specific Approach

I tested for 30 days:

Week 1: Setup

• Created launch plan (12 key milestones instead of 189 tasks)
• Connected to messaging frameworks
• Connected to competitive intelligence

Week 2: Milestone vs. Task test

Asana approach (task-focused):

• Track: "Create battle card" (task)
• Status: Complete when file exists
• Problem: File exists but doesn't address competitive objections effectively

PMM-specific approach (outcome-focused):

• Track: "Competitive positioning ready" (milestone)
• Status: Complete when positioning + battle cards + objection handling all ready and reviewed
• Benefit: Tracks actual readiness, not just file creation

Week 3: Asset generation test

Asana approach:

• Tasks: Create messaging doc (Notion), Create battle cards (Klue), Create enablement (Highspot)
• Each task separate, manual creation in different tools
• Total time: 8 hours
• Coordination: Manual across 3 tools

PMM-specific approach:

• Build messaging framework (one place)
• Battle cards auto-generate from messaging + competitive intelligence
• Enablement auto-generates from messaging
• Total time: 2 hours
• Coordination: Automatic

Week 4: Launch readiness test

Question: "Are we ready to launch?"

Asana: Review 189 tasks, 78% complete, spend 30 minutes analyzing to realize actual readiness is 60%

PMM-specific: Check 12 milestones, clear status on each, immediately see we're 60% ready and which specific areas need work

The Coordination vs. Management Difference

After testing both approaches, I realized the fundamental difference:

Project management tools (Asana, Monday, ClickUp):

• Optimize for: Task tracking, dependency management, timeline visualization
• Good for: Engineering projects, construction, manufacturing
• Poor for: PMM launches where deliverables are interconnected (messaging feeds enablement feeds competitive)

PMM coordination tools:

• Optimize for: Launch readiness, asset generation, integrated workflow
• Good for: PMM launches where messaging, competitive, and enablement need to work together
• Poor for: Generic project management

PMM doesn't need better task management. PMM needs better outcome coordination.

What I Do Now

I cancelled Asana after 12 months.

Current launch approach:

Tracking:

• 12 key milestones (not 189 tasks)
• Focus on launch readiness (not task completion)
• Clear criteria for each milestone

Asset creation:

• Messaging framework creates foundation
• Competitive positioning + enablement auto-generate from messaging
• One update propagates everywhere

Coordination:

• Everything in integrated platform
• No manual coordination across Notion + Klue + Highspot + Asana
• Updates cascade automatically

Results:

• Launch coordination time: 14 hours/week → 4 hours/week (71% reduction)
• Clarity on launch readiness: 30 minutes of analysis → instant visibility
• Asset creation time: 8 hours → 2 hours (75% reduction)
• Tools to manage: 4 (Asana + Notion + Klue + Highspot) → 1
• Tool cost: $52,000 combined → $2,400
• Annual savings: $49,600 + 500 hours

Do You Need Project Management Tools for PMM?

Here's the test:

You might need generic PM tools if:

• You manage 50+ complex projects simultaneously
• Projects have 100+ independent tasks
• Task dependencies are more important than deliverable quality
• Your work is primarily coordination (not creation)

You probably don't if:

• You manage 4-12 launches/campaigns per year
• Launch success depends on deliverable quality, not task completion
• Your work involves creating interconnected assets (messaging → competitive → enablement)
• You're spending more time updating PM tools than coordinating launches

Most PMM teams fall into the second category.

The better question: Do you need task management or outcome coordination?

PMM launches aren't about completing 189 tasks. They're about coordinating messaging, competitive positioning, and enablement into a cohesive launch.

Task management tools (Asana, Monday) optimize for the former. Integrated PMM platforms optimize for the latter.

I spent $10,000 and 12 months learning the difference.

Don't manage tasks. Coordinate outcomes.

That's what PMM actually needs.