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.