Launching a product is messy. There’s always one more thing to do, and it’s easy for deadlines to slip or for folks to lose sight of what matters. If you’ve landed here, odds are you’re looking for a way to actually wrangle your launch timeline—without getting buried in yet another “work management” tool that’s more work than management.
This guide is for anyone running or wrangling a product launch—product managers, founders, marketers. We’ll cover how to set up and manage a launch timeline in Tome, a tool that tries to keep things simple but flexible. You’ll get the real steps, not the sales pitch, plus a few honest warnings about where things can go sideways.
Why Use Tome for Launch Timelines?
Let’s get this out of the way: Tome isn’t a project management suite. It’s a flexible, visual doc tool that shines when you need to organize complex info and keep a team aligned. If you want burndown charts and Gantt views, look elsewhere. But if you want a living document where everyone can see what’s next, who owns what, and how it all fits together, Tome works.
What works:
- Easy to update, drop in visuals, and rearrange sections.
- Nice for sharing with execs or folks who only want the highlights.
- Less cluttered than a spreadsheet or a Notion doc that’s grown out of control.
What doesn’t:
- No built-in dependencies or automated reminders.
- You’ll have to keep it updated manually (or it turns into a graveyard like any doc).
Step 1: Start With a Blank Slate (or a Template—If It’s Good)
When you open Tome, you can start from scratch or choose a template. There are a few “Project Plan” or “Timeline” templates, but honestly, most of them are too generic. If you’re pressed for time, pick the closest one, but expect to tweak it heavily. Here’s what actually matters:
- Clear sections for each phase: Think “Pre-launch,” “Launch,” “Post-launch.”
- Timeline view: A simple table or horizontal list with dates, owners, and status.
- One-pager at the top: Execs and stakeholders always want the TL;DR.
Pro tip:
Don’t overthink the template. You’ll be rebuilding it in a month anyway.
Step 2: Map Out Major Phases and Milestones
Before you list every tiny task, zoom out. What are the big rocks? For a typical product launch, you might see:
- Planning: Define scope, messaging, and success metrics.
- Development: Build, test, bug fix.
- Go-to-Market: Prep website, docs, press releases, sales enablement.
- Launch: D-Day coordination, monitoring, customer support readiness.
- Post-launch: Analyze results, fix issues, follow up with users.
In Tome, create a section for each phase. Use clear headings so people can scan. Under each, list out the milestones. Don’t get lost in the weeds yet.
Honest take:
If you try to capture every task from day one, you’ll slow down and the doc will bloat. Start with the big stuff—details can come later.
Step 3: Build a Simple, Human-Friendly Timeline
Now, put dates and owners to each milestone. There’s no magic here: a table works better than anything else for this. Skip fancy timeline widgets—they look nice but are a pain to update.
Set up a table with columns like:
- Milestone
- Owner
- Start Date
- Due Date
- Status (Not started / In progress / Done)
- Notes
Tome lets you drop in tables, and you can format them to be readable. Make sure each row is a real deliverable, not just “Make progress.”
A few rules that keep things sane: - Assign one owner per milestone. Otherwise, nobody owns it. - Be honest about deadlines. Padding a date for “optimism” fools no one. - Use “Notes” for blockers or risks. If something’s at risk, call it out. Don’t hide it in a separate doc.
Step 4: Add Supporting Docs, Visuals, and Links
One of Tome’s strengths is how easy it is to embed visuals or link out. Use this to your advantage:
- Drop in screenshots, mockups, or diagrams near relevant milestones.
- Link to GitHub issues, Jira tickets, or Google Docs for deep dives.
- Embed a simple chart if you want, but don’t go overboard—nobody’s coming here for analytics.
Pro tip:
Don’t attach every doc or link. Only add what’s needed for someone to get un-stuck or to answer a likely question. Less is more.
Step 5: Share the Timeline, Set Expectations, and Get Feedback
Once your timeline is filled in, share it with the team. Tome is good for this—share a view-only link or invite collaborators.
When sharing: - Call out what’s final and what’s still in flux. - Ask for feedback, but keep control. If everyone can edit, you’ll end up with chaos. - Set a schedule for updates (example: “This doc will be updated every Friday by noon.”)
What not to do: - Don’t turn this into a dumping ground for every random thought. Keep it focused on the launch. - Don’t forget to actually walk the team through it—emailing a link isn’t enough.
Step 6: Keep It Alive—Update, Prune, and Archive
No timeline survives first contact with reality. Dates will slip, scope will change, and priorities will shift. The trick is to keep your Tome doc as the single source of truth—even if it means deleting or rewriting big sections.
How to keep it useful: - Set a recurring reminder (yes, outside Tome) to review and update. - Prune dead or irrelevant info. Outdated tasks? Archive them at the bottom or in a separate section. - Use strikethrough or color to show what’s done or blocked.
Honest warning:
If you stop updating the doc, your team will stop trusting it. When that happens, people go back to Slack DMs and chaos returns.
Step 7: Use Tome’s Collaboration Features—But Don’t Overcomplicate
Tome lets people comment and suggest changes. Use comments for clarifications or questions. For big edits, have one or two people as doc owners.
What works: - Comment threads for quick feedback or clarifications. - Assigning a main “doc owner” to prevent drive-by edits.
What to ignore: - Don’t try to replicate full project management in Tome. It’s a living doc, not Jira-lite. - Avoid overusing color-coding, emojis, or clever hacks—clarity over cuteness.
What to Watch Out For
Setting up a launch timeline in Tome is pretty painless, but here’s where people trip up:
- Trying to do too much: If it becomes a second job to update, you’ll stop.
- Letting it get stale: The minute someone says, “Is this up to date?” you’ve lost.
- Hiding problems: If a milestone’s at risk, call it out. Don’t let the doc become a wish list.
If you need detailed task tracking, use a dedicated tool and link to it. Keep Tome for the high-level view and the story of the launch.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t sweat getting your timeline perfect on day one. The best launch docs are simple, clear, and ruthlessly updated. Use Tome to keep your team focused on what matters, not buried in process. And remember, it’s better to have a rough-but-current plan than a beautiful doc nobody reads.
Ship, learn, and tweak as you go. That’s how real launches happen.