I recently had a conversation with a colleague about how to bring together a diverse group of product management, product marketing, tech writing, sales engineering, customer success, and technical support to define the go-to-market enablement tasks needed to support a launch. We quickly created a 4-box slide to help with this process.

Problem

As a Product Manager, I want to outline the go-to-market enablement tasks with my team so we can successfully implement change to both customers and internal teams. The team must be able to do 80% of the work asynchronously; remaining 20% will be spent on synchronous discussions to negotiate what is really needed.

Solution

This is a one-pager with four boxes to define the following: must-haves, nice-to-haves, scope, and sign-offs. This is intended to be a brainstorming tool. Tracking the actual work and stakeholders can happen elsewhere, like in a project plan or launch checklist.

Link to the worksheet.

Must-haves

Identify the tasks that must be completed for the launch to be successful. These are the essential items without which the launch cannot proceed.

Nice-to-haves

Identify the tasks that sound like they would be helpful but aren’t absolutely necessary for success. These are the enhancements that can improve the launch but are not deal-breakers.

Scope

Remind the team of the change scope. Use screenshots because visuals are much better reminders than bullet points. This box helps to keep everyone’s focus on the change and minimize the switching required between documents.

Sign-offs

Identify all the stakeholders who influence whether the change can proceed. Product management is like being a politician – . This will ensure that key people are not missed.

By using this tool, you will have a clear and structured way to bring your team together and ensuring all necessary tasks are accounted for. Plus, it is designed to make the most of your team’s time by balancing asynchronous and synchronous work.