How to map your launch roadmap in Google Sheets

Here’s how to map your launch roadmap in Google Sheets.

Using their new Timeline feature, it takes a couple seconds 👇

Since we started the Ready For Launch course, we’ve been creating a number of templates to help PMMs better manage their launches.

Along the way I learned about this new feature in Google Sheets that lets you turn a table into a Gantt Chart in seconds.

A great use case for this is mapping out your launch roadmap and grouping launches by GTM theme.

For example, it could be based on company OKRs, use case, product line, customer value prop, etc.

Here’s how it works in 3 steps:

1️⃣ --------------

With PMM and PM working together, list out your upcoming launches for a particular time period. This could be an exercise you do for the entire year or every six months.In a table, you’ll want the following fields:

• Project / Launch Name

• Launch Tier

• Theme

• Start Date

• End Date

• Owner

2️⃣ --------------

When you’re table is complete, just highlight it > click “Insert” in the toolbar > and select “Timeline.”

3️⃣--------------

Finally, to group your launches by theme, go to your Timeline Settings > click “Card Group” > and select “Theme.”

Voila, you’ll instantly have a Gantt chart mapping your launch roadmap by relevant themes.

A few ways to use this:

💡 Get alignment with your product team. Know what launches are planned for each quarter (Tip: in the menu select to view your timeline by Quarter)

💡 Balance your workload. For example, make sure that you don’t sign up for 8 launches in a quarter, multiple tier 1s, etc.

💡 Give other teams visibility into the launch roadmap and themes. For example, marketing could plan complimentary campaigns.

💡 Spot bundling opportunities. For example, you can spot multiple related releases that could roll up to a larger Tier 1 launch.

Hope this comes in handy. Give it a try and let me know what you think!