AMA: Atlassian Head of Portfolio PMM, Lara McCaskill on Product Launches

The most common pitfalls that can derail product launches are usually something like: Not planning for the unplanned Not having clear alignment around launch goals - across teams (Marketing, Product, Sales, etc.) Not having the right ICP/Persona Here's how I've navigated these in the past: Planning for the unplanned: has a product launch ever been delayed? Timelines shift ALL the time. Scope also changes. Having contingency plans and getting creative around hard launch dates has been a life save ...Read More

Having product launches follow a set process is hugely beneficial for any team, especially a rapidly scaling one that is likely launching often. I like to start with what are the launch tiers. Not every launch has the same customer impact and therefore the same deliverables. I like 3 tiers - think of that as Small, Medium, Large. You could even through in XS for the stuff that does not have any impact on customers current way of doing something and therefore does not require marketing support. F ...Read More

The most important thing with shifting launches and leadership whiplash is to assess impact. I typically run through a series of questions to better understand the context around any decision to shift a launch. What is the primary reason for the shift? Is it a hard requirement or a desired outcome? What is the business impact for the shift? Often days and weeks has very little impact, unless the launch is tied to an event that cannot be moved. What are the trade offs of keeping the plan of recor ...Read More

Having a post launch plan is just as important as any other elements of your launch plan. Here's how I usually navigate the post launch activity at a high level: Retrospective needs to happen with 1 week of launch, when it's fresh and relevant for all Aligning with product prior to launch on the key metrics to be tracked across adoption and marketing activity. For marketing, monitoring the first few days to ensure there's nothing off with the launch Then weekly, assessing how you're progressing ...Read More