Launch · Core
Prepare support and operations
Make sure the people and processes behind the product are ready on day one: who answers questions, who fixes problems and how issues reach the team.
About 2-5 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Delivery and executionCommunication and influence
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- All
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- List the questions and problems users are likely to have, using beta feedback.
- Write help content and short guides for support staff.
- Agree how support raises issues with the product team, and how fast each type must be handled.
- Check any manual steps behind the scenes have people, training and time.
- Run a short practice session with support before launch.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Prepare help content, support guides and escalation routes.
- Agree service levels for each issue type.
- Check operational processes and staffing.
- Run a readiness review before launch.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Design support into the product, with self-service help and clear error messages.
- Set up a feedback loop so support themes reach the backlog every week.
- Plan for peak demand at launch.
- Agree ownership of the product in live service.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- Content Designer: Write the help content and support guides
- Delivery Manager: Agree escalation routes and run the readiness review
- Business Analyst: Map the operational processes behind the product
Reviewed by: Delivery Manager, DevOps / SRE
Tool examples
- Jira
- Set up a service desk queue with categories that match your escalation routes.
- Confluence
- Publish a support knowledge base linked from the help pages.
- Notion
- Keep a launch-week issue log that support and the team both use.
Definition of done
- Help content and support guides ready
- Escalation routes and service levels agreed
- Operations staffed and trained
Common pitfalls
- Support learning about the launch from users
- No route for problems to reach the team
- Forgetting the manual work behind the scenes
If you lead the team
What good looks like: Support and operations are ready on day one, with clear owners for questions and problems.
Ask your PM
- Who answers user questions on day one, and are they trained?
- How do support issues reach the team?
Warning signs
- Support learns about features from users.
- Common issues bounce between teams.