Project playbooks

Eight projects, set up the way teams actually run them.

Each playbook is a complete configuration: the board columns, the custom fields, the pages to create, and the rituals (standups, decision cards, hill chart reviews) that carry the week. Copy one, rename it, and you have a working project in ten minutes.

For Software, hardware, any team shipping something on a date

Product launch

Coordinate engineering, marketing, support and sales around one date without a launch spreadsheet.

Launch readiness on the hill chart
Hill chart with scopes between Figuring it out and Making it happen

What to watch: Timeline for the last three weeks: every workstream on one calendar, dependencies drawn.

Board columns

  1. Backlog
  2. Committed
  3. In progress
  4. Ready for launch
  5. Launched
  6. Follow-up

Custom fields

  • Workstream (select: product, marketing, support, sales)
  • Launch blocker (select: yes, no)
  • Owner team (select)

Pages to create

  • Launch plan
  • Messaging and positioning
  • Support FAQ
  • Go / no-go checklist
  • Retro

Rituals

Hill chart reviewed twice a week: anything still uphill two weeks out is a go / no-go conversation. Daily async standup in the final week with the AI digest to #launch. Go / no-go recorded as a decision card.

For Marketing teams, agencies, in-house design

Website redesign

Strategy, design, build and content in one board, with review stages that do not become a swamp.

The redesign board
Kanban board for a website redesign

What to watch: Burndown for the build phase; the stuck flag on Review.

Board columns

  1. To do
  2. In progress
  3. Review
  4. Done

Custom fields

  • Page (text)
  • Discipline (select: strategy, design, dev, content)
  • Sign-off (date)

Pages to create

  • Sitemap and IA
  • Design system
  • Content matrix
  • SEO checklist
  • Go-live runbook

Rituals

Review column watched daily; a card stuck there three days is flagged. Weekly status generated from analytics. Client or stakeholder sees a public link to the status page, not a deck.

For Marketing teams and agencies

Marketing campaign

Take a campaign from brief to live to reporting with approvals visible.

Campaign channel with polls and decisions
Chat channel with messages and tabs

What to watch: Approval column; the timeline for asset deadlines by channel.

Board columns

  1. Brief
  2. Concept
  3. In production
  4. Approval
  5. Scheduled
  6. Live
  7. Reported

Custom fields

  • Channel (select)
  • Budget (number)
  • Audience (text)
  • Approver (text)

Pages to create

  • Creative brief
  • Media plan
  • Asset list
  • Results report

Rituals

Poll in the channel for the launch date. Approval column has a two-day stuck threshold. Post-campaign report drafted by Brain from the board and the results page.

For Agencies, consultancies, SaaS customer success

Client onboarding

Bring a new client from signed contract to first value with nothing forgotten and nothing duplicated.

Every onboarding in one table
Portfolio health table with project status

What to watch: Portfolio health across all onboarding projects; any client stuck in Access and setup for more than three days.

Board columns

  1. Signed
  2. Kickoff
  3. Access and setup
  4. Discovery
  5. First deliverable
  6. Steady state

Custom fields

  • Client (text)
  • Account owner (text)
  • Contract start (date)
  • Tier (select)

Pages to create

  • Kickoff agenda
  • Client context notes
  • Access checklist
  • Success plan

Rituals

Template project cloned per client (or an organization per client on self-hosted Enterprise). Kickoff decisions recorded as decision cards. Success plan shared with the client by link.

For Security, quality, finance and regulatory teams

Compliance audit

Prepare for SOC 2, ISO 27001, an accreditation survey or an internal audit with evidence tracked per control.

Audit readiness by chapter
Workspace insights dashboard

What to watch: Portfolio health by chapter; stuck tickets in Evidence in progress.

Board columns

  1. Control identified
  2. Owner assigned
  3. Evidence in progress
  4. Internal review
  5. Ready
  6. Auditor query

Custom fields

  • Control reference (text)
  • Evidence type (select: policy, screenshot, log, attestation)
  • Auditor due (date)

Pages to create

  • Control matrix
  • Policy index
  • Evidence register
  • Auditor Q&A log

Rituals

One ticket per control. Weekly AI executive summary to the steering group. Evidence pages shared with the auditor by public link and revoked afterwards. RLS self-test output attached as evidence for access-control chapters.

For Marketing, community, non-profits, internal comms

Event or conference

Deliver an event with a mixed team of staff, volunteers and vendors, and a day-of plan everyone can find.

The final month on the timeline
Timeline of people and dated tasks

What to watch: Timeline for the final month; the Ready column count in the last week.

Board columns

  1. Idea
  2. Confirmed
  3. In progress
  4. Ready
  5. Day of
  6. Wrap-up

Custom fields

  • Track (select: venue, speakers, sponsors, marketing, logistics)
  • Vendor (text)
  • Cost (number)

Pages to create

  • Run of show
  • Speaker briefing
  • Sponsor deck outline
  • Volunteer briefing
  • Post-event report

Rituals

Run-of-show page pinned in the event channel. Volunteer briefing shared by public link. Day-of channel with async check-ins from each track lead. Post-event report drafted by Brain.

For Small teams hiring without an ATS

Hiring pipeline

Run a role from opening to offer with interviewers aligned and decisions recorded.

Stages as columns
Kanban column headers

What to watch: Stuck flag on Interview loop: nobody waits a week to hear back.

Board columns

  1. Sourcing
  2. Screening
  3. Interview loop
  4. Debrief
  5. Offer
  6. Closed

Custom fields

  • Role (select)
  • Stage owner (text)
  • Next step date (date)

Pages to create

  • Role description
  • Interview guide
  • Scorecard template
  • Debrief notes

Rituals

One ticket per candidate in a restricted project. Debrief outcomes recorded as decision cards. Interview guide and scorecard as pages so every interviewer asks the same things.

For Academic labs, UX research, R&D teams

Research study

Run a study from protocol to publication with the methodology recorded for whoever comes next.

Protocol and reports as pages
Page editor with a structured document

What to watch: Hill chart: a work package stuck uphill for a month is a supervision conversation.

Board columns

  1. Protocol
  2. Ethics
  3. Recruiting
  4. Data collection
  5. Analysis
  6. Writing
  7. Submitted

Custom fields

  • Work package (select)
  • Ethics status (select)
  • Deadline (date)

Pages to create

  • Protocol
  • Data management plan
  • Analysis notebook index
  • Draft manuscript
  • Progress reports

Rituals

Hill chart per work package. Weekly async lab update with the AI digest. Progress reports drafted by Brain from the board and pages each quarter.

Pick a playbook and start.

Free on Tenon Cloud for up to five members. Create the project, add the columns and fields above, and invite the team.

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