Timeline Management Overhaul for Annual Campaign Launch
Client: Mid-Sized Health Tech Company
Role: Project Manager
Tools Used: Asana, Google Sheets, Slack, Smartsheet
Situation:
When I took over project management for this client's annual open enrollment campaign, the biggest issue was clear: a lack of timeline transparency. Milestones were missed, deadlines overlapped, and no one had visibility into dependencies across creative, compliance, and development teams. As a result, the previous year’s launch had gone live five days late and over budget.
My approach
I started with a timeline audit to map out the existing workflow and interviewed team leads to uncover friction points.
Key actions I led:
Centralized all timelines in one master view using Smartsheet to replace disjointed team-specific trackers.
Rebuilt the timeline with clearer phase gates: Strategy, Creative, Review, Development, QA, Launch.
Introduced color-coded dependencies to help identify bottlenecks earlier.
Set weekly 30-minute check-ins and built a simple “traffic light” update system to surface delays before they caused problems.
The Results
Reduced project delays by 60% compared to the previous year
Improved on-time delivery of assets by 40% across 4 teams
Created a repeatable timeline template that the client now uses for all future campaigns
Earned direct praise from their VP of Marketing for making “what used to be a mess now feels structured and predictable
What I learned
Timeline management isn't just about hitting dates. It's about creating shared visibility and accountability. The tools matter, but so does the culture around updates and status reporting. Small process tweaks (like shared timelines and weekly check-ins) made a huge impact without overburdening the team.