notion-pm

What this skill does

# Notion for Product Management

Master-level expertise in using Notion as the documentation and operational backbone for a product team: PRDs, OKRs, roadmaps, decision logs, sprint reviews, 1:1 notes, customer research, and sync patterns with Jira, Linear, and GitHub. Covers Notion's database model, view design, formula and rollup patterns, page architecture, and REST API.

## Overview

Notion's PM value comes from its database model: every meaningful PM artifact (a PRD, an OKR, a roadmap row, a decision) becomes a row in a typed database, with relations to other databases. This unlocks linked views (one source of truth, many surface presentations), rollups (aggregate child progress into a parent), and a queryable API. The job of a Notion PM expert is to design these databases up front, restrain ad-hoc page creation, and tie the workspace into Jira/Linear/GitHub so the artifacts stay current without manual maintenance.

### When to Use

- Standing up a new product team's documentation workspace
- Designing a PRD, OKR, Roadmap, or Decisions database from scratch
- Refactoring an existing Notion workspace that has grown into a sprawl of unrelated pages
- Building roadmap or status views aggregated from underlying issue trackers
- Authoring Notion REST API calls (page creation, database queries, block updates)
- Setting up two-way sync between Notion and Jira/Linear/GitHub
- Establishing governance: ownership, review cadence, archive strategy

## Concepts

### Workspace Hierarchy

| Level | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| **Workspace** | Top-level account, billing scope, SCIM/SAML | "Acme Inc" |
| **Teamspace** | Permission boundary for a team or function | "Product", "Engineering" |
| **Page** | A document or container | "Onboarding wiki" |
| **Database** | Typed collection of pages (rows = pages with properties) | "PRDs DB", "OKRs DB" |
| **Database row** | A page whose parent is a database | "PRD: Self-Serve Signup" |
| **Linked Database** | A view of another database, embedded in a page | A "This Quarter" view of the PRDs DB |
| **Block** | A unit of content inside a page (paragraph, heading, callout, toggle, image, embed) | "Heading 2", "Callout", "Synced Block" |

### Property Types (the heart of database design)

| Type | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `title` | The row's name; every database has exactly one | Renders as the page title |
| `rich_text` | Long-form text | Supports markdown formatting |
| `select` | Single-value tag from a closed list | E.g. PRD status: Draft / Review / Approved / Shipped |
| `multi_select` | Multi-value tags | E.g. PRD area: API, Web, Mobile |
| `status` | Special select with three groups: To-do, In progress, Complete | First-class in views |
| `date` | Date or date range | Supports reminders |
| `people` | Reference to workspace member(s) | Owner, reviewer |
| `files` | Attached files or URLs | Specs, mocks |
| `checkbox` | Boolean | Approved? |
| `url`, `email`, `phone` | Typed contact data | Customer DB |
| `number` | Numeric with optional format (percent, currency) | Confidence, RICE score |
| `formula` | Computed from other properties | E.g. RICE = (R*I*C)/E |
| `relation` | Link to row(s) in another database | PRD → OKR, PRD → Roadmap Item |
| `rollup` | Aggregate property of related rows | "Sum of estimates from linked Linear issues" |
| `created_time`, `last_edited_time` | System | Always present |
| `created_by`, `last_edited_by` | System | Always present |
| `unique_id` | Auto-incremented short ID with prefix | E.g. PRD-001, DEC-042 |

### Views

Every database can present multiple views, each with its own filter, sort, group, and property visibility:

- **Table** — spreadsheet-like; default editing view
- **Board** — Kanban grouped by a select/status property; great for PRD status, OKR confidence
- **Timeline** — Gantt-like; great for Roadmaps when there is a date-range property
- **Calendar** — month view; great for launches, reviews, sprint ceremonies
- **Gallery** — card view with the cover image; great for customer research notes or design reviews
- **List** — minimal, dense; great for backlog-style browsing

### Notion-Compatible Markdown / Block Types

Notion is not strictly Markdown, but Markdown extensions are recognized in many contexts. Key blocks used in PM artifacts:

- Headings: `#`, `##`, `###`
- Callouts: `> [!NOTE]`, `> [!WARNING]`, `> [!TIP]` (in Markdown imports; native block in UI)
- Toggle blocks: collapse-expand sections (great for "Open questions", "Out of scope")
- Synced blocks: a single block reused across pages (Definition of Done, glossary)
- Code blocks: fenced with language for syntax highlighting
- Linked databases: a view of another DB embedded inline
- Mentions: `@person`, `@page`, `@date`
- Bookmarks: a URL becomes a rich preview card
- Embeds: Figma, Loom, GitHub Gist, YouTube
- Math: `$equation$` inline; `$$equation$$` block

## Core Workflows

### 1. Workspace Setup for a Product Team

1. Create a Teamspace named `Product`.
2. Create the foundational databases as direct children of the Teamspace:
   - PRDs
   - OKRs (with quarter as a property)
   - Roadmap
   - Decisions
   - Customer Research
   - Sprint Reviews (or Cycle Reviews if on Linear)
   - 1:1s
3. Define the relations between them (see `references/notion-database-design-for-pm.md`).
4. Create a Teamspace home page with a curated set of linked database views.
5. Establish naming conventions; pin them in a "Team conventions" page.
6. Set permissions: full access for product team, edit for engineering, view for everyone else.
7. **HANDOFF TO**: PMs to start populating PRDs and OKRs.

### 2. PRD Database Design

A PRD is a row in the PRDs database. Properties:

| Property | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `Title` | title | PRD name |
| `Status` | status | Draft / In Review / Approved / In Build / Shipped / Killed |
| `Owner` | people | Driving PM |
| `Author` | people | Original drafter |
| `Reviewers` | people | DRI, Eng lead, Design lead |
| `Target Date` | date | Aspirational launch |
| `Priority` | select | P0 / P1 / P2 / P3 |
| `OKR` | relation → OKRs | Which OKR(s) this serves |
| `Roadmap Item` | relation → Roadmap | Which roadmap item this delivers |
| `Linear Project` | url | Link to the Linear Project tracking the work |
| `Jira Epic` | url | If using Jira |
| `Tech Lead` | people | Engineering DRI |
| `Design Lead` | people | Design DRI |
| `Approved On` | date | Set when status → Approved |
| `Shipped On` | date | Set when status → Shipped |
| `Document` | (page body) | The PRD itself, with the template from `assets/notion-prd-template.md` |

Build views:
- **My PRDs** (filter: Owner is me)
- **In Review** (filter: Status = In Review; sort by Target Date)
- **This Quarter** (filter: Target Date in this quarter, group by Status)
- **All by Owner** (group by Owner, hide killed)

### 3. OKR Database Design

| Property | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `Title` | title | KR or Objective name |
| `Type` | select | Objective / Key Result |
| `Parent Objective` | relation (self) | For KRs, link to parent Objective |
| `Quarter` | select | Q1 2026, Q2 2026, ... |
| `Owner` | people | Single accountable owner |
| `Status` | status | Not started / On track / At risk / Off track / Hit / Missed |
| `Confidence` | select | 10 / 7 / 5 / 3 (Wodtke scale) |
| `Target` | rich_text | The measurable target |
| `Current` | rich_text | Current value (updated weekly) |
| `Progress` | number (percent) | Manual or formula |
| `PRDs` | relation → PRDs | PRDs that contribute to this KR |
| `Notes` | rich_text | Context, blockers |

Views:
- **This Quarter by Objective** (group by Parent Objective)
- **My OKRs** (filter: Owner is me)
- **At Risk / Off Track** (filter on Status)

### 4. Roadmap Database Design

| Property | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `Title` | title | Initiative name |
| `Horizon` | select | Now / Next / Later (or Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4) |
| `Status` | status | Discovery / Defining / Building / Shipped