Using Templates to automate work and increase your productivity

Photo by Tim Arterbury on Unsplash

The first time I consciously used a template to quickly and efficiently accomplish a task was in college.

Like every other kid of my age, I too was enamored with the idea of doing an internship ‘abroad’.

To make the job of applying easier, I took the help of my seniors in crating an impressive resume and cover letter. They gave me the cover letter and the resume they had used. Using these as a ‘template’, I crafted a resume and cover letter for myself.

As I applied to different professors working across a variety of research areas, I would only need to make a few minor changes to my cover letter before sending it across.

Thus, cover letters and resumes became my first conscious experience of using templates to quickly and efficiently accomplish a task.

Today, templates play a crucial role for me in the workplace. They help me do more in less time.

In the subsequent paragraphs, I will discuss how templates have benefitted me and how you too can benefit from them.

Benefits of creating templates

In practical terms, a template is a structure or generic form of something — Joe Russo

Templates are pretty much used for everything these days. From website design to presentations, the days of creating something from scratch have long gone.

I have observed the following benefits of using templates.

Benefits at an Individual Level

1. Makes it easier to get started — When we stare at a blank canvas, the task looks much more daunting. But when it is pre-filled with basic details, we tend to procrastinate lesser.
2. Helps save time — Since there are lesser details you need to worry about.
3. Improves quality through standardization: There are lesser chances of making errors as you are following a standard format.
4. Helps conserve mental energy by allowing you to focus on doing stuff that actually matters. You get more time to work on the content rather than the format.

Benefits at the Organization Level

1. Standardization of the process — Using templates as skeletons helps standardize the format followed by everyone in the team. With everyone in the team following the same template, readability of documents increases.
2. Helps bring consistency in communication — Using templates for external facing communications helps make the business look and sound more professional.

Where all can templates be used

Templates can be used for any task that needs to be performed repeatedly.

I use templates for:

• Creating documents of various types — PRDs, roadmaps, specification documents etc.
• Reaching out to customers via Email for feedback on a feature or understand reasons for poor ratings to the product.
• Logging bugs in our project tracking software.
• Posting daily standup updates on slack.
• Giving Presentations to our sales team and senior management.

In each of these, there is a pre-defined structure which is followed. That helps in completing the task fairly quickly.

Additionally, I have observed multiple departments ranging from Sales to HR make effective use of templates.

Getting started with templates

Chances are that you already are using templates. What you need to start doing is to expand the use cases for which you use templates.

To get started on this journey, I recommend the following activities.

1. Do an audit of all your recurring written communication.

This could be daily standup updates, email outreaches, weekly presentations, PRD/specification document writing etc.

In each of these cases, identify if the structure of the content remains pretty much the same. If yes, then its a ripe candidate for using a template for it.

2. Leverage the products you use

Most software products you use have an inbuilt support for templates.

Here are three examples of how I have leveraged my work related tools for using templates:

• Gmail — I use templates in Gmail for reaching out to customers in case of getting feedback on a feature, understand the reasons for a poor rating etc. Here is a good video to get started on Gmail templates.
• Slite: We use Slite for creating, collaborating and managing our written documents. I have used the templates capability of Slite for standardizing PRDs and specification documents.

Walkthrough of the PRD template I use

• Clubhouse — We use clubhouse for managing and tracking all of our projects. I have leveraged the template capabilities of Clubhouse for logging bugs. For eg. in a bug, we should always include ‘Steps to Reproduce’, ‘Actual Result’, ‘Expected Result’ and a ‘screenshot’. By saving this as template you can reuse this in the future.

These are specific examples from the products I use. You may be using some different products. However, in all probability the product will have the capability of using templates inbuilt. So, what are you waiting for. Time to get started!

Summary

Templates are a great way to boost productivity and reduce the time it takes to complete repeat tasks. They have benefits for both the individual and the organization. Templates can be used for a wide range of tasks — writing documents, emails, daily/weekly updates, presentations etc. To get started — do an audit of your written communication and leverage the tools that you are already using.

As with any other productivity habit, always remember one thing — getting started is the hardest part.