Templates: the easiest of time-savers as a manager

For the first few years of my management career, I found myself writing the same emails over and over again, with a few minor tweaks. Like all managers, I was so busy I found myself cutting corners or forgetting whole missives, which gave the impression I either wasn’t invested or was scatterbrained. It also left my peers and directs in a lurch, trying to figure out what I wanted or needed from them.

When I began producing onboarding docs for new hires and training material for managers so my org had a consistent experience, I realized I should be eating my own dog food. These templates improved uniformity and reduced the stress involved in day-to-day managerial duties. My ‘templates’ folders quickly became my most oft-accessed and most praised (in my head) every day.

So without further adieu… my favorite templates!

pre-interview doc for interviewers: The email to send to each person involved in the on-site interview loop. Includes background on the candidate and role, as well as the competencies each interviewer should address. (Note: I know some people feel that interviewers shouldn’t receive any information on how a candidate fared in their phone screens or what their strengths and weaknesses might be. I believe the more information interviewers receive up front, the better-prepared they’ll be for the interview. Plus, it’ll allow you to focus on the reservations coming out of phone screens to ensure the candidate is the right fit for the role.)

post-interview doc for interviewers: I don’t expect folks to invest time into interviewing candidates for my positions without providing them closure afterward. This is a quick note with the final hiring decision, rationale behind the decision, and a ‘thank you’ for their continued efforts.

phone screen feedback: I usually work offline when taking notes during my phone screens, since one never knows when one might lose internet. I pre-populate the ‘questions asked’ section with what I plan on asking (separate template), then it’s a simple cut and paste into the company’s hiring system.

new hire welcome email: First email my directs received from me. It provides background on what to read first, how to contact me, who their most important customers are, and who their mentor is for the first few weeks on the job.

new hire initial 1:1 agenda: Everything a new hire needs to know to prepare for their first 1:1 meeting with me.

one on one templates: Pretty self explanatory, but feel free to read my previous post on 1:1’s for more background. :)

exec project status reports: Every company says they have their own template for this, but I’ve found that they aren’t standardized. I picked this one up from twitter a few years ago & have made a few edits along the way. Even if stakeholders only want a subset of the info, I want the whole shebang- easier to avoid losing things along the way.

departure mail to the exec team: Sometimes you have to let someone go. Most companies will require an email from the ‘firing manager’ when this happens, and this is the template I usually start with. The last thing you want to worry about in these circumstances is what you’re going to tell your boss’s boss’s boss .I heavily edit it, of course, since each case is different. But there are phrases in here that apply to almost every situation, and I’ll re-use those where relevant.