How Do You Know When It's Time to Build a Template?

Reading time: 6 min

A template is a reusable starting point for collecting or sharing information. It holds the structure of a task, so you fill in only what is new each time instead of rebuilding the same document, form, or tracker from a blank page. The time spent recreating routine work adds up quickly, and a template returns that time to you.

A task you perform more than twice deserves a template. That rule applies to work on any regular schedule:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Biweekly
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Annually

This article shows you how to recognize the signals that a template is due and how to build one around the purpose of the task, the people who use it, and the questions it answers later. The goal of every template is to reduce the time an activity takes. A template that adds steps has missed the mark.

Before You Start

You gather a few items before you build the template.

• The task you repeat and how often you perform it
• One or two completed examples of the task from past cycles
• The names or roles of everyone who uses the information
• The reports, presentations, or systems the information feeds into
• A blank spreadsheet, document, or form, depending on how the information is viewed

The Process

The steps below move from recognizing the need to building a template that answers the questions people ask at the end of the cycle.

Step 1. The Signals That a Template Is Due

The first signal is frequency. A task that happens more than twice on any of the schedules above qualifies for a template. Two other signals point to the same conclusion:

• You collect a lot of the same information from multiple sources and enter it into the same system.
• People ask you for the same information repeatedly.

A template serves one of two purposes: collecting information or sharing information. The first signal above calls for a collection template, and the second calls for a sharing template. Both have the same goal, which is reducing the time the task takes. You measure every design choice that follows against that goal.

Step 2. The Purpose and Rhythm of the Task

A useful template starts with a clear picture of why the task exists and how often it happens. You answer four questions and write the answers at the top of your draft:

• Why do you do this task?
• How often does it happen?
• Where does the information go when you finish?
• Who else uses the information?

The answers keep the template focused. Every field you add traces back to one of these answers, and a field that traces back to none of them stays out of the design.

Step 3. The People Who Use It

Using a template covers more than typing into it. A person uses the template any time that person accesses it to gain knowledge. That includes the following activities:

• Reading entries
• Editing entries
• Adding new entries
• Checking entries for completeness
• Validating entries against another source

The next decision is how the template is shared. Three arrangements cover the usual options:

• One shared version that many people update
• A master copy that each person copies into a personal version
• A template for you alone

The arrangement shapes the design. A shared version needs clear sections and the right permission level for each person. A master copy needs fixed headings and formulas, so every personal version stays consistent. A personal template needs only what helps you finish the task faster.

Step 4. Information That Stays the Same and Information That Changes

The next step is sorting the information into two groups. The first group stays the same from one entry to the next, or changes rarely:

• Name
• Title
• Description
• Assignee
• Email address
• Employee ID
• Phone number

The second group is new each cycle:

• Notes
• Counts and totals
• Ratings and scores
• Metrics
• Feedback and opinions

Each recurring type of information gets its own column or its own space on the page. A count lives in a count column, and a note lives in a notes field. One type of information per space makes the data easy to total and compare later. Fixed information can be filled in once or chosen from a list, so the person completing the template spends time only on what is new.

Step 5. The View for One Entry

The way a single entry is viewed determines the format. Information that reads naturally in rows and columns belongs in a spreadsheet or a list. Information that needs screenshots or a page layout belongs in a document or a slide.

A quick test helps here. You picture one complete entry and decide whether a reader scans across a row or reads down a page. A row points to a spreadsheet, and a page points to a document or a slide.

Step 6. The End in Mind

The final step is designing for the questions people ask at the end of the cycle. Leadership might ask three questions at year-end about a donut sales team:

• How many donuts did the team sell in April?
• How many donuts did the team sell in total?
• How did sales in Topeka compare with sales in Springfield?

Each question maps to a field the template needs from the first entry:

• Date of sale, which answers the April question
• Quantity sold, which answers the total
• Location, which answers the Topeka and Springfield comparison

Senior leaders may see only the presentation built from the data, not the spreadsheet behind it. The template's job is to make that presentation quick to build. A template designed with the final questions in mind turns a year-end request into a few minutes of sorting and filtering.

Worked Example

Bright Circuits, a youth STEM nonprofit, staffs a booth at regional education fairs four times a year. Each fair runs three days in a row, and volunteers collect visitor email addresses for the newsletter every day. The program coordinator used to set up a new sign-up sheet for each day of each fair, which took about 45 minutes per event.

The coordinator walks through the steps:

1. The signals are clear. The same information is collected 12 days a year, and the program director asks for sign-up totals after every fair.
2. The purpose is growing the newsletter list. The rhythm is three days per fair, four fairs per year. The information goes into the nonprofit's email marketing platform, and the program director uses the totals in board reports.
3. Volunteers add entries, the coordinator checks them each evening, and the director reads the totals. The coordinator keeps a master copy and makes one copy per fair.
4. The fields that stay the same for a fair are Event Name, Event City, and Volunteer Initials. The fields that change with each visitor are Date, Parent Name, Email, Child's Grade, Interest Area, and Notes.
5. One entry reads naturally as a row, so the template is a spreadsheet.
6. The director asks three questions each year: total sign-ups, sign-ups by fair, and the most popular interest area. The Event Name and Interest Area columns answer those questions, and Interest Area uses a short list of choices so every entry matches.

Setup time drops from 45 minutes per fair to about five minutes. The coordinator filters the four event copies and reports 612 sign-ups at year-end, with robotics as the most popular interest area at 41%. The director builds the board slide from those numbers without asking for any additional data.

Checking Your Work

You use this checklist to confirm the template does its job.

• The task happens more than twice, or the information is collected or requested repeatedly.
• The template takes less time to complete than the old process.
• Each recurring type of information has its own column or space.
• Fixed information sits apart from information that changes.
• Everyone who uses the template knows which version to work in.
• The format matches how one entry is viewed.
• The fields answer the questions leadership asks at the end of the cycle.