Project Management Templates

✨ New resource: a PM Performance Evaluation template Throughout my 15+ years as a PM, I’ve consistently felt that ladder-based PM performance evaluations seem broken, but I couldn’t quite find the words to describe why. Early on in my PM career, I was actually part of the problem — I happily created or co-created elaborate PM ladders in spreadsheets, calling out all sorts of nuances between what “Product Quality focus” looks like at the PM3 level vs. at the Sr. PM level. (looking back, it was a non-trivial amount of nonsense — and having seen several dozens of ladder spreadsheets at this point, I can confidently say this is the case for >90% of such ladder spreadsheets) So that led me to develop the Insight-Execution-Impact framework for PM Performance Evaluations, which you can see in the picture below. I then used this framework informally to guide performance conversations and performance feedback for PMs on my team at Stripe — and I have also shared this with a dozen founders who’ve adapted it for their own performance evaluations as they have established more formal performance systems at their startups. And now, you can access this framework as an easy to update & copy Coda doc (link in the comments). How to use this template as a manager? In a small company that hasn’t yet created the standard mess of elaborate spreadsheet-based career ladders, you might consider adopting this template as your standard way of evaluating and communication PM performance (and you can marry it with other sane frameworks such as PSHE by Shishir Mehrotra to decide when to promote a given PM to the next level e.g. GPM vs. Director vs. VP). In a larger company that already has a lot of legacy, habits, and tools around career ladders & perf, you might not be able to wholesale replace your existing system & tools like Workday. That is fine. If this framework resonates with you, I’d still recommend that you use it to actually have meaningful conversations with your team members around planning what to expect over the next 3 / 6 / 9 months and also to provide more meaningful context on their performance & rating. When I was at Stripe, we used Workday as our performance review tool, but I first wrote my feedback in the form of Insight - Execution - Impact (privately) and then pasted the relevant parts of my write-up into Workday. So that’s it from me. Again, the link to the template is in the comments. And if you want more of your colleagues to see the light, there’s even a video in that doc, in which I explain the problem and the core framework in more detail. I hope this is useful.

A PM at Google asked me how I managed 30+ stakeholders. 'More meetings?' Wrong. Here's the RACI framework that cut my meeting load by 60% while increasing influence. 1/ 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙫𝙨 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 Most PMs drown because they invite everyone who's "interested." Instead, split your stakeholders into: - R: People doing the work - A: People accountable for success 2/ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙥 Stop asking for approval from everyone. Create two clear buckets: - C: Must consult before decisions - I: Just keep informed of progress 3/ 𝘿𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 > 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 For "Informed" stakeholders, switch to documented updates. They'll actually retain more than in another recurring meeting. 4/ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚 "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲." Use this in every email. Watch the right people emerge. 5/ 𝘼𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 Build your approval flows around your R&A stakeholders only. Everyone else gets strategic updates. --- This isn't about excluding people. It's about respecting everyone's time while maintaining momentum. If you found this framework helpful for managing stakeholders: 1. Follow Alex Rechevskiy for more actionable frameworks on product leadership and time management 2. Bookmark and retweet to save these tactics and help other PMs streamline their stakeholder management

My S.C.O.P.E. Framework Your essential project management approach. 🌟 S - Specify Requirements • Define project requirements. • Document expectations. • Set a solid foundation. • Understand stakeholder needs. • Establish clear goals. C - Clarify Objectives • Set measurable objectives. • Align with project goals. • Use SMART criteria. • Ensure clarity and relevance. • Achieve project alignment. O - Outline Boundaries • Define project scope. • Specify inclusions and exclusions. • Manage expectations. • Prevent scope creep. • Establish clear limits. P - Plan for Changes • Prepare for changes. • Set up change processes. • Assess change requests. • Approve and implement changes. • Adapt to evolving needs. E - Evaluate Progress • Regularly review progress. • Measure against scope. • Ensure project stays on track. • Address deviations promptly. • Maintain project integrity. Download and save this framework. Use it to enhance your project planning and execution. 🌟 Thank you for reading!

example for Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Highway Project WBS │ ├── 1. Project Management │  ├── 1.1 Project Initiation │  ├── 1.2 Project Planning │  ├── 1.3 Project Execution │  ├── 1.4 Monitoring and Control │  └── 1.5 Project Closeout │ ├── 2. Engineering (Design) │  ├── 2.1 Geotechnical Surveys and Soil Testing │  ├── 2.2 Topographic Surveys │  ├── 2.3 Detailed Road Design │  │  ├── 2.3.1 Alignment Design │  │  ├── 2.3.2 Pavement Design │  │  ├── 2.3.3 Drainage Design │  │  └── 2.3.4 Safety and Traffic Control Design │  ├── 2.4 Utility Relocation Plans │  ├── 2.5 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) │  ├── 2.6 Design Approvals and Permits │  └── 2.7 Detailed Construction Drawings │ ├── 3. Procurement │  ├── 3.1 Material Procurement │  │  ├── 3.1.1 Asphalt Materials │  │  ├── 3.1.2 Aggregates and Base Materials │  │  ├── 3.1.3 Reinforcement Steel │  │  ├── 3.1.4 Concrete for Bridge Structures (if applicable) │  │  └── 3.1.5 Road Signs and Safety Equipment │  ├── 3.2 Equipment Procurement │  │  ├── 3.2.1 Excavators and Earthmoving Equipment │  │  ├── 3.2.2 Compaction Equipment │  │  ├── 3.2.3 Pavers and Mixers │  │  └── 3.2.4 Traffic Control Equipment │  ├── 3.3 Subcontractor Selection │  └── 3.4 Procurement of Temporary Facilities (e.g., offices, utilities) │ ├── 4. Construction │  ├── 4.1 Mobilization │  │  ├── 4.1.1 Site Setup │  │  ├── 4.1.2 Temporary Facilities Setup │  │  └── 4.1.3 Workforce Mobilization │  ├── 4.2 Earthworks and Excavation │  │  ├── 4.2.1 Site Clearing │  │  ├── 4.2.2 Excavation and Grading │  │  └── 4.2.3 Embankment Construction │  ├── 4.3 Pavement Construction │  │  ├── 4.3.1 Subbase and Base Course Installation │  │  ├── 4.3.2 Asphalt Layering │  │  └── 4.3.3 Quality Control for Pavement │  ├── 4.4 Drainage and Utilities │  │  ├── 4.4.1 Stormwater Drainage Installation │  │  ├── 4.4.2 Utility Relocation and Installation │  │  └── 4.4.3 Erosion and Sediment Control │  ├── 4.5 Road Signage and Marking │  │  ├── 4.5.1 Signage Installation │  │  └── 4.5.2 Road Markings │  ├── 4.6 Traffic Control and Safety Measures │  │  ├── 4.6.1 Temporary Traffic Diversion Setup │  │  └── 4.6.2 Safety Barriers and Guardrails │  ├── 4.7 Bridge or Overpass Construction (if applicable) │  │  ├── 4.7.1 Foundation and Substructure Works │  │  ├── 4.7.2 Superstructure and Deck Works │  │  └── 4.7.3 Deck Finishing and Waterproofing │  ├── 4.8 Final Roadworks and Surface Finishing │  │  ├── 4.8.1 Final Grading and Surface Leveling │  │  └── 4.8.2 Final Asphalt Layer and Compacting │  ├── 4.9 Testing and Commissioning │  │  ├── 4.9.1 Pavement and Surface Testing │  │  └── 4.9.2 Road Safety Testing │  └── 4.10 Demobilization │    ├── 4.10.1 Site Cleanup │    └── 4.10.2 Equipment and Personnel Demobilization │ └── 5. Quality Assurance and Control ├── 5.1 Material Inspection and Testing ├── 5.2 Construction Inspection ├── 5.3 Compliance Audits └── 5.4 Final Quality Report

🍱 Design Patterns For Effective Dashboards (https://lnkd.in/ed6Rr_sC), with practical guidelines for designing better dashboards and practical UX patterns to keep in mind. Neatly put together by Benjamin Bach. 🚫 Don’t destroy user value by oversimplification. ✅ Oftentimes life is complex and tools must match life. ✅ Dashboard value is measured by useful actions it prompts. ✅ Aim to create understanding, rather than showing raw data. ✅ Start by studying audience, tasks and decisions to make. ✅ Choose what data is important for a user in each task. ✅ Choose a structure: single page, parallel pages, drill-downs. ✅ Select charts depending on data + level of detail to show. ✅ Then set layout density: open, table, grouped or schematic. ✅ Design interactions for exploration, filters, personalization. ✅ More data → more filters/views, less data → single values. ✅ Design for interface expertise levels: low, medium, high. ✅ Low: large text size, progressive disclosure, extra spacing. ✅ Medium: regular size/spacing, more data cards, shortcuts. ✅ High: small text size, heavy data, customization, filters. ✅ Support user’s transition between levels of proficiency. Dashboards are often seen as a way to organize and display data at a glance. And as such, too often it shows a lot of data without being actionable or meaningful. Yet the main task of a dashboard isn’t that — it’s to explain trends and communicate insights. Start by studying levels of user’s expertise. Segment the audience and explore what data they need to make decisions. Think carefully what charts would be both accurate and meaningful — rather than being an oversimplification or guide to misleading interpretations. Review defaults, presets and templates. Allow users to re-arrange and customize data density and widgets. Explore where a data table might help draw better conclusions. Most importantly: test your charts and dashboards meticulously. We don’t need to reveal all raw data at once, to everyone, and at the same scale and pace. But we need to support pathways for people to face complexity when they must, and discover only a set of actionable insights when they need. ✤ Useful Resources Dashboard Design Patterns & Workflow, by Benjamin Bach https://lnkd.in/eSCasdKG Practical Guide For Dashboard UX, by Taras Bakusevych https://lnkd.in/e5gMMgXv FT Visual Vocabulary (PDF), via Stéphanie Walter https://lnkd.in/ezu2w8Vr How To Design A Dashboard (free book), by David Matthew https://lnkd.in/enU-CxwU Data Dashboards UX Benchmarking, by Creative Navy UX Agency https://lnkd.in/edUgTH3G You Might Not Need A Dashboard, by Irina Wagner, PhD https://lnkd.in/eBSEkCyb #ux #design

After designing hundreds of business dashboards, I keep coming back to these four patterns: Tall + Scrolly Stack everything vertically, organized by metric family, and let people scroll to their level of depth. Best for mobile viewing and email delivery with basic chart types that doesn't require instructions. Where I've seen this work: New product/feature introductions where audiences are different levels (executive to operators) and functions. BANs + Decomp Big numbers that focus attention and breakdowns that show differences. For when you've identified the important metrics, but want to show segment granularity. Switch group-by dimension while maintaining familiar layout. Where I've seen this work: Operational monitoring for teams that have ownership of metric outcomes. Sankey + Wide Table Flow diagram establishes a map of the whole system and reference tables show details. For diagnosing conversion and retention patterns across nodes and segments to know where to optimize. Where I've seen this work: Growth teams figuring out behavior across complex funnels and overlapping segments. Potential Show what you could be delivering versus what you're actually delivering. Makes the gap between current performance and available capacity visible. Where I've seen this work: Operational teams that have a clear action to take, but limited time. What each of these have in common: - Establish big picture awareness, but direct small picture action (think global, act local) - Strengthened by KPI ownership - Act as a prioritization mechanism Organizations often start with one dashboard trying to serve everyone, then evolve into multiple dashboards with different patterns for different groups. The more established the business, the more discrete the problems being solved are. That means early on, you go from optic oriented communications to more optimization oriented direction. I've found that organizations lack a portfolio strategy for their analytics interfaces, they take templates from one context and try to apply them to another OR they try to combine use cases together into a singular dashboard because they only have budget for one but multiple stakeholders with different needs, so they get a flying-boat-car of compromises. Some data work and analytics are going to be a cost of doing business, like reporting that just keeps everyone informed. While other data work is a strategic bet. The challenge is that some analytics deliver hard value you can measure in dollars, while others provide soft value like better collaboration and shared understanding that's difficult to quantify. Most organizations don't think about this mix deliberately. #dataAnalytics

Dashboards should deliver the insights to the right people at the right time. Here is how to build a dashboard for different stakeholders. 1. 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Strategic, Big Picture     When designing dashboards for executives, think high-altitude view. They don’t need to know the granular details. They want clear, strategic insights that drive business decisions. Here’s what to focus on: • 𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: Top managers care about key performance indicators connected to business goals (revenue, profit, market share). Focus on the top 3-5 metrics that have a significant impact on them.    • 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: Avoid cluttered boards and use clean, intuitive visuals like summary cards or high-level bar charts.    • 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀: They are interested in the big picture of past trends and future forecasts.    • 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: Provide clear takeaways and recommendations. They want to know what steps to take next. 2. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀: Actionable, In-Depth Insights     For operational teams, dashboards need to dig deeper. They’re in the weeds, and they need tools that help them drive tactical decisions and track day-to-day performance. • 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Ensure your dashboard pulls from live data sources so operational teams can act quickly.    • 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: They need to see everything like sales numbers, inventory levels, and customer response times. Drill-down options are required.    • 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: Build custom filters to let users explore data by region, product line, or department.    • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺-𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀: Highlight bottlenecks or inefficiencies in real-time so they can act fast.   How do you adjust your dashboards for different stakeholders? ---------------- ♻️ Share if you find this post useful ➕ Follow for more daily insights on how to grow your career in the data field #dataanalytics #datascience #dashboard #stakeholder #careergrowht

5 Dashboards That You Need To Understand Your Business 📊 The most valuable thing you can learn in business? Understanding your financial statements. But raw financial data can be overwhelming... that's where dashboards come in. Let me show you the 5 essential dashboards that give you CLARITY on what's actually happening in your business... ➡️ KPI DASHBOARD This is your business at a glance. Revenue, COGS, Gross Profit, Gross Margin, Opex, EBITDA, Net Income. The magic happens when you add year-over-year comparisons. Seeing those percentage changes shows you growth patterns raw numbers simply can't. This dashboard answers one critical question: "Are we moving in the right direction?" ➡️ BUDGET VS ACTUALS Budget vers actuals is my favorite report and for a ton of reasons... First, it's beautiful. I get to digest information with both numbers and pretty visuals. Next, it's so informative. Not only do I learn about what happened, but I also learn about how that compares to what I thought was going to happen. The power comes from the variance indicators. Those donut charts? I could stare at them all day. They instantly show me where we're hitting targets and where we need to adjust. ➡️ CASH FLOWS Cash is oxygen for your business. Without it, everything stops. This dashboard breaks down: - Beginning cash position - Cash from operating activities - Cash from investing activities - Cash from financing activities - Ending cash position The monthly view is non-negotiable. Too many businesses with healthy P&Ls go under because they couldn't see the cash crunch coming 90 days out... ➡️ PROFIT & LOSS Your P&L tells you about the profits or losses that your business is generating. It's separated by Revenue, Cost of Goods Sold, Operating Expenses, Other Income, and Other Expenses. Put differently, the profit and loss tells you about the PERFORMANCE of your business. It answers: "How well are we executing?" When you add projections, you transform this historical statement into a powerful planning tool that guides future decisions. ➡️ BALANCE SHEET The most underrated financial statement deserves its own dashboard. Unlike the profit and loss, it's a snapshot in time where all values shown are cumulative. It tells you the POSITION of your company at any moment. The monthly breakdown helps track working capital fluctuations. Watch those accounts receivable... if they grow faster than revenue, you've got a collections problem brewing. Assets, liabilities, owner's equity... this is your financial position in one view. === These dashboards work best in Excel because you can create CONNECTIONS to different files that update with just one click. The best part? Once set up, all you need to do is click ONE button, and everything is done. It's like having an Excel assistant working for you. What financial dashboards are you using to run your business? Anything missing from this list? Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

People often ask how we manage complex projects as a team of 100 people in 35 countries, and since I'm currently revamping our documentation on this subject, that info is top of mind. Here's 29 pages of content condensed into 1 LI post for a sneak peek into our DO (Doist Objectives) System 👀 It starts with our annual roadmap, which the leadership team builds in Q4 of the prior year. To execute that plan, we organize our work into four areas of priority (Strategic Priorities, aka SPs), each running multiple initiatives simultaneously in quarterly "cycles", and overseen by a Directly Responsible Doister (DRD): • Brand (DRD: CMO): Marketing campaigns, brand evolution, growth initiatives • Product (DRD: Head of Product): New features, user experience improvements, product strategy • Engineering (DRD: CTO): Platform stability, performance optimization, technical infrastructure • Doist (DRD: 🙋🏻♂️): Internal tools, company operations, team effectiveness Planning kicks off four weeks before each quarter when the CXOs provide the DRDs with general guidance and goals. We respond by proposing general plans for DOs (Doist Objectives; projects/initiatives) in line with our annual roadmap. Two weeks before the new quarter begins, the DOs are agreed upon and the team Heads assign team members to cross-functional "Squads" as "Squad Leaders" and "Squad Members". **See photos below to illustrate the squad infrastructure. Each SP typically runs 2-5 major DOs per quarter, meaning we're executing 12-16 significant projects at any time. The quarter begins with a two-week "Foundation Phase", where squads: • Deep dive into the challenges and opportunities their squad faces • Conduct user research • Create comprehensive specs detailing their proposed solutions • Align on execution approach • This phase ensures we have the space to avoid diving too deep into the upcoming cycle while working on the current cycle From there, squads maintain momentum for the following 10 weeks in the "Execution Phase" through established rituals: • Weekly "snippets" in Twist for progress updates and transparency (our version of an async standup meeting) • Bi-weekly recorded demos to showcase work in-depth • Monthly retrospectives on squad health for continuous improvement • Monthly companywide updates on each strategic priority's DOs • Monthly strategic reviews/adjustments by the leadership team • Expectation = each squad should "ship" something weekly Of course, we manage most of this using Twist for communication and Todoist for project management, but more so than the tools, this system works for us because we emphasize clear ownership/autonomy, transparent communication, and just enough processes to stay coordinated without slowing the team down. That was a lot to digest, but I hope it's helpful. Let me know if I can expand on anything or answer any other questions 👇

I have an extremely simple trick I use to manage cross-functional initiatives with many moving parts. And it might surprise you. Part of the work of any product leader is ensuring the team is always moving in the right direction. This is easy when work happens within a product squad but much more problematic when it involves people from multiple departments. - You need an engineer to assess the feasibility of a few ideas - You need an expert in your team to structure information - You need your brand team to work on new imagery - You need a data analyst to gather required data - You need a designer to prototype a solution When this happens within product, you can likely use your existing planning software (Notion, Linear, Jira, Asana, Monday, etc.) However, not everyone will be comfortable with that software when it touches on multiple functions. That’s where I love using extremely simple solutions. 1. Create a temporary working channel on Slack with all the key people. 2. Create an action list using emojis to communicate the status of each item. 3. Tag the respective people in each list item. 4. Track and update that list, resharing it in the group when key milestones are met. (You can also use Slack's new lists function, but where is the fun in that?) Example: 🟢 @akash to add funnel data to the board 🟢 @filippos to share key discovery insights 🟠 Everyone to add comments on the pre-read material 🟠 @annie to conclude on our key coaching principles 🟠 @shelina to evaluate different integration providers 🟠 @filippos to schedule follow-up workshop Here is why it works: - It takes a few minutes to create vs. using specialized software. - It holds people accountable and adds a bias for action. - It gives everyone the visibility they need. Is anyone else using something similar? -- If you found this useful, consider reposting ♻️ #uxdesign #productdesign #uiux