Is there capability to build a template with prompts? Or can changes be made to a master template and apply to separate templates?

[LindenRh]

I am looking for advise from users with template building/ maintenance experience... I am maintaining quite a large template for my organization that's becoming an annoyance for different PM groups to use. Majority of the product development flow within our BU is the same, so it's always been necessary to keep one large template and just have PM delete out sections that don't apply to their product (+ delete expenses within tasks that don't apply as well). Now that we are adding different product types to our portfolio and have so many options, the template is huge and requires a lot of editing by our PMs before they can use it. I'm hoping it's possible to build a template based on some kind of prompt? (Similar to how the skip or display logic can work with a custom form.) Our PM's would love to answer a set of questions and have a template build itself with the right parent sections and expenses based on the selected criteria. Or, do people know if we can have some kind of master template with parent sections applied to different templates? The idea here being that I could update one section of the master, then have the changes take affect within any other templates that house that particular section? Thanks all, Linden

[EricLu2]

Hi: There is no automation/workflow capabilities relative to templates or building projects. Here is an idea. This is all manual, but might get you down the path a little: 1) Develop a master template that has the basic framework and standard tasks; 2) Develop a series of functional templates that have only the tasks for the deliverables you need. a. Have a template for Print Ad; b. Have a template for Select Talent; c. Have a template for White Paper; d. Have a template for Meet and Greet; e. …so on, modeling your service catalog; 3) When you have a project to build, do this: a. Create the project using the master template; b. Project Actions, Attach Template, and pick the templates appropriate to the deliverables for the project; This approach leverages WorkFront’s ability to attach multiple templates to a single project. Does that help at all? Eric

[LindenRh]

Thank you, Lucas. So the method below would require linking of all appropriate predecessor tasks between the master and the functional templates each time the functional templates are added in, correct? I like this concept, though I feel that it would be a hard sell to the Project Managers if they are having to spend too much time linking the tasks. Is this how you are currently using your templates, and if so, do you find it easier than having to sift through a larger template and delete out relevant sections? Thanks Lucas, Linden

[HeatherTh]

One of our business units does it the way Eric suggests. They have the main Print template, then have add-ins if there is external vendor fulfillment needed or special reviews/approvals by external firms. Since all of the items in the add-in module are grouped under a parent task, there is just one dependency to add. In one of our other business units, we're pulling in the entire massive IT project plan and deleting out what we don't need every time. I think it's personal preference - I prefer the module setup myself.

[NRYNR]

Hi Linden, if your master template has predecessors established between the high-level tasks/milestones, then the inserted functional templates can have their own self-contained predecessors. This might eliminate the need to reestablish any predecessors when attaching the functional templates to the master. Another thing to consideer is when attaching a template to an existing empty project, you have the ability to "Exclude" entire sections of your w ork b reakdown s tructure. Your project managers may be willing to check off a few radio buttons to exclude large portions of the template. Otherwise, I would recommend creating different versions of the template for the different purposes and share them accordingly. You can attach a custom form to help you manage them if your list of templates becomes unwieldy. We have over 1,000 in our instance.