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Project Management | Templates | Project Portfolio | Transformation
Blueprints for Success
An underestimated tool for driving successful change
The day I discovered the true value of templates wasn’t just another day at the office.
The revelation came as I was managing a small yet groundbreaking project. Everything was under control until an email landed in my inbox. It was from a senior stakeholder, someone with limited interest in the project but significant influence — the kind of person whose messages you can’t just skim and forget.
The email was about the selection of a provider for a minor deliverable. Standard stuff, apparently. But then, almost as an afterthought, he dropped the bomb, ‘I assume you will also deliver the due diligence in some form.’ That simple sentence catapulted me into panic mode. Due diligence? It wasn’t a typical step in our project playbook, and I was at a loss.
But then came my eureka moment — finding out a template. Sure, the one I found was designed for larger-scale projects and barely fit our needs. Yet, that humble template was my lifesaver. It helped me decipher what ‘due diligence’ entailed for our context and, more importantly, guided me through assembling a response that not only satisfied the stakeholder but also made a good addition to my own project management toolbox.
