Want to build a better pipeline for your product team? This Starter Kit showcases free, time-saving templates focused on helping you ship a better product, faster. And each template is customizable, so you can build tools to keep your team on track, focus your strategic planning, and launch features—in a way that works best for your team.
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Every product team strives for high performance. And the right tools can help them leverage their strengths and make their goals easier to achieve. But, as you know,
choosing that tool is easier said than done.
Your designer likes a newly-launched tool, while your engineer prefers one they’ve been using for years. Or you start a project with a Google doc, which grows to two Google docs, plus a spreadsheet and a Trello board, by the end of the quarter. Out-of-the-box software is designed for one-size-fits-most—and there’s a good chance it won’t be the right fit for your team. But the perfect tool for your team
does
exist—when you make it yourself. Let your team shape the tool, not the other way around.
We’ve always believed that process is a product in and of itself. And it’s no surprise that the people who build products for a living make incredibly insightful docs, too. Like this look at
In this Starter Kit, we highlight common patterns for creating a process your product team will actually use—from discussion topic voting to feature roadmapping to bug squashing.
Get the most out of your meetings.
With so much time dedicated to stand-ups, brainstorms, and discussions, every moment demands productivity, concise communication, and clear expectations. What if you worked smarter, not harder?
Every meeting should work to improve team morale and alignment. So why not try designing teamwork like you design your product: with your users in mind. To quote Yuhki, from his doc
Interpersonal cues, like body language, can be easy to miss, especially in a digital space. Instead of trying to read the minds of your meeting attendees, simply ask them how they’re feeling—about their day, this specific meeting, or anything else. Add this template to your doc by typing
Not all meeting topics are created equal, especially when deadlines are approaching and everyone only has this exact half hour to meet. Drive consensus and bring everyone along for the ride with this simple templateーjust hit
/voting table
and start adding topics.
Add topics and upvote. 👇
Add topic
Done
Idea
Author
Vote
Upvotes
Upvoters
1
How can we implement Coda in Q3?
👍
1
1
2
Is it possible to save 2 hours a week on our meetings?
👍
1
1
3
What is the process for launching a customer feedback tracker?
Brainstorms can be incredibly inspiring and a great way to connect with your team. Or they can go absolutely nowhere at all. Try setting an agenda and clarifying expectations with this
Product decisions carry weight, and all eyes are on you team during the decision-making process. What features are you building next? How are you going to build this? According to Adam Nash in his
The strategy you choose when answering these questions will impact your team and your product. (No pressure.) You know what your team can reasonably accomplish, so simplify and add visibility to your strategic process where it makes sense.
You have a million and one things on your feature backlog, ranging from community requests to board asks. But what do you work on next? Give all opinions airtime, get aligned, and become one with your priorities with this
Decisions are made in meetings, over Slack, and, when in the office, in hallways. Give proper visibility to all decisions made with a decision log that sends updates to both Slack and email with the push of a button. Customize this template after adding it to your doc with
/decision log
.
Question?
Decision
Send to Slack
Slack Channel
Send via Email
Email
1
What color should we make the logo?
Options were red, green or blue
Decided on green as it was closest to the rest of our branding
When building a feature, you consolidate feedback, sequence work while aligning the team, design and spec, and, finally, manage the project to completion. Rushabh Doshi, former Director of Engineering and Product Management at Facebook, provides his perspective of process in his
A systematic approach to product quality can help produce a product that is a joy to use—a product that feels polished and fast, one that customers keep returning to over and over again.
To build that systematic approach, you’re going to need a way to track tasks while providing meaningful visibility to your stakeholders, without redundant data entry.
Successful PRDs are specific enough to get useful feedback and concise enough that people actually read them—a difficult balance to strike. With a precise set of prompts and launch checklists,
Whichever strategy you choose, you need to be SMART. Break down your OKRs into Jira issues, and then measure your work with an automatically-updating progress bar, with this tracker template. Add this table to your own doc by typing
Cross-functional alignment isn’t the easiest thing to come by, but it sure will make the journey to launching your features smoother. Give your stakeholders a clear picture of where you’re going and where you’ve been with this intuitive dashboard. Add it to your doc by typing
/product roadmap
.
Edit the roadmap—the timeline will update automatically. 👇
Given the state of work, we’re all challenged to create the perfect environment for our teams. And while you may not be able to create a perfect office, you can create a perfect doc—a space as collaborative, creative, and unique as your team.