Trackline
Five mistakes when designing a template
The mistakes that stop a well-thought-out process from working in practice.
A process can be well thought out and still not work, and it is almost always one of these five things. All of them take five minutes to fix once spotted.
1. Everything in one phase
Twelve documents at once is overwhelming. The person opens the link, sees the list and leaves it for later. Splitting into sensible blocks — company, people, machinery — multiplies delivery.
2. Everything marked mandatory
If 80% genuinely is, the case ends up blocked by the 20% that never mattered. Mandatory means it stops things, not that it would be nice to have.
3. Titles written for you
"Doc 3" or "SS cert." mean nothing to a supplier. The request title is the first thing they read, and it decides whether they understand what you want.
4. One schema per client
The template is what repeats. Create one per client and you are back to email, only with more steps.
5. Forgetting expiry
A tax clearance certificate is valid for three months. With no expiry date, next year the case looks complete and is not.
Worth knowing
If a process has been open for weeks, check these five before touching anything else: four times out of five it is here.
›How many requests per phase is reasonable?
Three to six usually works. More than eight in one phase clearly reduces delivery.
›Can I change this with the process running?
Yes, on the specific case. The template is fixed separately, for the ones that follow.
A real case
The situation
A subcontractor onboarding has been open three weeks with only two of eleven documents delivered.
What you do
- Splits the eleven across three phases
- Leaves only the six that block site access as mandatory
- Rewrites the titles with the document's full name
What you get
The next subcontractor delivers all six mandatory items in four days.
The situation
The template asks for documents nobody looks at.
What you do
- Reviews what is actually used and drops the rest
What you get
The supplier delivers sooner because less is asked.
The situation
Documents are named with internal acronyms.
What you do
- Uses names an outsider understands
What you get
Questions fall and correct deliveries rise.
The situation
Mandatory and optional are not distinguished.
What you do
- Marks each document accordingly
What you get
The supplier prioritises what actually blocks.
The situation
Nothing explains why each document is needed.
What you do
- Adds a line of context per document
What you get
People reply without a preceding call.
The situation
The paper circuit is copied with its dead steps.
What you do
- Removes steps that existed only because of paper
What you get
The new process is shorter than the one it replaces.
This article answers
- why are documents not being delivered
- how to design a good trackline process
- template best practices
- the case gets stuck