---
id: KB-TL-006
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/trackline/mistakes-when-designing-a-template
idioma: en
categoria: trackline
subcategoria: plantillas
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-TL-001, KB-TL-005]
citadoPor: [KB-TL-005, KB-TL-011, KB-TL-018, KB-TL-015, KB-GL-012]
enLaApp: https://app.codecontract.io/trackline/schemas
---

# Five mistakes when designing a template

_The mistakes that stop a well-thought-out process from working in practice._

**Responde a:** why are documents not being delivered · how to design a good trackline process · template best practices · the case gets stuck

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.

**En corto**

- Asking for everything at once means getting nothing.
- Marking everything mandatory blocks the case on what never mattered.
- Titles are read by someone outside, not by you.

## 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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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.

## Ejemplos

**A subcontractor onboarding has been open three weeks with only two of eleven documents delivered.**

- 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

→ The next subcontractor delivers all six mandatory items in four days.

**The template asks for documents nobody looks at.**

- Reviews what is actually used and drops the rest

→ The supplier delivers sooner because less is asked.

**Documents are named with internal acronyms.**

- Uses names an outsider understands

→ Questions fall and correct deliveries rise.

**Mandatory and optional are not distinguished.**

- Marks each document accordingly

→ The supplier prioritises what actually blocks.

**Nothing explains why each document is needed.**

- Adds a line of context per document

→ People reply without a preceding call.

**The paper circuit is copied with its dead steps.**

- Removes steps that existed only because of paper

→ The new process is shorter than the one it replaces.