A business that runs many similar projects should not build each one from a blank start. Project templates give a defined starting point. This piece is about project templates in Odoo.
What a project template is
A project template is a predefined starting point for a project: a template that captures the familiar shape of a kind of project, the tasks it typically involves, the structure, so that a new project of that kind can be created from the template rather than built from scratch. Odoo supports project templates, so a business that runs projects following recognisable patterns can capture those patterns as templates.
Where project templates help
Project templates help wherever a business runs projects that follow a familiar shape. Many businesses do: a particular kind of engagement, a particular kind of delivery, that recurs, with the same general structure of tasks each time. For such recurring kinds of project, a template captures the common shape. A new project of that kind is then created from the template, already having the familiar structure, and the team adjusts it for what is genuinely specific to the particular project. Project templates are most valuable for a business with recurring project patterns, and less relevant for one whose every project is genuinely unique.
What project templates achieve
Project templates achieve two things. The first is speed: a project created from a template is set up faster than one built from scratch, because the familiar structure is already there. The second is consistency: projects created from a template are consistent, the same kind of project set up the same way each time, rather than each one structured differently depending on who set it up. Consistency matters, because it means a kind of project is run in a known, repeatable way, with the structure that experience has shown works, rather than being reinvented each time. For a business running many similar projects, templates give both the speed and the consistency.
Templates capture what experience has learned
A deeper value of project templates is that they let a business capture, in the template, what it has learned about how a kind of project should be run. The template's structure can reflect the genuine, refined shape of that kind of project, the tasks that experience has shown are needed, in the structure that works. So a project template is not just a time-saver; it is a way of carrying forward the business's learned, good way of running a kind of project, so each new project of that kind benefits from it rather than starting from scratch.
Keep templates current and focused
An honest note. A project template captures the shape of a kind of project, and as the business learns and as the kind of project evolves, the template should be updated to keep reflecting the genuine, current good shape. And templates should be focused: a template for each genuine recurring kind of project, not a clutter of templates for every minor variation. Kept current and focused, project templates are a genuine asset for a business that runs similar projects.
The takeaway
Project templates in Odoo are predefined starting points for projects that follow a familiar shape, capturing the typical tasks and structure of a kind of project. They help wherever a business runs recurring kinds of project, delivering speed, projects set up faster, and consistency, a kind of project run the same known way each time. They also carry forward what the business has learned about how a kind of project should be run. Keep templates current and focused on the genuine recurring kinds of project. For how we approach Odoo, see our ERP practice.