The Pros and Cons of Project Management Templates
Beneficial Or Not?
The purpose, need, and budget of the project decide whether templates would be beneficial or detrimental for the project. This article explains the advantages of using such templates. It also takes a look at the threats or dangers that can be faced if such project management templates are overused.
Advantages
Using project management templates will help you save on time, since you don’t have to think of a specific layout/design/color. In fact, all three elements are included in templates and all you have to do in insert your content and images. That means you can save on time greatly and can complete the information in just a few minutes.
The second advantage is that it can save on the cost of hiring a professional graphic designer. Designing visual aids digitally is not an easy task and often requires the services of a professionally trained individual. The fee for graphic services can be eliminated by using these generic templates.
The next advantage is the convenience you get if you need more than one document. Using such standard templates is economical as well. There is the possibiilty of standardizing your templates, as well.
Finally, the last advantage allows choice from a variety of designs and layouts. Numerous designs are available to choose from. This means that template designs and concepts are not just limited to the imagination of just one designer.
Disadvantages
With advantages come disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage of using generic project management templates is that it limits the creativity of the user. The choices are limited and so is the look of the overall product!
Most generic templates are not unique. Several people may have found it on the Internet and used it ahead of you. It’s also true that in many cases the colors or the layout cannot be altered or edited. For a unique template design, you might have to spend more money than you would like.
Limited creativity could also result in boring presentations. Using the same layouts and designs for the templates could bore the audience. Most would feel they have already seen your presentation, even though the content is new. Your target audience might ignore the new document completely.
Many times, generic templates put limitations on the text input that needs to be made. For example, in a template where there is space for 500 words and the user inserts 700 words, the template layout may change. It will not look good when it is stretched.
Templates work great for static pages. If this template is for a website and the website needs to be changed or edited regularly, one needs to build a simple template.
In some cases, templates eat up lot of space on the server. In addition, they might infringe on copyright issues. Finally, many of these templates come with their source file unknown. Users do not have access to the source files, putting the end-user at a major risk or reliability.
