Product Management Templates

Copy-paste skeletons for the artifacts you'll write most. These are formats, not laws, and the thinking matters more than the headings (see Feature Specification and Writing PRDs and Specs). Match the depth to the risk: a low-risk tweak gets a one-pager; a bet-the-quarter initiative gets the full strategy doc. Each template below is meant to be copied into your own doc and filled in.

#1. PRD / One-Pager

The one-pager is my default. If a feature can't be framed on a single page, the thinking usually isn't done yet.

# [Feature / Initiative Name]
Author · Date · Status (Draft / In Review / Approved) · Stakeholders

## Problem
What user or business problem are we solving? For whom? Why now?
(Evidence: link the research, data, or insight; see Continuous Discovery.)

## Outcome / Success Metric
The ONE number we expect to move, and the target. State this BEFORE the solution.
Guardrail metrics we must not harm:

## Solution (the "what", not the "how")
Brief description of the approach. Link mocks/prototype.

## Scope
User stories + acceptance criteria:
- As a [user], I can [action], so that [value]. AC: ...
Out of scope (explicitly):

## Considerations
- UX:
- Technical / feasibility:
- Data & instrumentation (how we'll measure the outcome):
- Edge cases:
- Risks & mitigations (see Risk Identification and Mitigation):
- Go-to-market (see Shipping and Launch):

## Open Questions

#2. Product Strategy Doc

For an area or product line. This is the "where are we going and why" artifact (see Product Strategy and The DHM Model).

# [Product / Area] Strategy: [Time Horizon]

## Vision
The compelling long-term picture. Where does this win in 3 years?
(see Crafting a Product Vision)

## Context & Insight
- Customer/market truth we're betting on:
- Competitive landscape (see Competitive Landscape Analysis):
- Where we are today (honest baseline):

## Strategy (the DHM test)
- Delight: how does this delight customers?
- Hard-to-copy: what's our durable advantage?
- Margin-enhancing: how does it improve the business model?

## Objectives & Key Results
Objective 1: ...
  KR1: ...  KR2: ...
(see OKRs and Goal-Setting; tie to The North Star Framework)

## Roadmap (outcome-focused, not a dated feature list)
- Now / Next / Later, and the outcome each bet targets.
(see Building and Managing a Roadmap)

## What we're explicitly NOT doing
The "no" list is the strategy. (see Prioritization Frameworks)

## Risks & Assumptions

#3. Growth Plan (3 areas × 3 tasks)

My development-plan format, lifted directly from how I coach: pick the three lowest competencies, and give each three concrete, near-term tasks. Don't over-invest in your spikes. See Building a Growth Plan and Identifying Growth Areas.

# Growth Plan · [Name] · [Quarter]
Current level: ___   Target: ___   (assessed via The Competency Self-Assessment)

## Growth Area 1: [lowest competency]
Why this one: [the gap, in one line]
- Small Task 1:
- Small Task 2:
- Small Task 3:
Evidence of progress / how my manager will know it moved:

## Growth Area 2: [second-lowest competency]
Why this one:
- Small Task 1:
- Small Task 2:
- Small Task 3:
Evidence of progress:

## Growth Area 3: [third-lowest competency]
Why this one:
- Small Task 1:
- Small Task 2:
- Small Task 3:
Evidence of progress:

#4. Competency Self-Assessment

A lightweight version of The Competency Self-Assessment. Score each competency, then look for your shape rather than a flat profile. Use the proficiency scale (e.g., 1 Knows → 5 Teaches, or the 0 to 2 Needs Focus / On Track / Outperform rubric).

# Self-Assessment · [Name] · [Date]
Scale: 1 Inadequate · 2 Knows (supervised) · 3 Does (unsupervised) · 4 Masters · 5 Teaches/Leads

## Product Execution
- Feature Specification:        __ / 5   Evidence:
- Product Delivery:             __ / 5   Evidence:
- Product Quality:              __ / 5   Evidence:

## Customer Insight
- Fluency with Data:            __ / 5   Evidence:
- Voice of the Customer:        __ / 5   Evidence:
- User Experience Design:       __ / 5   Evidence:

## Product Strategy
- Business Outcome Ownership:   __ / 5   Evidence:
- Strategic Impact:             __ / 5   Evidence:
- Product Vision & Roadmapping: __ / 5   Evidence:

## Influencing People
- Stakeholder Management:       __ / 5   Evidence:
- Team Leadership:              __ / 5   Evidence:
- Managing Up:                  __ / 5   Evidence:

My three spikes:
My three lowest (→ feed the Growth Plan):

#Continue Reading

• Writing PRDs and Specs for the craft behind the PRD format, and the anti-patterns.
• Building a Growth Plan for the full method behind the growth-plan skeleton.
• The Competency Self-Assessment for the complete assessment, scored against the model.
• The Master Competency Matrix for what each score means at each level.
• The PM Tool Landscape for where to put these docs and the AI tools that draft them.