Why you need to start writing playbooks (and a few to get you started)
Project managers and operations pros do a lot of work that fits into repeating patterns. Kicking off projects, managing marketing campaigns, planning web updates, and managing in-person offsites are all great examples of the type of work you do over and over again—even if the specific topics vary each time.
When you recognize these patterns in your work, it's time to start building a playbook: a resource with the best practices, steps, and process you used last time you hit this situation, so that you can work more efficiently and confidently the next time you encounter these circumstances. And if you're a manager, you can share these processes and guidelines with your team, to ensure they're learning from your expertise and experience.
I use Notion to manage my playbooks so that I can easily take notes, share resources with colleagues, and create project dashboards. Playbooks might look like:
A checklist you use every time you're planning an in-person meeting
The best practices/lessons learned you employed last time you managed development of a new product
A template you use for creating meeting agendas
When you start creating your personal playbooks, you'll notice that you start to feel more confident tackling new projects because you won't feel like you're reinventing the wheel.
Example: Broadcast email review checklist
Here's an example of a playbook I used in a previous role as a marketing manager each time I needed to review an email sample before it went to tens of thousands of people. Using this checklist helped me work systematically and ensure high quality output—without having to remember, each time, the components I needed to check when approving an email.
Review the email design (if applicable) side-by-side with email samples in Litmus (tool for previewing emails in different email clients)
Review email copy side by side with approved, copy-edited copy doc. Make sure to check subject line.
Click all links in the email to verify they're correct
Review the "from" email and "reply to" email addresses. If we're using real email addresses (as opposed to do-not-reply email addresses), verify who will be responsible for managing email responses.
Connect with marketing specialist to confirm date/time scheduled for email
Post in Slack to confirm customer-facing teams are ready
You'll see how having this checklist at hand ensured I could move efficiently to review emails, identify issues, and ensure the final product was as high-quality as possible.
Playbooks to get you started
Before you start a playbook, it's worth a quick search to see what other resources folks have shared that can help jumpstart your work. Here are some great playbooks I've bookmarked to influence my own work (and a few more of my playbooks you might find useful):
Tips & Tricks to Help You Land Major Press Coverage (by Jessica Abo): Helpful worksheets to guide you through developing a media pitch and brand narrative.
Google's OKR Best Practices: If your organization uses an OKR framework, these guidelines are very helpful for writing clear, actionable objectives and key results (with templates).
Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building (by Claire Hughes Johnson): Tons of workbooks and examples for managers and people leaders to create performance management practices.
Project Brief Template: Use my template to ensure you're writing a comprehensive and thoughtful project plan.
1-1 Tracker: Here's how I manage my 1-1s with my own managers to keep track of what I've shared and discussed.
Project Discovery Questionnaire: Here are the questions I ask when kicking off a new project to make sure I'm fully understanding what I'm being asked to do.
If you have playbooks you'd recommend or would like to share, add them in the comments! I'd love to continue building this list.
