How to create Column Templates in monday.com

Columns are one of the most important building blocks for your monday boards.

They can make or break a workflow.

Read on to learn how to create Column Templates.

Note: Column templates are only available to Enterprise customers. Not on Enterprise? Get in touch to upgrade.

Why should I use Column Templates?

Column templates help standardise your boards. This allows you to:

• save time when setting up new boards

• standardise reporting

• enable deeper insights across your account

• make monday more user friendly

Which column types work best as templates?

There are 3 column types that work best as templates:

• Status columns

• Dropdown columns (think of these like multi-choice status columns)

• Formula columns (not covered in detail here)

What are the most common uses for column templates?

We see column templates used for:

• Lists of departments / countries / regions

• Sprint numbers

• Status labels

Basically, any field you want to keep consistent across your business should be set up as a column template.

How to set up a Column Template

1. Finalise the Status labels you need

Spend time here to make sure you capture all the possible options that will help users from all departments.

Update the Status labels using:

• Clear colour scheme

• Simple, succinct wording

• No duplicate / overlapping statuses

Here’s an example for Departments within a business:

2. Create the Column Template

Once you've finalised the list of Status labels, it’s time to create your template.

In the board:

1. Click on the 3 dots next to the Status Column Header.

2. Click Settings

3. Click ‘Save as a template’

3. Give your Template a clear Name & Description

Now we need to give your new column a name. Make sure you choose a name that’s clear to everyone. Include a short description that explains when to use the column.

Common examples include:

• Department

• Project Status

• Budget Status

• Campaign Status

4. Add the new column to existing boards

Great! You’ve got a template.

Now you’re going to add it into your existing boards.

1. Scroll to the right-hand end of your board.

2. Click the + icon to add a new column

3. Click ‘More columns’ to go to the Column Centre.

4. Click ‘Account Column Templates’ to go straight to your new template.

5. Click to add in your new template.

5. Transfer the previous statuses

The final step is to map any previous Statuses or values across to the new values.

For example, if you used to call something ‘Done’ and now you use ‘Complete’, you’ll need to select every item in your board with the ‘Done’ status, and update them to ‘Complete’ on the new column.

So there you have it. You can now use Column Templates to standardise the data you’re capturing across your monday account!

Book a discovery call with one of our consultants if you need monday to do something a little bit more special for you.