Setting up a new department
A department is more than a label on a profile. Almost every report in the product slices by department, so getting one wrong quietly distorts numbers for months.
A company adds a function. Design splits out of engineering. A support team forms. Six people who reported to one person now report to two.
Four things move at once: the reporting lines, the department field, who can see what, and the shift the new group works.
Order matters. Set the department and reporting lines first. The org chart, the directory filters and every department breakdown are drawn from those two fields.
Where this goes wrong is sequencing. Change permissions first and people lose access to work they still own. Change reporting lines last and the chart shows a structure nobody is working to. Records also keep the department they were logged under, so a split does not rewrite history and the first clean comparison is a month away.
Why one record instead of two
Department is one field, and it is read by the HR reports and the delivery reports alike. Move six people and both sides change together, which is why the order of operations matters more than it looks. In a two-tool setup the same split has to be made twice, and the two halves disagree for a quarter.
What is switched on
- Directory
- Department and reporting line are fields on the person record, and everything downstream reads them.
- Org chart
- The chart redraws from the reporting lines without anyone editing a diagram.
- Roles and permissions
- A new lead usually needs a role with more than the employee baseline, and roles are customisable.
- Shifts
- A new function often keeps different hours, and shifts are assigned per person with a start date.
- Utilization reporting
- Hours reports break down by department, so the split changes what the numbers mean.
- Notifications
- A new Slack channel usually wants its own scheduled reminders.
What the week looks like
Day one
Set the department on each person record. Do this before touching anything else.
Day one
Update reporting lines. The org chart follows immediately, and direct-report counts change with it.
Day two
Give the new lead a role. Custom roles are built from the 64 permissions if none of the existing ones fit.
Day two
Assign a shift if the new group works different hours. Assignments carry a start date and a history.
Week one
Check the department breakdowns in the hours reports. A half-moved team shows up as two thin columns.
Month end
Read the first full month of departmental hours. Before this, the comparison is against a department that did not exist.
Questions people ask
Will old reports change when someone moves department?
A move changes how that person groups from then on. Making the move at a month boundary gives the cleanest before-and-after comparison.
How does a new team get different working hours?
Through shifts. Assign the new group their window from a start date. Lateness is then measured against it, and browser check-in opens around it.
Do we need a custom role for a new team lead?
Only if the existing roles do not fit. There are five roles out of the box and you can build more from the same permission set.