Note: The following article shows the NextGen user interface. If the steps and/or screenshots do not match what you see in your organization's Betterworks instance, try this article that shows the same feature in the Classic user interface.
Contents
Overview
The Teams feature provides a centralized hub for creating, managing, and tracking organizational teams, especially for cross-functional work. You can create and manage teams and assign them to goals and/or milestones. Other highlights include:
- Visual Cards: Team details are presented in visual cards showing membership and progress.
- Integrated Goals: Clear visibility and quick access to team-owned goals and milestones.
- Profile Visibility: User profiles show a list of teams that they belong to.
- Administrator Autonomy: Configuration settings can be controlled from the Admin module.
Configuration
- Go to Admin → Program Management → Teams.
- Toggle Allow User-defined Teams so that users across the organization can create and define their own teams.
- Enable Teams can own Goals and milestones so that users can assign goals and milestones to a team.
Usage
Accessing Teams
- Click on Teams in the left-side panel.
Creating a Team
Any user can create a team.
- Click Create Team.
- Provide a unique name for your team.
- Duplicate team names are flagged through validation errors.
- Add team members by searching for users.
- The creator is added by default.
- You can also create a team on behalf of others.
- Click Save.
Managing Team Cards
Teams are displayed as Team Cards, which provide key details at a glance.
- Avatar: Displays the team name initials.
- Members: Shows the number of members in the team.
- Owned Goals: Indicates the number of goals the team owns.
- Progress Bar: Displays the overall progress status for the team's owned goals.
Clicking on a team card opens a side panel (View Details) that shows a detailed breakdown of team goals, members, and progress.
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Permissions:
- Administrators and Team members can edit the team name, add/remove members, and archive/restore the team.
- Non-members can only view the team details.
Archiving & Restoring Teams
Teams can be archived when they are no longer in use.
- Access the team's right-side panel (by clicking the team card).
- Click Archive (or click the vertical ellipsis on the card).
- The team will move to the Archived Teams tab.
You can restore an archived team by navigating to the Archived Teams tab and clicking Restore from the team's card or right-side panel.
Team-owned Goals
The Teams feature is deeply integrated with the Goals module to enhance visibility.
- Assigning Goals: During goal or milestone creation, you can assign the team as the owner.
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Goals Overlay: When scanning the Goals page, hovering over a team-owned goal displays an overlay with the team's name, avatar, member count, and two calls to action.
- View Goals: Filters the Goals page to only show goals owned by that specific team.
- View Details: Opens the team right-side panel directly on the Goals page without navigating away.
Teams in User Profiles
There is a dedicated Teams section in every user's profile. This provides organization-wide visibility into which cross-functional teams a person belongs to.
FAQs
Does the Teams feature support private teams?
No, not at this time. All teams remain visible to everyone in the organization.
Will team-owned goals count toward a user's goals on the homepage?
They can be, but it is dependent on a setting (Admin → Program Management → Goals →Settings → User Goal Ownership → Include Team Goals). If enabled, team goals will be included in the user's goal count.
Can managers edit the goals of teams their direct reports belong to?
Yes, a manager retains the ability to see and edit the team-owned goals of their direct reports, similar to how they can manage private goals. However, the manager cannot edit the team itself (e.g., add/remove members, archive, etc.) unless they are also an administrator or a member of that specific team.
Can I prevent teams from owning only milestones but allow them to own goals?
No, not at this time. Teams can either own both goals and milestones, or neither.