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Team Roles

OWNER and MEMBER roles for team management

Team roles control who can manage teams and their membership. These roles are separate from organization roles.

The Two Roles

OWNER - Manage Team

Who needs this: Team leaders, managers

What they can do:

  • Add members to the team
  • Remove members from the team
  • Change team settings
  • Delete the team
  • Promote members to OWNER
  • Demote OWNERs to MEMBER

What they CAN'T do:

  • Force organization-wide access (that's controlled by team access control setting)
  • Override organization role permissions
  • Access Decision Sites unless separately shared

When to use:

  • Team leader managing the team
  • Manager responsible for team membership
  • Person who should control team composition

When NOT to use:

  • Regular team participants (use MEMBER)
  • People who just need access to team content

MEMBER - Access Team Content

Who needs this: Team participants

What they can do:

  • Access Decision Sites shared with the team
  • View team members
  • Participate in team activities
  • See team-owned content

What they CAN'T do:

  • Add or remove team members
  • Change team settings
  • Delete the team
  • Promote/demote other members

When to use:

  • Regular team participants
  • Anyone on the team who doesn't manage it

When NOT to use:

  • Team leaders who need to manage membership (use OWNER)

How Team Roles Work

Team Roles Are Independent

Separate from organization roles:

  • A COLLABORATOR can be a team OWNER
  • A CREATOR can be a team MEMBER
  • Organization role and team role are independent

Example:

text
Sarah (organization COLLABORATOR) is OWNER of Sales Ops team
John (organization ADMIN) is MEMBER of Enterprise Sales team

This is normal and expected.

Organization ADMIN Bypass

Special rule: Organization ADMINs can manage any team, even if they're not team OWNER.

What this means:

  • ADMINs don't need team OWNER role
  • ADMINs can add/remove members from any team
  • ADMINs can change settings on any team
  • ADMINs bypass team OWNER restrictions

Example:

text
Team: Enterprise Sales
OWNER: Sarah (organization CREATOR)
MEMBER: John (organization ADMIN)

Both Sarah and John can manage the team:
- Sarah: because she's team OWNER
- John: because he's organization ADMIN

Default Assignments

When you create a team: → You become team OWNER automatically

When someone adds you to a team: → You become team MEMBER by default → OWNER can promote you to OWNER later

When organization ADMIN creates a team: → They become team OWNER → Can add others as OWNER or MEMBER

Team Roles and Access Control

Teams Control Decision Site Access

Team access control setting affects who can see Decision Sites:

ORGANIZATION access:

  • All org members with appropriate role can see
  • Team membership doesn't matter

TEAM access:

  • Only team members can see
  • Both OWNERs and MEMBERs have access

OWN access:

  • Only owner can see
  • Even team members can't access
  • Team roles don't matter

Key point: Team role (OWNER vs MEMBER) doesn't change Decision Site access. Team membership does.

Comparison

CapabilityOWNERMEMBEROrg ADMIN
Access team Decision Sites✅✅✅
View team members✅✅✅
Add team members✅❌✅
Remove team members✅❌✅
Change team settings✅❌✅
Delete team✅❌✅
Promote/demote members✅❌✅

Note: Organization ADMIN can do everything team OWNER can do, plus more.

Changing Team Roles

Who Can Change Team Roles

Team OWNERs can change team roles for team members.

Organization ADMINs can change team roles for any team.

How to Change

Promote MEMBER to OWNER:

  1. Go to team settings
  2. Find the member
  3. Change role to OWNER

Demote OWNER to MEMBER:

  1. Go to team settings
  2. Find the owner
  3. Change role to MEMBER

Changes take effect immediately.

Multiple OWNERs

Teams can have multiple OWNERs → All OWNERs have equal management power → No "primary" or "secondary" OWNER distinction

Best practice: → Have 2-3 OWNERs for continuity → Prevents single point of failure

Example:

text
Enterprise Sales Team:
- OWNER: Sarah (sales leader)
- OWNER: Maria (sales ops)
- MEMBER: John, Lisa, Mike, Tom

Both Sarah and Maria can manage the team.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Sales team with manager

Setup:

  • Create "Enterprise Sales" team
  • Manager becomes OWNER (automatic)
  • Add sales reps as MEMBER
  • Add sales ops person as OWNER (co-manager)

Result:

  • Manager and sales ops can add/remove members
  • All members can access team Decision Sites

Scenario 2: Cross-functional team

Setup:

  • Create "Strategic Accounts" team
  • Sales leader is OWNER
  • Add sales reps, sales engineers, customer success as MEMBER
  • Promote customer success lead to OWNER

Result:

  • Two OWNERs manage membership
  • All members collaborate on strategic accounts

Scenario 3: Small organization

Setup:

  • Create "Sales Team" (only team)
  • Organization ADMIN is automatically OWNER
  • Add all sales reps as MEMBER

Result:

  • ADMIN manages team (already has org-wide access)
  • Sales reps are team members

Best Practices

Have 2-3 OWNERs per team → Ensures continuity if one person leaves → Shares management responsibility

Don't make everyone OWNER → Most people should be MEMBER → OWNER is for team management, not regular participation

Align team OWNER with actual leadership → Make managers or team leads OWNER → Reflects real-world reporting structure

Remember ADMINs already have access → Organization ADMIN doesn't need team OWNER role → They already can manage all teams

Common Misunderstandings

"Team OWNER can see all organization Decision Sites" → Wrong. Team OWNER only affects team management, not Decision Site access.

"I need to be team OWNER to access team content" → Wrong. Team MEMBER can access team Decision Sites. OWNER is for management.

"Organization COLLABORATOR can't be team OWNER" → Wrong. Organization role and team role are independent.

"We need one OWNER per team" → Wrong. Teams can (and should) have multiple OWNERs for continuity.

Troubleshooting

"I can't add someone to the team" → Check you're team OWNER or organization ADMIN

"I can't remove someone from the team" → Check you're team OWNER or organization ADMIN

"I'm team OWNER but can't access a Decision Site" → Team OWNER doesn't grant Decision Site access - check sharing settings

"Organization ADMIN can't manage the team" → They can - ADMINs bypass team role restrictions

Next Steps