# Departments

> Organize your team into nested departments and control which records each member can see.

Departments mirror how your company is organized, for example Sales → Enterprise → Account Managers. They matter most for **data access**: a member set to **Department** sees the records owned by everyone in their department and the departments under it.

Open **Settings → Users & Permissions → Team** and select the **Departments** tab. (The old **Settings → Departments** link opens this tab.)

## Build the department tree

Click **Create department** and enter:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | For example, `Enterprise Sales` |
| Description | Optional. What the team does. |
| Parent department | Optional. Leave it as **No parent (top-level)** for a top-level department. |

Departments can be nested as deep as you need:

```text
Sales
  ├── Enterprise Sales
  │     ├── Account Managers
  │     └── Solution Engineers
  └── SMB Sales
Support
```

Drag departments in the list to reorder or reorganize them. Members stay in their department when it moves.

Open a department to **Edit department** (name, description, parent, and **Manager**) or **Delete department**.

## Add members

Each member belongs to at most one department.

- From the **Departments** tab, open a department's add-members option and pick from members who don't have a department yet.
- From a member's settings page (**Team → Members → Open user settings**), change the **Department** card.

Use **Remove from department** to take someone out.

## Data access

Data access decides which records a member can see. It is set **per member**, not per department.

| Level | The member sees |
|---|---|
| **All data** | Every record in the workspace |
| **Department** | Records owned by members of their department and every department below it |
| **Own records** | Only records they own |

A few rules always apply:

- Members always see records they own or are directly assigned to.
- Records with no owner are visible to everyone, so they can be claimed.
- The workspace owner always sees everything.
- A member set to **Department** but without a department sees only their own records.

### Set a member's data access

1. Open **Team → Members** and choose **Open user settings** for the member.
2. On the **Data access** card, choose the default level.
3. Optionally add **per-module overrides**, for example **All data** for Tickets but **Own records** for Deals.

You can also set a department manager's data access when you edit the department (**Manager data visibility**). It is saved with the department.

### Modules that follow data access

Contacts, Deals, Activities, Meeting Links, Projects, Tickets, Price Offers, Invoices, Campaigns, Articles, KPI Goals, Inbox, Requests, Segments, Forms, Listings, and Subscriptions.

Some modules add their own access on top of ownership. For example, ticket assignees and followers, project job assignees, and inbox conversation participants can see those records even when they don't own them.

**Accounts** and workspace settings are not limited by data access. Everyone who can open them sees all of them.

All views of a module (list, board, and calendar) follow the same data access.

## Data access, roles, and seats

Data access only narrows *which records* someone sees. Their [role](https://workstation.repzo.com/docs/administration/team#roles) still decides what they can do with those records, and their [seats](https://workstation.repzo.com/docs/commerce/seats) decide which modules they can open at all.

## Examples

| Person | Department | Data access | Sees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regional sales manager | Enterprise Sales | Department | Deals owned by anyone in Enterprise Sales, Account Managers, or Solution Engineers |
| Sales rep | SMB Sales | Own records | Only their own contacts and deals |
| VP of Sales | Sales | All data | Everything |
| Support lead | Support | Own records, with an **All data** override for Tickets | All tickets, but only their own deals |

## Tips

- Mirror your org chart, then nest teams under their parent department.
- Start members on **Own records** or **Department**, and widen only where needed.
- Use per-module overrides instead of giving someone **All data** everywhere.
- Review departments when people change teams.

## Related documentation

- [Team Management](https://workstation.repzo.com/docs/administration/team)
- [Seats](https://workstation.repzo.com/docs/commerce/seats)
- [Settings](https://workstation.repzo.com/docs/administration/settings)