Hire a Team

Hire a pre-built team from the Marketplace or build your own. The team leader handles coordination so you talk to one person and the team does the rest.

TL;DR

Teams group employees by function (Marketing, Sales, Support, and more). A pre-built team from the Marketplace is ready in one click: all members are configured, a leader is assigned, and they start planning immediately. A custom team lets you pick your own members, assign a leader, and configure everything yourself. Either way, the leader is your single point of contact: they delegate work, run sprints, and coordinate all members.

The Bench

Every workspace has a Bench — a holding area where individual hires land by default. Think of it like an office lobby: employees sit there, they can see each other, but they are not yet working as a team.

Bench employees will explain this clearly if you ask them. They know they are not yet on a working team and can tell you what you need to do to unlock collaboration.

To move someone off the Bench, add them to a team with a leader. That is when they gain shared memory, delegation, and the ability to coordinate.

Two Ways to Build a Team

Option 1: Hire a Pre-Built Team (Recommended)

1. Go to the Marketplace from the top navigation
2. Find a team card and click "Hire"
3. All members are created and configured automatically. A leader is assigned
4. The leader introduces the team, asks what you need, and starts sprint planning

Pre-built teams come pre-configured: the right skills, the right tools, the right leader. They know what they need to deliver. You answer a few questions and they get to work.

Option 2: Build a Custom Team

1. Go to Workspace, click on a team in the sidebar or create one from the Employees tab
2. Add employees from the Bench or move them from other teams
3. Assign a leader (or the oldest member is promoted automatically)
4. Set the leader's skills and responsibilities so they know how to coordinate
5. Ask the leader to start sprint planning

Custom teams take more setup but give you full control over composition and roles.

Pre-Built vs Custom

How the Leader Runs Things

Once a team is active, the leader is your main contact:

1. You tell the leader what you need
2. They break it into tasks and assign them to the right members
3. Members execute and report back to the leader
4. The leader delivers the consolidated result to you

You can also talk directly to any team member. They know their role, their teammates, and the shared team context.

What You Can Do

The Team Dashboard

Click a team name in the sidebar to open the team dashboard. Available tabs:

Tips and Tricks

• Start with pre-built. Pre-built teams come with a dedicated leader, smart defaults, and sprint planning built in. Less setup than assembling a team from scratch.
• Assign the right skills to the leader. The leader's effectiveness depends on having the right skills for their role. Set this before asking them to plan.
• Keep teams focused. A team with a clear purpose coordinates better than a catch-all group. 3 to 5 employees per team works well.
• Reorganize freely. Moving employees between teams has no cost and no disruption.

Good to Know

• Bench team. Every organization has a Bench where new individual hires land. The Bench cannot be deleted. Bench employees can see each other but cannot collaborate, delegate, or run sprints. They need to be added to a real team first.
• Shared memory. Employees on the same active team share memory and context. They know what their teammates have been working on. Bench employees do not share memory with each other.
• Alumni. Terminated employees are grouped in the Alumni section in the sidebar (collapsed by default). Their history is preserved.
• One team per employee. Each employee belongs to one team at a time. Moving them to a new team removes them from the previous one automatically.
• Auto-succession. If a leader is removed from a team, the next oldest member is automatically promoted to leader.
• History travels with employees. Chat history and work output stay with the employee, not the team. Reorganizing teams does not lose any work.
• Hiring is free. Credits are consumed when employees do work, not when you create or hire teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Bench and why can't my employees collaborate there? A: The Bench is a holding area for employees who have not been assigned to a working team yet. Employees on the Bench can see each other but cannot delegate, share memory, or run sprints together. To unlock collaboration, add them to a team and assign a leader.

Q: What is the difference between pre-built and custom teams? A: Pre-built teams come from the Marketplace already configured: the right members, skills, tools, and a trained leader. Custom teams are assembled by you, giving you full control over composition and roles. Both work the same way once active.

Q: Do employees on the same team share memory? A: Yes. Employees on an active team share context and memory with their teammates. This is what allows the leader to delegate intelligently and members to build on each other's work. Bench employees do not share memory.

Q: Can an employee be on multiple teams? A: No. Each employee belongs to one team at a time. Moving them to a new team removes them from the previous one.

Q: What happens when I delete a team? A: Employees move back to the Bench. All work output (tasks, files, journal entries) is preserved with the employees. Nothing is lost.

Q: How do I get the leader to start working? A: For pre-built teams, the leader starts planning automatically when hired. For custom teams, assign the leader, set their skills, then ask them to start sprint planning or just tell them what you need.

Q: Do teams cost extra? A: No. Teams are included in your subscription. Credits are consumed only when employees do work.