Core Concepts6 min read

Teams

Organize users, assign service ownership, and route incidents effectively

Teams

Teams are the organizational unit for grouping users by responsibility. They provide ownership boundaries for services, enable efficient incident routing, and help manage permissions at scale.

Why Teams Matter

Without Teams With Teams
Unclear service ownership Every service has an accountable team
Manual incident routing Escalation policies target entire teams
Individual permissions Role-based access at team level
No workload visibility Team dashboards show incident load

Team Structure

Team Model

Field Description
Name Unique team identifier (e.g., "Platform Engineering")
Description Brief description of team responsibilities
Team Lead Optional designated lead for escalation purposes
Members Users assigned to the team with roles
Services Services owned by this team

Team Roles

Each team member has one of three roles determining their permissions:

Role Permissions
OWNER Full control — can manage all settings, assign roles, delete team
ADMIN Can add/remove members, but cannot assign OWNER/ADMIN roles
MEMBER Standard access — receives team notifications, can view team info

Role Hierarchy

  • Only OWNER can assign OWNER or ADMIN roles to other members
  • Only system ADMIN users or team OWNER can modify team settings
  • Every team must have at least one OWNER (enforced by system)

Creating a Team

Via UI

  1. Go to Teams in the sidebar
  2. Click Create Team
  3. Enter team details:
    • Name: Unique name (e.g., "Backend Services")
    • Description: What the team is responsible for
  4. Click Create

Initial Setup

After creating a team:

  1. Add members (you're automatically added as OWNER)
  2. Assign a team lead (optional)
  3. Link services to the team

Managing Team Members

Adding Members

  1. Open the team detail page
  2. Click Add Member
  3. Search for users by name or email
  4. Select a role (OWNER, ADMIN, or MEMBER)
  5. Click Add

Changing Roles

  1. Open the team member list
  2. Click the role dropdown next to a member
  3. Select the new role
  4. Confirm the change

Note: You can only assign roles equal to or below your own role level.

Removing Members

  1. Open the team member list
  2. Click the remove button next to a member
  3. Confirm removal

Warning: The last OWNER cannot be removed. Transfer ownership first.

Team Lead

The Team Lead is an optional designation with special significance:

Purpose

  • Used in escalation policies with "Notify Team Lead Only" option
  • Provides clear point of contact for the team
  • Can be used for management reporting

Setting Team Lead

  1. Open the team settings
  2. Select a member as Team Lead
  3. Save changes

The team lead must be a current member of the team.

Team Notification Preferences

Each team member can control whether they receive team-level notifications:

Per-Member Settings

Setting Default Description
Receive Team Notifications true Whether to receive notifications when team is targeted

How It Works

When an escalation policy targets a team:

  1. System fetches all team members
  2. Filters to members with notifications enabled
  3. Sends notifications to filtered list

Opting Out

Members can disable team notifications:

  1. Go to Profile → Teams
  2. Toggle Receive Notifications for each team
  3. Changes take effect immediately

Assigning Services to Teams

Teams provide ownership for services, enabling:

  • Clear accountability
  • Team-based incident filtering
  • Automatic incident routing

Linking a Service

  1. Open the service settings
  2. Select Owner Team from the dropdown
  3. Save changes

Viewing Team Services

On the team detail page:

  • See all services owned by the team
  • View service health status
  • Quick link to service configuration

Teams in Escalation Policies

Teams are one of three target types for escalation steps:

Target Type Behavior
User Notify a specific individual
Team Notify team members with notifications enabled
Schedule Notify current on-call from schedule

Team Targeting Options

When targeting a team in an escalation policy:

Option Behavior
Notify All Members All members with notifications enabled are notified
Notify Team Lead Only Only the designated team lead is notified

Example Policy

Step 1: Primary On-Call (Schedule) → wait 5 min
Step 2: Backend Services Team (Team Lead Only) → wait 10 min
Step 3: Backend Services Team (All Members) → wait 15 min

Team Filtering & Search

Filters Available

Filter Description
Search Filter by team name or description
Min Members Teams with at least N members
Min Services Teams with at least N services

Sorting Options

Sort Description
Name (A-Z) Alphabetical by team name
Created Date Newest or oldest first
Member Count Most or fewest members
Service Count Most or fewest services

Team Activity & Audit

All team operations are logged for audit purposes:

Action Logged Details
Team Created Creator, team name
Team Updated Updater, changed fields
Team Deleted Deleter, team name
Member Added Adder, new member, role
Member Removed Remover, removed member
Role Changed Changer, member, old role, new role

Viewing Activity

  1. Open the team detail page
  2. Scroll to Activity section
  3. View recent team operations

Teams on Dashboard

Teams appear in several dashboard contexts:

Team Filter

Filter incidents and metrics by team:

  • Incident list can filter by team
  • Analytics can filter by team
  • On-call schedules show team context

My Teams

Quick access to teams you belong to:

  • Profile shows your team memberships
  • Incident filters include "My Teams" option

Best Practices

Team Structure

  • Align with organizational structure — Teams should match real ownership boundaries
  • Keep teams focused — 5-15 members is ideal for most teams
  • Avoid overlap — Each service should have one owning team

Membership

  • Assign every production service to a team
  • Include all responders who may handle team incidents
  • Set up team leads for clear escalation paths

Notifications

  • Enable notifications for active responders
  • Disable for managers who don't handle incidents directly
  • Use team targeting in escalation policies for redundancy

Naming Conventions

Good Bad
"Platform Engineering" "Team 1"
"Payment Services" "Bob's Team"
"Customer Success" "CS"

Incidents Assigned to Teams

Incidents can be assigned to teams (not just individual users):

How It Works

  1. When an incident is assigned to a team:

    • All team members see it in "My Queue" (if they have team notifications enabled)
    • Any team member can acknowledge or resolve
    • Team appears as assignee in incident list

  2. Reassigning from team to user:

    • Any team member can reassign to themselves
    • Or reassign to another team member

When to Use Team Assignment

  • Uncertain owner: Let the team decide who handles it
  • Shared responsibility: Multiple people may need to collaborate
  • Triage: Initial assignment before investigation

Last updated for v1

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