How to structure Spaces

There’s no universal right way to divide an organization into Spaces, because the boundaries that matter follow how you actually work. A good structure makes it obvious where something belongs and keeps access decisions simple.

What a good structure achieves

A well-thought-out structure creates clarity, supports collaboration, and makes it easy to find the right assistant or document. A poorly-thought-out one leaves people unsure where to look, or forces you to invite everyone to everything just to be safe.

Three strategies

By team or department

Each Space corresponds to a department — Social Services, Finance, HR. Team members get roles based on their responsibilities. Suits defined teams with stable workflows.

By project or initiative

Each Space corresponds to a specific project. People from different departments collaborate within it without gaining access to the rest of the organization’s data. Suits time-limited projects and cross-functional work.

By function

Spaces are organized around a specific functional need — a shared knowledge base, an overarching policy library — rather than around a team. Suits situations where multiple groups need the same knowledge and tools but hold different roles.

Combining strategies

These aren’t mutually exclusive. A department-based Space can sit alongside a handful of project Spaces that pull members from several departments at once. Choose whichever combination matches how work actually flows in your organization.

Signs your structure needs changing

• A Space keeps growing new, unrelated purposes that would be clearer as their own Space.
• People are added to a Space “just in case,” rather than because they need what’s in it.
• The same knowledge is duplicated across several Spaces because there’s no natural place for it to live once.