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Build Your Organisation Structure

Build Your Organisation Structure is the one-time setup checklist for a new SWA tenant. The steps are ordered so each one depends on data created in the previous step — work through them top-to-bottom and every page in the rest of the product will respect the hierarchy you build.

Every step on the page includes an Open → link that jumps straight to the admin page where the action is performed.

Note: If your organisation runs an HRMS (Zoho People, iPeople, Workday), connect it under Connectors before starting manual data entry. The connector pulls departments, designations, shifts, and users in one shot — skip ahead to step 5 (Roles) afterwards.

1. Departments​

Define the top-level organisational units (Engineering, Sales, HR, Finance, etc.) — this is the spine of every roll-up in the rest of the product.

  • Parent department — Each department can have a parent for sub-team hierarchy (e.g. Sales > Inside Sales > APAC).
  • Rollups — Departments drive Department Analytics, the department filter on every chart, and group-level category overrides.
  • Optional shift — Assign a Shift to a department so its members default to that working window.

Open: Departments.

2. Designations​

Define job titles or levels independently of the department tree. Designations are used purely for filtering and reporting — they do not affect access or productivity rules.

  • Examples — Engineer I, Engineer II, Manager, Director, VP, CXO.
  • Level field — The numeric Level field (range 1–20) lets you sort designations from junior to senior in reports.

Open: Designations.

3. Projects​

Define active billable or initiative-tracked work streams. Projects scope the Project Analytics view and let you override department-level shifts.

  • Ownership — Each project can be owned by an employee and scoped to a department.
  • Shift override — A project can override the department shift, so members on it follow a different schedule.
  • Hours per project — Project Analytics surfaces hours per project once employees have been assigned via the user record.

Open: Projects.

4. Shifts​

Define working windows (start/end time, working days, break minutes). Shifts drive overtime, after-hours, and on-time arrival calculations.

  • Seeded default — The General Shift (09:00–18:00 IST, Mon–Fri) covers most teams out of the box.
  • Off-hours teams — Add additional shifts for night ops, EMEA support, or any non-standard schedule.
  • Resolution precedence — HRMS-synced override > Project > Department > Tenant default > Built-in fallback. The first match wins.

Open: Shifts.

5. Roles​

Decide who sees what. Roles bundle permissions across both Analytics and Admin pages.

  • Pre-seeded templates — Eight enterprise role templates ship by default — Executive, HR Manager, Manager, Team Lead, Project Manager, Department Head, Operations Manager, Auditor, CIO, Viewer, Employee.
  • Permission spec — Each role carries a JSON permission spec that controls which Analytics pages, which Admin pages, whether the user can export, see screenshots, or live-monitor.
  • Customising — Clone a role and tweak it for custom needs. Do not edit the seeded templates if you want safe upgrades.

Open: Roles.

6. Categories​

Tag applications as Productive, Unproductive, or Neutral — the labels drive the Productive % and Productive Hours KPIs on every dashboard.

  • Default scope — Tenant-wide defaults today. Per-department overrides will land in the next release using the new override schema (already in the database).
  • Idle and System Locked — Keep these categories as Unproductive so off-hours and lock time does not inflate productive %.

Open: Categories.

7. Users​

Add the people, then connect them to departments, designations, reporting manager, and role.

  • Required fields — Email (must match an allowed domain), first/last name, department, designation, role.
  • Reporting Manager — Another user — set this last, after the manager record has been created.
  • SSO vs Local — Set is_sso_user=true for SSO-only logins (no password required). Otherwise set a strong initial password.

Open: Users.

8. Device Activation​

Once users exist, they can install the SWA agent and self-activate via OTP.

  • Installer — Users grab the installer from the in-app Agent Installation page or a public download link.
  • OTP flow — On first launch the agent prompts for the corporate email; SWA emails a 6-digit code; the user enters it and the device is mapped to the employee.
  • OTP storage — OTP storage is database-backed so activation works reliably across all backend pods.

Open: Device Setup.

When You Finish All Eight Steps​

Best Practices​

  • Work through the eight steps in order on a brand-new tenant. Skipping ahead leaves dangling references — a user without a department won't appear in Department Analytics.
  • Re-open this guide after any major reorg (department restructure, role overhaul, new shift schedule) and walk the affected steps again.
  • For tenants on an HRMS connector, treat this page as the validation checklist after the first sync rather than a manual entry checklist.
  • Connectors — HRMS sync that short-circuits manual data entry
  • Overview — Platform overview and navigation
  • Menu Customization — Hide menu items globally once setup is complete