> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcollate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Team Structure

> Understand team structure setup to align users, roles, and permissions in a way that supports secure and scalable collaboration.

# Team Structure in Collate

Collate organizes teams into a hierarchy so that ownership, roles, and permissions map cleanly onto how your company is structured. Every team has a **teamType** that determines where it sits in this hierarchy and which other team types it can connect to as parents or children.

## Team Types

Collate supports five team types, ordered from the top of the hierarchy to the bottom:

1. **Organization** — The root of the hierarchy, representing the entire company.
2. **Business Unit** — A major division of the organization, such as a business line or region.
3. **Division** — A subdivision within a Business Unit.
4. **Department** — A functional group within a Division.
5. **Group** (default team type): The lowest level in the hierarchy, used to group individual users.

## Hierarchy Rules

Each team type has specific rules for what it can contain (children) and what it can belong to (parents):

* **Organization**
  * **Children** — Business Unit, Division, Department, Group, and Users added directly (without a team)
  * **Parents** — None — Organization is the root and cannot have a parent

* **Business Unit**
  * **Children** — Business Unit, Division, Department, Group
  * **Parents** — Organization or Business Unit (one parent only)

* **Division**
  * **Children** — Division, Department, Group
  * **Parents** — Organization, Business Unit, or Division (one parent only)

* **Department**
  * **Children** — Department, Group
  * **Parents** — Organization, Business Unit, Division, or Department (multiple parents allowed)

* **Group**
  * **Children** — Users only — a Group cannot contain other teams
  * **Parents** — Any team type (multiple parents allowed)

<Warning>
  **Important**:

  * Once a team is created with teamType `Group`, its type **cannot be changed later**.
  * Only teams of type `Group` can **own data assets**.
</Warning>

<Tip>
  **Tip**: Collate supports flexible, nested hierarchies under Business Unit, Division, and Department, with no hard limit on depth. Keep in mind:

  * **Group** teams are leaf nodes and cannot have child teams.
  * **Department** teams cannot be nested inside a **Group**.

  If you need to extend the hierarchy further, use one of the other team types instead of Group.
</Tip>

<Card title="How to Add a Team" href="/ai-2-0/admin-guide/teams-and-users/add-team">
  Collate supports multiple team types to match different organizational structures.
</Card>