Functional managers are managers who are responsible for a specific area, function (acting as a coach) or department within a company (e.g., accounting, HR, IT, marketing), but may not be the direct supervisor of all employees performing this work.
Thus, employees may report to designated individuals functionally (for example, in terms of working on tasks), but administratively remain subordinate to another manager (for example, the head of a department or branch).
You can assign managers to user groups on the Assignment Groups tab of the Users section .
The manager assigned to the group is the functional manager .
The manager specified via email (in the employee's card) is the direct manager .
The "My Team" section will be available to users who are the manager of at least one group, regardless of whether the " User is a manager " checkbox is checked in their profile. If a functional manager has direct reports, they will be able to see information for each reporting type separately in the "My Team" section.
How to appoint functional managers
There are several ways:
№1 On the "Destination Groups" tab of the "Users" section manually
Using table display of groups:
- Select the "Users" section;
- Go to the "Destination Groups" tab;
- Hover over the group you select (this can be either the root group or a child group);
- Click on the pencil - a card for editing will be displayed;
- Go to the "Manual" tab;
- Select managers using checkboxes (you can search for managers by full name, email, phone number, or login);
- Click the "Select" button and then "Save".
Now the number of managers is displayed opposite the root group (If only 1 leader is assigned to the group, his full name is displayed)
Clicking on the text with the number of managers opens the group settings on the "Managers" tab.
Using the "Organizational Structure" canvas:
- Select the "Users" section;
- Go to the "Destination Groups" tab;
- Click on the "Organizational Structure" canvas icon in the upper right corner of the screen;
- Click on the block with the name of the group for which you want to assign a functional manager;
- Go to the "Manual" tab;
- Select managers using checkboxes (you can search for managers by full name, email, phone number, or login);
- Click the "Select" button and then "Save".
№ 2 From the academic record of the manager.
- Go to the "Users " tab of the " Users " section ;
- Enter the future manager’s details in the search;
- Open his account;
- Go to the " Manual " tab ;
- Select subordinate groups using checkboxes (you can search for the group name in the search);
- Click the " Save " button .
No. 3 Mass assignment of functional managers using the import file in the "Settings" section.
- Go to the " Destination Groups " tab in the " Users " section;
- Select "Options" and click "Import" ;
- Click " Template.xlsx ";
- Download the template and fill it out;
In the template, specify the group name and either its ID or path. This will help avoid errors if there are any duplicate names in the system.
Separate multiple managers with a semicolon (;).
To download a prepared template:
- Select "Options" and click "Import";
- click on the "Select file" field;
- Attach the import file " ;
- If necessary, select " Overwrite functional managers" to replace the current group managers with those specified in the template;
- Click the " Import " button.
How the "Overwrite functional group managers" option works:
- If the "Overwrite" option is disabled, new managers are added , and old values, if any, remain unchanged . Empty cells with manager IDs in the group are ignored.
- If the "Overwrite" option is enabled, new managers are recorded and old values, if any, are erased . If the column is empty, the manager data is cleared.
- The employee received an award.
- The task requires verification.
Notifications will be sent only to those functional managers on whose team the employee is directly located.
How managers view the "My Team" section in the app:
When a functional manager first logs into the My Team section , they see a page with a group selection, and the team data will not load until they select one of
The supervisor selects a team and can view their results.
How does team selection work?
-
Saving your selection:
The last selected group is remembered and automatically loaded the next time you log in to the module.
After re-authorization, the selection is reset. -
If the user is both a functional and a direct manager
- its direct command is displayed at the end of the list;
- in the functional command the "Managers" block is not displayed;
- Manager users are displayed as regular employees.
Search on devices works within the selected team.
Version 12.11: If a functional manager is assigned to a group that does not contain any users directly, but does contain users in subgroups below it in the hierarchy, then in the "My Team" section , when selecting this group, a message about the absence of users will be displayed, along with a button that allows you to view employees from subordinate groups.
How can a manager change a team in the filter settings?
- Click the Selected Team button .
- A window will open with group selection.
-
Please specify the required group:
- If the group is not nested , the data for this command will be displayed immediately;
- If a group has nested subgroups , you can go deeper and select the one you need.
-
After selecting a team:
- information will be displayed specifically for the selected group.
How does team selection work?
-
Saving your selection:
The last selected group is remembered and automatically loaded the next time you log in to the module.
After re-authorization, the selection is reset. -
If the user is both a functional and a direct manager
- its direct command is displayed at the end of the list;
- in the functional command the "Managers" block is not displayed;
- Manager users are displayed as regular employees.
Search on devices works within the selected team.
Version 12.11: If a functional manager is assigned to a group that does not contain any users directly, but does contain users in subgroups below it in the hierarchy, then in the "My Team" section , when selecting this group, a message about the absence of users will be displayed, along with a button that allows you to view employees from subordinate groups.
Important: what does not change:
Rating (team):
Works as is. Displays data only for the immediate supervisor.
Employee profile:
Direct supervisor (by email) is displayed.
Training:
The ability to rewind videos is only available to direct supervisors.
Team Messages:
Available only to direct managers.
Home:
"My Team" widget: displays only direct reports (clicking on the module takes you to your direct team, regardless of previously saved filters).
"Favorites" widget: only users from your direct team can be added.
Cases of appointment of functional managers
No. 1. A new employee has appeared in the company, who is supposed to be the manager of a certain group of users.
How this is implemented in standard reporting:
Find out who should report to the manager and add the manager's email address to the entire team in the "Manager Email" field.
How this is implemented with functional managers:
In the group settings for the desired department, the administrator sets the specified employee to be the manager of this group. Immediately after this, the manager sees the "My Team" section, where all users of this group are located.
Example : Roman Sokolov has joined the company. He needs to assign all employees in the "Newbie" group to his subordinates.
To do this, the administrator needs to:
- open the "Users" tab of the "Users" section;
- find the required user by his data and go into his personal card;
- Go to the "Manual" tab, find and check the desired group, and click "Save."
2. Roman will now be able to see his subordinates in the "My Team" section of the user version.
Now, if the "Newbie" group is expanded with new employees, they will automatically appear in Anton's team.
Important: Anton may not have the "User is a manager" mark, but if he has been appointed as the functional manager of the group, the "My Team" section will appear and function for him.
Important: what does not change:
Rating (team):
Works as is. Displays data only for the immediate supervisor.
Employee profile:
Direct supervisor (by email) is displayed.
Training:
The ability to rewind videos is only available to direct supervisors.
Team Messages:
Available only to direct managers.
Home:
"My Team" widget: displays only direct reports (clicking on the module takes you to your direct team, regardless of previously saved filters).
"Favorites" widget: only users from your direct team can be added.
Cases of appointment of functional managers
No. 1. A new employee has appeared in the company, who is supposed to be the manager of a certain group of users.
How this is implemented in standard reporting:
Find out who should report to the manager and add the manager's email address to the entire team in the "Manager Email" field.
How this is implemented with functional managers:
In the group settings for the desired department, the administrator sets the specified employee to be the manager of this group. Immediately after this, the manager sees the "My Team" section, where all users of this group are located.
No. 2. A current employee has transferred to another department. The current manager must be indicated.
How this is implemented for direct reports:
You need to find out who the employee's manager should be, find the manager's email, and add it to the "Manager's email" field (forthe user).
How this is implemented with functional managers:
In the department group settings, the administrator sets the manager's name once. As soon as an employee is added to this group for any reason, they automatically appear in this manager's team, without the need for additional actions.
No. 3. There is a more senior manager in the company who needs to see the results of several teams subordinate to him.
How this is implemented with direct reporting:
The specified employee is set as the manager of users, who in turn are also the managers of their teams. In my team, such users are displayed in a separate "Managers" block, which can be clicked to access their team.
How this is implemented with functional managers:
In the group settings for the desired hierarchy level, the administrator sets the specified employee to be the manager of this group. This manager sees the "My Team" section, where all users in this group are located, and can also view statistics for teams lower in the group hierarchy.
No. 4. A group of employees with several equal managers.
How this works with direct reporting:
The administrator assigns one of these managers to a group of employees as a manager, establishing a chain of command for the remaining managers. To view the team's results, managers will have to perform additional steps to navigate down the hierarchy (to the desired team).
How this works with functional managers:
In the settings for the specified group, the administrator assigns all managers to that group, and all of them have the same permissions.
No. 5. A group manager goes on vacation or sick leave, and another employee must cover for the duration of their absence.
How this is implemented in direct reporting relationships:
The administrator finds the substitute manager's email address and sets it in the "Manager's Email" field for the absent manager. However, if the company has a long chain of command, a choice must be made: either accept that it will be inaccurate during the manager's absence, or spend time changing the chain of command.
After the primary manager returns, depending on the decision, either change the absent manager's "Manager's Email" field to its previous value or change the chain of command back.
How this is implemented with functional managers:
The administrator sets up another manager in the group settings for the desired department. Now the substitute manager sees the "My Team" section.
After the primary manager returns, simply remove the substitute manager from the list of group managers.
No. 6. Each employee must have a personal mentor to oversee their training and onboarding.
How this is implemented in direct reporting relationships:
An employee can only have one manager, so if the company wants to use both departmental teams and mentors, they will have to choose.
If an employee has their mentor's email listed in the "Manager's email" field, the department manager will not see them in their team.
How this is implemented with functional managers :
"General" teams can be implemented based on groups, thus freeing up the "Manager's email" field to add the mentor's email. The department manager will see the employee's results because they belong to the appropriate group, and the mentor will see them because they are listed as their direct manager via the "Manager's email" field.
However, only one email address can still be entered in the "Manager's email" field, so an employee can only have one personal mentor.
No. 7. The company has trainers who train and onboard new employees. They should be able to see the results of such employees on my team, review their assignments, and issue rewards.
How this is implemented in direct reporting lines:
During onboarding and adaptation, employees are assigned a trainer's email in the "Manager's Email" field. However, an employee can only have one manager, so if the company wants to use departmental teams and trainers for newcomers, they will have to choose. Accordingly, if the trainer's email is specified in the "Manager's Email" field, the department manager will not see this employee on their team.
How this is implemented with functional managers:
This can be solved in different ways:
- Create a root group called "Work Experience" and place all newcomers in the "Up to 3 Months" group. Assign a manager to this group, and they will be able to see the results of all newcomers.
- If different managers are responsible for training newcomers for different positions, then subgroups of these positions can be created lower in the hierarchy for the "Up to 3 Months" group and assigned managers for them.
If the onboarding process is monitored more locally, then subgroups for newcomers can be created within existing groups based on the required criteria (based on organizational structure or region) and managers can be assigned to them.
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