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Hi EspoCRM Team,
I would like to suggest introducing a native Organizational Structure entity that could be used as a core layer for process ownership and work assignment.
Currently in EspoCRM, most processes are centered around Users or Teams. While this works well for permissions and collaboration, it doesn’t fully represent how many organizations structure responsibilities internally.
In many companies, work is not owned by a specific person first — it belongs to a function or position within the organizational structure. The person occupying that role may change, but the responsibility remains stable.
For example:
• Leads may first belong to a Consultant function
• Later they move to a Sales function
• The actual users performing those roles may change over time
From a process architecture perspective, it would be very useful if records could be assigned to organizational functions or positions, rather than always to specific users. Proposed Concept
Introduce a new entity such as:
Organizational Structure
with hierarchical nodes representing things like:
• Departments
• Teams
• Positions
• Functions
Each node could:
• contain assigned users
• define a primary responsible user
• support substitutes or temporary replacements
• inherit hierarchy visibility Assignment Model
Records (Leads, Cases, Tasks, Opportunities, custom entities) could then support:
This would separate:
Business Responsibility
from
Current Execution Practical Examples
Lead Processing
A lead is assigned to the Consultant node in the structure.
Any active consultant can pick it up or it can be auto-assigned.
Routine Tasks
Recurring tasks belong to a role or position, not to a specific person.
If the person leaves or is on vacation, the task still belongs to the role.
Temporary Substitution
If a user becomes unavailable, tasks and responsibilities could automatically shift to another user within the same organizational node. Why Teams Alone May Not Solve This
Teams work well for access control and collaboration, but they don’t fully represent:
• hierarchical organizational structure
• role-based ownership
• responsibility continuity when people change
• routine operational tasks tied to roles Business Value
Such a structure could significantly help organizations with:
• process handoffs
• shift work
• shared responsibilities
• support teams
• operational workflows
• recurring responsibilities Concept Reference
A similar business concept can be seen in systems that organize work around organizational structure and functional roles.
This video demonstrates the type of organizational perspective I mean:
https://youtu.be/npX0J_Z6jTk?si=3fi8ZdL-Opg5RvtY
The idea is not to replicate another product, but to introduce a structural layer that reflects how responsibilities exist inside organizations.
Even an initial version supporting Tasks, Leads, and Cases would already be very valuable.
Would something like an Organizational Structure entity make sense as a future feature or extension point in EspoCRM?
Thanks for considering the idea.
I would like to suggest introducing a native Organizational Structure entity that could be used as a core layer for process ownership and work assignment.
Currently in EspoCRM, most processes are centered around Users or Teams. While this works well for permissions and collaboration, it doesn’t fully represent how many organizations structure responsibilities internally.
In many companies, work is not owned by a specific person first — it belongs to a function or position within the organizational structure. The person occupying that role may change, but the responsibility remains stable.
For example:
• Leads may first belong to a Consultant function
• Later they move to a Sales function
• The actual users performing those roles may change over time
From a process architecture perspective, it would be very useful if records could be assigned to organizational functions or positions, rather than always to specific users. Proposed Concept
Introduce a new entity such as:
Organizational Structure
with hierarchical nodes representing things like:
• Departments
• Teams
• Positions
• Functions
Each node could:
• contain assigned users
• define a primary responsible user
• support substitutes or temporary replacements
• inherit hierarchy visibility Assignment Model
Records (Leads, Cases, Tasks, Opportunities, custom entities) could then support:
- Assigned Organizational Node
- Current Executor (User)
This would separate:
Business Responsibility
from
Current Execution Practical Examples
Lead Processing
A lead is assigned to the Consultant node in the structure.
Any active consultant can pick it up or it can be auto-assigned.
Routine Tasks
Recurring tasks belong to a role or position, not to a specific person.
If the person leaves or is on vacation, the task still belongs to the role.
Temporary Substitution
If a user becomes unavailable, tasks and responsibilities could automatically shift to another user within the same organizational node. Why Teams Alone May Not Solve This
Teams work well for access control and collaboration, but they don’t fully represent:
• hierarchical organizational structure
• role-based ownership
• responsibility continuity when people change
• routine operational tasks tied to roles Business Value
Such a structure could significantly help organizations with:
• process handoffs
• shift work
• shared responsibilities
• support teams
• operational workflows
• recurring responsibilities Concept Reference
A similar business concept can be seen in systems that organize work around organizational structure and functional roles.
This video demonstrates the type of organizational perspective I mean:
https://youtu.be/npX0J_Z6jTk?si=3fi8ZdL-Opg5RvtY
The idea is not to replicate another product, but to introduce a structural layer that reflects how responsibilities exist inside organizations.
Even an initial version supporting Tasks, Leads, and Cases would already be very valuable.
Would something like an Organizational Structure entity make sense as a future feature or extension point in EspoCRM?
Thanks for considering the idea.