If you’re sharing dashboards or reports in Grow and starting to sweat about who sees what, this guide is for you. Maybe you’ve got sales, finance, and marketing all clamoring for data—but the last thing you want is the wrong eyes on sensitive info. Let’s cut through the fluff and get your teams set up with the right permissions, so everyone gets just what they need (and not a byte more).
Why Team-Based Permissions Matter (Don’t Skip This)
Here’s the quick pitch: If everyone has admin access, it’s basically the digital equivalent of leaving your office door wide open. Team-based permissions in Grow let you:
- Keep sensitive data (like payroll or customer info) private
- Cut down on “Oops, I broke the dashboard” moments
- Make onboarding and offboarding way less painful
- Stay on the right side of data regulations
Trying to manage permissions person-by-person? That gets old fast, and you’ll miss things. Teams (or groups, depending on your lingo) are how you scale without losing your mind.
Step 1: Map Out Your Teams and Data Needs
Before you start clicking around, grab a notebook or open a doc. You’ll want to sketch out:
- Which teams exist? Sales, Marketing, Finance, Ops, Execs, etc.
- What data does each team actually need? Be honest—most people don’t need everything.
- Are there any “special cases”? For example, maybe some execs need cross-team access.
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate this. Start simple—add granularity later if you must. Trying to plan for every little exception up front just leads to analysis paralysis.
Step 2: Set Up Your Teams in Grow
Now, head into Grow’s admin area.
How to Create Teams
- Go to “Teams” or “Groups” settings. (Grow sometimes calls them “groups,” but it’s the same idea.)
- Create a new team for each real-world group. Give them clear names: “Sales,” not “Team 1.”
- Add users to each team. Don’t stress about perfection—you can tweak this anytime.
What works: Keeping team names obvious and matching your org chart.
What doesn’t: Making teams for every possible scenario (“Q4 Marketing Interns”)—you’ll just end up cleaning up a mess later.
Should You Use Default Teams?
Grow usually comes with some preset teams (like “Admins” or “All Users”). Use these for broad access, but don’t rely on them for sensitive stuff. If everyone’s in “All Users,” that’s not really permissioning—it’s just chaos.
Step 3: Define and Assign Permissions
Now it gets real. Permissions in Grow generally control:
- Which dashboards, reports, or datasets a team can see
- Who can edit, delete, or share content
- Who can manage data sources (big one for security)
Setting Permissions (The Real Way)
- Pick a dashboard, report, or data source.
- Find the “Share” or “Permissions” option.
- Assign access by team, not by individual. This is where the magic happens. Give “View,” “Edit,” or “Admin” rights as needed.
- Double-check what’s inherited. Sometimes teams inherit permissions from parent folders or global settings—don’t assume what you set is the only rule in play.
- Repeat for all the content that matters. Tedious? A bit. But better than cleaning up a data leak.
Honest take: The permissions interface in Grow is decent, but not perfect. Sometimes it’s easy to lose track of what’s been shared with whom, especially if you have a lot of dashboards. Go slow, and document as you go if you have a bigger setup.
Permissions You Should Actually Care About
- View vs. Edit: Most users should view only. Editors should be trusted and trained.
- Data Source Access: This should be locked down tight—usually just admins or analysts.
- Sharing Outside the Org: Turn this off for most teams unless you really need it.
Don’t get hung up on the dozens of little permission checkboxes. Focus on the big stuff: Can people see sensitive data they shouldn’t? If yes, dial it back.
Step 4: Test Before You Trust
This is the step most teams skip, and it bites them later.
How to Sanity-Check Permissions
- Log in as a regular user (or use a test account) in each team.
- Try to access dashboards, reports, and data sources you think are restricted.
- If you can see or do something you shouldn’t, fix it now.
Pro tip: Do this with someone else—a “buddy check” can catch things you’ll miss after staring at the same screen all day.
Common Gotchas
- Inherited permissions: Sometimes a folder gives access you didn’t realize.
- Orphaned users: People who aren’t in any team can slip through the cracks.
- Overlapping teams: If someone’s in multiple teams, they get the most permissive rights. Assume people will have more access, not less.
Step 5: Maintain—Don’t Set and Forget
Permissions aren’t “set once and done.” People join, leave, and change roles all the time.
Make It Routine
- Review team memberships monthly (or at least quarterly).
- Audit dashboard and data source permissions on the same schedule.
- When someone leaves, remove them from all teams immediately.
- When a new dashboard or data source is created, assign permissions right away—don’t wait.
What to ignore: “Annual security reviews.” That’s just asking for surprises. Smaller, more frequent check-ins beat big, scary audits.
Advanced Tips (Skip These Unless You Need Them)
- Row-level security: If you really need different data for different users within the same dashboard, Grow supports this—but it’s more work and easier to mess up. Most teams don’t need it.
- Custom roles: If you’ve outgrown simple teams, you can define more granular roles, but this is best for big orgs with actual IT staff.
- Audit logs: Use them if you’re in a regulated industry. Otherwise, don’t lose sleep over them.
What to Avoid
- Giving everyone “Editor” or “Admin” access. You’ll regret it.
- Setting up dozens of micro-teams. Keep it simple, or you’ll drown in permission requests.
- Assuming people won’t share links. If it’s sensitive, lock it down—don’t rely on people to “just not send it around.”
Wrapping Up
Setting up team-based permissions in Grow isn’t rocket science, but it does take a little thought and some regular care. Start simple, focus on the biggest risks, and build from there. You can always get fancier as you go, but most of the value comes from just making sure people see only what they’re supposed to. Keep it simple, keep it safe, and check in often—you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches down the road.