Custom Groups give you flexible control over how goals are organized, shared, and managed across your organization. Instead of relying solely on Microsoft Teams structures or department hierarchies, Custom Groups let you define your own logical groupings, such as by project teams, cross‑functional initiatives, or temporary task forces, so goals are visible to the people who need them most.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to enable and configure Custom Groups in the Admin Center, how to create them, assign owners and members, and manage group settings. With Custom Groups, you can improve goal visibility, tailor goal access to real workflows, and keep goal tracking aligned with how your teams actually work.
Both admins and users can create Custom Groups once the feature is enabled.
Enabling Custom Groups
Follow the steps below to enable Custom Groups in the Goals module:
Step 1: Go to the Admin Center and open the Goals module.
Step 2: Enable the “Custom Groups” toggle.
Step 3: Under “Who can create Custom Groups”, choose who can create Custom Groups:
Everyone
Managers and Admins
Admins only
How to Create a Custom Group
Once Custom Groups are enabled, you can create a new Custom Group by following these steps:
Step 1: Go to the Goals module.
Step 2: Open the Groups dropdown, select Custom Groups, and click New group.
Step 3: Enter a group name and an optional description.
Step 4: Assign group owners and add group members.
Step 5: (Optional) Enable notifications to inform members that they’ve been added, and click Create
Admins can see the Manage Groups option and perform actions such as editing or deleting any Custom Group in the organization.
Custom Groups give you flexible control over how goals are organized and shared within your teams. By creating and managing Custom Groups, you can ensure the right people have visibility into the right goals, making goal tracking and collaboration more effective.
Beneficial Use Cases
Project-based teams: Organize goals around specific projects. All team members can see and track progress in real time, making collaboration and accountability easier.
Cross-functional initiatives: Group goals that span multiple departments or functions. This ensures everyone involved in an initiative stays aligned on objectives.
Temporary task forces: Quickly create groups for short-term projects or special initiatives without affecting existing Microsoft Teams structures.
Department-wide planning: Set up groups for entire departments to monitor and manage departmental goals, while still allowing subgroup visibility where needed.
Individual focus areas: Create custom groups for personal development, training programs, or mentorship goals, enabling focused tracking and progress updates.