What it is and what it's for#
A tribe is a team inside a project. Unlike the location or the organisational unit, which reflect the real structure of the company, a tribe is a membership chosen by the programme: it exists to create identity and to compete as a group.
They are useful when the challenge is cultural and you don't want the competition to be individual. Mixing people from different stores into one tribe breaks down silos; making tribes match the real teams reinforces the team.
How to set it up#
1. Create the tribe#
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | The tribe's name. In every active language. |
| Description | What it represents. |
| Motto | A short identity line. Shown alongside the name. |
| Lead | The person who represents the tribe. |
| Words from the lead | A message from the lead to their tribe, visible on the tribe page. |
| Mascot | The image that identifies the tribe. |
| Active | A deactivated tribe stops being shown and stops appearing in the ranking. |
Identity is not decoration: the name, the motto and the mascot are what make someone say "my tribe" instead of "the group I was put in". It is worth spending some time on it, or letting the tribes choose their own.
2. Assign people#
Each person belongs to one tribe within a project. Assignment is done from the panel, either individually or in bulk.
Three approaches that work, depending on the objective:
| Objective | How to split people |
|---|---|
| Reinforce the real team | One tribe per store, shift or department. |
| Break down silos | Mixed tribes, with people from different sites. |
| Balanced competition | Tribes of the same size, assigning people at random. |
If tribes are very different sizes, the tribe ranking becomes unfair and stops motivating: the big tribe always wins on sheer volume. Split them evenly, or compare the average per person instead of the total.
3. The lead#
The lead is the public face of the tribe: they rally it, they speak to it from the tribe page, and they are the natural point of contact for the programme team.
Pick someone with real influence in the group, not necessarily a manager. In change rollouts, the lead is usually the best thermometer of what is really going on in their team.
What the employee sees#
- Their tribe on their profile: name, motto, mascot and the message from their lead.
- Their tribe mates.
- The project's tribe ranking, alongside the individual ranking.
- Content aimed only at their tribe, where you have segmented it that way (challenges and surveys).
Frequently asked questions#
Can someone be in two tribes?
Within the same project, no. In different projects, yes: they are different tribes.
What happens if I move someone to another tribe halfway through a programme?
Their personal points go with them, but what they contributed to their previous tribe's total stays there. Changing tribe in the middle of a close competition causes arguments: better to do it between campaigns.
How many tribes should I have?
Enough for competing to mean something, and few enough for the ranking to be readable at a glance. Between 4 and 8 works well; with 20 tribes nobody knows where they stand.
Can I send a challenge to just one tribe?
Yes, by segmenting the challenge by tribe. See Journeys and challenges.
Can someone end up with no tribe?
Yes, and then they don't appear in the tribe ranking. It is worth checking after every user import.
Limits and warnings#
- Tribes are per project. They are not shared between projects even when the people are the same.
- Anyone without a tribe does not appear in the collective ranking, although they do appear in the individual one.
- Deactivating a tribe removes it from the ranking, but does not reassign its people: they are left with no tribe until you move them.
- The tribe ranking adds up points earned, so big tribes start with an advantage unless you even out the sizes.