Your finger's on the Send Invites button, twelve email addresses lined up in the field. Before you send them all, it's worth pausing for a second.
Inviting the whole team at once feels like the efficient thing to do, and it comes from a good place – you want everyone in, up and running, with no one left out.
But it often tends to backfire. What actually happens is that you spend the next week fielding twelve separate messages that all open with some version of "wait, what's this?", and by the time you've explained it for the twelfth time, the people who'd have been most enthusiastic have drifted off. Your own confidence starts to go with them.
The teams who settle in well start smaller, with three to five people rather than twelve. You're looking for the ones most likely to show up: the people who'll create a few tasks, leave a comment, and finish something where the rest of the team can see it happening.
That visible activity is what draws everyone else in. The rest of the team joins in week two, arriving at a workspace that's already up and moving.
So here's how to do it well:
1. Pick three to five people first
Choose the people you trust to engage. Often that's the colleague who's already asked you what this "Todoist thing" is all about. Their first hour in the workspace is what builds the appetite for everyone else.
Keeping it small looks after you, too. Three people are three you can actually be there for: you'll notice when someone gets stuck, you'll have time to get back to them properly, and you'll still feel like the person running this rather than the one trying to stay on top of it all.
2. Send the Welcome Kit with the invite, not after
The friction of "what is this, and why am I here?" compounds fast. By the time you write a follow-up explaining the invite, three of your five people have closed the tab. The Welcome Kit (from Lesson 3) goes in an email, or in a quick message sent at the same time as the invite.
3. Pick the right role for each person
- Admin: manages members, billing, security, and every project. You and any co-leads.
- Member: creates and edits in projects they're added to. Most of your team.
- Guest: sees only specific projects they're invited to. Contractors, freelancers, external collaborators.
For more on what each role can and can't do, see Team roles and access in the help center.
4. Add each person to the projects they'll actually work in
Being invited to the workspace doesn't add someone to all of your projects – that's a separate step, and an easy one to forget. For each project you'd like to share: open it, click Share, add the team member. Do this before they accept the invite, so the projects are waiting when they log in.
A heads-up on billing. Adding a paid seat mid-cycle generates a prorated charge to your card – meaning you're billed for the portion of the billing cycle the new seat is active, not a full period. It's worth working out how many seats you'll need up front, so the charge isn't a surprise.
You're done when:
- Three to five people are invited.
- Each one added to the specific projects they'll work in (not just the workspace).
- Welcome Kit sent with or before the invite.
That's your groundwork laid, and that's Set Up Your Team Workspace complete.
The next thing that happens isn't a lesson. It's your first teammate opening that invite, landing in a workspace you built for them, and finding their footing in it. That moment is the whole point of everything you've set up, and it's so close now.
They'll arrive to a clear reason for the move, a workspace that won't overwhelm anyone, and a small group already finding their way around.
That's a real gift to give a team: somewhere that makes sense from the first minute, instead of somewhere they have to decode. And it's a gift to yourself, too, because a setup done properly now is one you won't be untangling in a month. The rest is your team finding their way in, which is exactly as it should be.
If you'd like a guide for what comes after the invites go out, our Run The Full Rollout course covers it: the early signals to watch, finding momentum when it dips, and the questions your team will ask. It's there whenever you want it.
For now, though, you're ready. Send the invites, and let your team in.
"Delegate earlier than you think you're ready."
Hailley Griffis, Head of Communications & Content, Buffer