Manage Gong when your company structure changes

Who can use this: Tech admin

Available on: Any Gong plan

When your company structure changes, such as when a rep moves teams, a manager leaves, or a management role is unfilled, you need to update Gong to keep data accurate across deal boards, dashboards, and forecast boards. This article covers the steps for each situation.

For background on why these changes matter and how Gong's hierarchy works, see About managing Gong when your company structure changes.

Before you begin

• Check how your company provisions team members in Gong. From the left sidebar, click Admin center, and go to Settings > People > Team Member Provisioning if you are unsure. Some steps differ depending on whether you provision through an IdP (such as Okta, Rippling, or OneLogin), a CRM (Salesforce), or Manual.

• Complete all changes before the affected user begins forecasting in their new position. Forecast submission history cannot be split across periods.

• Confirm with your commissions team and any other downstream systems before reassigning deals. Deal ownership changes affect systems outside Gong.

When a rep changes teams

When a rep moves to a new team, their open deals move with them by default. If the original team needs to retain that pipeline for the current period, you have two options. The right choice depends on how important reporting accuracy is for the transition.

Assign open deals to the original manager

Use this when you want a quick resolution and the original manager's inflated pipeline is acceptable for the period. No virtual team member is required. All changes are made in your CRM.

To reassign open deals to the original manager:

1. In your CRM, update the rep's manager field to the new manager.

2. In your CRM, reassign the rep's open deals to the original manager as the deal owner.

3. In Gong, confirm the rep now appears under the new manager. From the left sidebar, click Admin center, and select Team Members.

The rep's open deals remain rolled up to the original team. The original manager's personal pipeline reflects these deals until they close.

Note:

This method inflates the original manager's personal pipeline and may affect pipeline reporting accuracy. If accurate rollups are important, use the virtual team member method below.

Assign open deals to a virtual team member

Use this when you need the original team's pipeline to remain accurate after the rep moves. A virtual team member holds the open deals under the original manager without affecting the manager's personal numbers.

To create a virtual team member and reassign open deals:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center.

2. In the Settings tab, click Team Members under People.

3. Add a new user manually. Enter a first name, last name, and an email address ending in your company domain. The email address does not need to be a real or deliverable address.

4. Set the virtual team member's manager to the original manager so the account sits in the correct position in the hierarchy.

5. In your CRM, reassign the rep's open deals to the virtual team member as the deal owner.

6. Move the rep to their new team:

   • CRM or CRM plus manual provisioning: Update the rep's manager field in your CRM to the new manager. The change syncs to Gong automatically.

   • IdP provisioning (Okta, Rippling, OneLogin): Contact your Gong account team to reassign the rep in Gong. Because the rep's manager is controlled by your IdP, this step requires Gong team assistance.

     Note:

     If the rep's manager field is later updated in your IdP, the reassignment is overwritten and the rep returns to their previous manager in Gong. Work with your IT team to prevent the rep's manager field from changing after the reassignment is made.

7. In Gong, confirm the virtual team member appears under the original manager and the rep appears under the new manager. From the left sidebar, click Admin center, and select Team Members.

8. Assign a target to the virtual team member and update the rep's target for their new role. See Reassign targets.

9. If your company restricts forecast visibility by permission profile, update the relevant profile to give the manager access to the virtual team member. See Configure permissions for a virtual team member.

The rep's open deals remain rolled up to the original team under the virtual team member. The rep's new deals roll up to the new team. Data shifts to the new rollup within approximately one hour.

When a management role is vacant or unfilled

If a manager leaves and the role is not backfilled, or if a management role exists in the hierarchy but has no one in it, the reps under that node roll up incorrectly. For example, if an AMER GM position is vacant, all the reps under it may roll up directly to the VP instead of staying grouped under the AMER region. This affects targets, forecasts, and pipeline visibility for everyone above that node. A virtual team member holds the position so the hierarchy stays intact.

To create a virtual team member for a vacant or unfilled management role:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center

2. In the Settings tab, click Team Members under People.

3. Add a new user manually. Enter a first name, last name, and an email address ending in your company domain. The email address does not need to be a real or deliverable address.

4. Set the virtual team member's manager to the person above them in the hierarchy.

5. Move the reps who should report to the virtual team member:

   • CRM or CRM plus manual provisioning: Update each rep's manager field in your CRM to the virtual team member. Changes sync to Gong automatically.

   • IdP provisioning: Contact your Gong account team to reassign the reps. Because rep managers are controlled by your IdP, this step requires Gong team assistance.

     Note:

     If any rep's manager field is later updated in your IdP, the reassignment is overwritten. Work with your IT team to prevent those manager fields from changing.

6. In Gong, confirm the virtual team member and the reps under it appear correctly. From the left sidebar, click Admin center, and select Team members.

7. Assign a target to the virtual team member. See Reassign targets.

8. If your company restricts forecast visibility by permission profile, update the relevant profile to give the covering manager access to the virtual team member's node. See Configure permissions for a virtual team member below.

The virtual team member holds the position in the hierarchy. Reps under it roll up correctly and the node is available for target assignment and forecasting.

Reassign targets

Targets do not follow a user automatically when deals or roles change. After creating a virtual team member, reassign the relevant targets so that the forecast totals correctly for the period.

To reassign targets:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center.

2. In the Settings tab, click Targets under Data studio.

3. Upload a new CSV file, setting the Team member identifier to the virtual team member for the portion of the target that was assigned for the original team member. For example, the remaining quota for the current period or the full team target for a vacant manager node.

4. Assign the target that applies to the real user in their new role.

Both the virtual team member and the real user now have the correct targets for their respective positions.

Configure permissions for a virtual team member

Because virtual team members cannot log in, a real user must have permission to view and submit forecasts on their behalf. Skip this section if forecast visibility is set to All for view and edit in your permission profiles.

To configure permissions for a virtual team member:

1. From the left sidebar, click Admin center, and go to Settings > People > Permission profiles.

2. Open the permission profile assigned to the manager who will cover the virtual team member, or create a new profile if needed.

3. Update the View forecasts and Edit forecasts permissions to include the virtual team member's node.

4. Click Save.

The manager can now view and submit forecasts on behalf of the virtual team member.

Note:

If your company is on Gong's current pricing and packaging, a virtual team member must have a Forecast seat assigned for a real user to submit a forecast on their behalf. Verify seat allocation in Admin center > Team members. This requirement does not apply to legacy Gong plans.

Transfer forecast submission history

If a virtual team member needs to retain the forecast submission history of the person leaving the role, that history must be transferred before the real user begins forecasting in their new position.

• How to request: Submit a Gong Support ticket requesting a forecast submission history transfer. Specify the source user, the target virtual team member, and the date range.

• Timing: The transfer must happen before the real user begins forecasting in their new position.

• Constraint: History is transferred as a complete copy. It cannot be split between users or limited to a specific period.

Manage forecast board visibility

As virtual team members accumulate over time, your forecast board can become cluttered. Update each user's visibility setting to keep boards clean while preserving historical data.

To update a user's visibility on the forecast board:

1. From the left sidebar, click Revenue, and select Forecast.

2. Locate the user on the board.

3. Click the More actions icon next to their name, and select a visibility setting:

   • Active: Always shown. Use for virtual team members currently holding open pipeline.

   • Inactive: Shown only when data exists in the selected period. Use for virtual team members who are no longer managing active revenue.

   • Hidden: Never shown. Use for duplicate records or irrelevant entries.

The user's visibility updates immediately on the board.

Note:

Visibility settings apply per board and can only be changed by an admin. If users are being hidden unexpectedly, check whether an admin is making changes on the wrong board.

Frequently asked questions