People, Skills, Teams
Project Members vs Employees
Why GreenVee separates a person's master record from their role on a specific project, and what each object contains.
The core rule
Section titled “The core rule”Tasks are assigned to Project Members, not directly to Employees.
This single distinction shapes how nearly everything in GreenVee works. Understanding it prevents confusion in reports, resource views, and cost calculations.
Side-by-side comparison
Section titled “Side-by-side comparison”| Employee | Project Member | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Master record for a person | A person’s role on one specific project |
| Lives in | Master data — exists independently | Tied to a project — created when the person joins |
| Role / title | Position field (general job title) | Role name (specific to this project) |
| Rate | Hourly cost (internal cost) | Hourly rate + currency (what is charged or tracked on this project) |
| Leader flag | — | Yes/No — marks project leads |
| Skills | Skills this person actually holds | Skills the role requires (independent of who, if anyone, fills it) |
| Hierarchy | Supervisor self-reference | Parent Project Member (for sub-team structures) |
| Tasks | Cannot be assigned tasks directly | Tasks are assigned here |
Why the split matters
Section titled “Why the split matters”The same employee can appear on multiple projects simultaneously, carrying a different role and rate on each.
Example:
| Project | Role name | Hourly rate | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project Alpha | Lead Engineer | €120 / hr | Yes |
| Project Beta | Reviewer | €80 / hr | No |
| Project Gamma | Consultant | €95 / hr | No |
All three rows refer to the same Employee record — same person, same HR profile, same skills catalogue. But each project tracks them independently as a Project Member with its own rate, role name, and responsibilities.
This means:
- Cost reports per project reflect the rate agreed for that project, not a blanket internal cost.
- Role names can match the project’s naming conventions without altering the employee’s permanent position.
- Removing someone from a project does not affect their employee record or other project memberships.
Sub-members
Section titled “Sub-members”A Project Member can have a parent Project Member. This creates a sub-team structure within a project — for example, a site team lead (parent) overseeing three field engineers (children), all of whom are Project Members on the same project.
Sub-member structures are useful when:
- A project has distinct crews or sub-teams with their own leads.
- You want to roll up task assignments and costs to a team lead level within a project.
Related pages
Section titled “Related pages”- Employees & Departments — the Employee master record
- Skills — how actual and required skills work on Project Members