Start solo, grow as needed. Nalo creates a default crew for you on day one. Add employees when you hire them. Organize them into crews when your team grows beyond one truck.
The “Solo = invisible” principle
If you have one crew (the default one Nalo auto-creates), Nalo never mentions the words “crew”, “team”, “cuadrilla”, or “equipo” in chat. It’d be noise — there’s nothing to choose between.
Once you create a second crew, Nalo starts mentioning which crew each appointment is assigned to. Same for route planning.
Your first crew
Created automatically when you onboarded, named by your language:
- English businesses → “My crew”
- Spanish businesses → “Mi cuadrilla”
You’re the sole member (role: OWNER). This is invisible to you in chat until you create a second crew.
Renaming it
Rename “my crew” to “Pedro’s team”
Or /config → Crews → tap the name → type the new one.
Adding employees
Via chat
Add an employee named Juan García, phone 555-1234, hourly rate $28
Nalo creates the Employee record and assigns Juan to your default crew. Confirms with:
✅ Juan García added to My crew as Field Worker at $28/hr.
Via /config
Open /config → Employees tab → + Add Employee.
Fields:
- Full name (required)
- Phone (optional)
- Role — Field Worker / Helper / Manager / Subcontractor / Owner
- Hourly rate — optional, numeric
Editing
Tap the Edit button on any employee card. Change any field, hit Save. Or tell Nalo:
Update Juan’s phone to 555-9999 Set Juan’s rate to $32
Removing
Remove button on the card, or:
Remove Juan
Employee is soft-deleted (active = false). Their past work history is preserved — invoices, appointments, quotes they touched stay intact.
Crews
A crew is a named group of employees who work together. Think “Morning crew”, “Installation team”, “Landscaping Team A”.
When to create a second crew
- You run separate schedules for different services (plumbing vs. HVAC)
- You have weekday and weekend teams
- You have day shift and night shift
- Different employees cover different geographic zones
Creating a crew
Via chat:
Create a crew called Morning Team
Via /config:
/config → Crews → + Add Crew → type the name.
Adding members to a crew
In the Crews tab, each crew card shows:
- Member chips with name, role, and an
✕to remove - "+ Add member" dropdown with all your employees who aren’t already in this crew
Or via chat:
Add Juan to the Morning Team Move María from Main to Night Shift
Removing a member
✕next to their chip in/config→ Crews- Or: “Remove Juan from Night Shift” in chat
Removing from a crew doesn’t delete the Employee — they still exist, just not a member of that crew.
The default crew
When it’s used: If you schedule an appointment without specifying a crew and you have more than one, Nalo uses the default.
How it’s set:
- On day one: your auto-created first crew
- Later: tap Set as default on any crew card in
/config→ Crews, or say “Make Morning Team the default”.
The default is shown with a green Default badge in the Crews UI.
Assigning work
To a specific crew
Schedule Mrs Lewis Tuesday 7am with the Morning Team
To a specific employee
Schedule Mrs Lewis Tuesday 7am con Juan
Nalo resolves Juan → his crew → assigns both.
Let Nalo pick
Schedule Mrs Lewis Tuesday 7am
If you have multiple crews and no default, Nalo asks which crew. If there’s a default, Nalo uses it and mentions once:
✅ Scheduled for Tuesday 7am. Assigned to Morning Team — say “con X” next time to use a different crew.
Solo users: the escape hatch
Even as a solo operator, you might want to see the crew system (say, to prepare for hiring soon). You can open the Crews tab anytime — it’s always visible in the ... menu. You’ll see your one auto-created crew, which you can rename.
Roles explained
| Role | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Owner | You. Full access. |
| Manager | Someone who coordinates but doesn’t go on site. Not billable hours by default. |
| Field Worker | Most common role. The workhorse. |
| Helper | Junior / apprentice. Often lower hourly rate. |
| Subcontractor | External hire, billed separately (rate tracked for your records, not for payroll). |
Roles are advisory today — Nalo doesn’t enforce different permissions per role. Future versions will use them for payroll calc, geo-restricted scheduling, etc.
Common questions
Can an employee be in multiple crews? Yes. CrewMember is many-to-many. Juan can be in both Main and Night Shift.
What if I have a client that specific employees always handle? Add a note in the client’s Memory tab: “always assign Juan”. Nalo will remember and prefer Juan when you schedule for that client.
Can I track hours worked per employee? Not in v1. Track the dates of appointments per employee via the Schedule tab. Time tracking (clock-in/out) isn’t on the roadmap yet — tell the team if it matters.
What happens to appointments when I delete a crew? They keep the crew assignment (as a reference), but the crew will be inactive. Easier path: reassign the appointments first, then delete.
Tips
- Rename the default crew to something meaningful — “Pedro’s crew” or “Service Team” reads better on confirmations than “My crew”.
- One crew per geographic zone scales better than one crew per employee
- Set the default to your busiest crew — fewest chat interruptions
Next
- Scheduling with crews — Scheduling
- Expenses (include employee-related costs) — Expenses