VA STAFFER
AI Team Setup Toolkit

Give Your AI a Real Team Map

If you want your AI to act like part of the team, it needs to understand your organization. This VA Staffer template helps clients document roles, reporting structure, and team IDs so their AI can route smarter, escalate better, and support the right people.

Simple positioning for clients: “This file teaches your AI who your people are. It’s the difference between having a chatbot and having an assistant that actually understands your organization.”
Copy & Use

TEAM.md Template

Have the client copy this into a TEAM.md file and fill in each section with their company details.

# TEAM.md

## COMPANY OVERVIEW
- **Company Name:** 
- **Primary Industry:** 
- **Team Size:** 
- **Primary Communication Platform:** Discord / Slack / Email / Other

---

## EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## SALES & CUSTOMER SUPPORT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## OPERATIONS
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## MARKETING
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## HR / RECRUITMENT / TRAINING
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## PRODUCT / DEVELOPMENT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## CREATIVE / MEDIA
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## OTHER KEY PEOPLE
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

---

## REPORTING STRUCTURE
- **[Person Name]** reports to **[Manager Name]**
- **[Person Name]** reports to **[Manager Name]**
- **[Person Name]** reports to **[Manager Name]**

---

## NOTES FOR AI
- **[Person Name]** handles:
- **[Person Name]** should be looped in when:
- **[Person Name]** should NOT be disturbed for:
- **Escalate urgent issues to:** 
- **Default decision-maker for team questions:** 
How to Use It

Instructions for Clients

This file teaches the AI how the company is structured so it can route questions, escalate properly, and understand who owns what.

What this file is for

  • Shows the AI who’s who inside the organization
  • Helps it understand ownership and reporting lines
  • Makes tagging, mentions, and escalation far more accurate
  • Improves internal assistant behavior across Discord, Slack, and other platforms

Why it matters

  • Without this, the AI only sees names
  • With this, the AI sees roles, authority, and team context
  • That means less confusion, better routing, and smarter delegation

Step 1: List leadership

Start with the founder, CEO, executives, and department heads first. This gives the AI the top of the org chart before you fill in the rest.

## EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
- **Jane Smith** (123456789012345678) - Founder & CEO
- **Mark Jones** (234567890123456789) - COO

Step 2: Group by department

Organize people by the function they belong to. The cleaner the categories, the easier it is for the AI to reason about the team.

Good examples: Sales, Operations, Marketing, HR, Product, Creative.

Step 3: Add user IDs

If the AI works in Discord or Slack, include platform user IDs so it can identify the right person and avoid name confusion.

- **John Doe** (123456789012345678) - Operations Manager

Step 4: Add reporting structure

This is where the AI becomes much more useful. It learns who should be informed, who likely has authority, and where issues should escalate.

## REPORTING STRUCTURE
- **Sarah** reports to **Jane**
- **Tom** reports to **Mark**
- **Emily** reports to **Lisa**

Step 5: Add Notes for AI

This is the secret sauce. Add the real-world context that helps the assistant behave like part of the team.

## NOTES FOR AI
- **Sarah** handles hiring and onboarding
- **Tom** should be looped in for technical issues
- **Do not disturb Jane** for minor support issues
- **Escalate urgent client issues to:** Mark
Discord Setup

How to Turn On Developer Mode and Copy User IDs

If your AI will work inside Discord, user IDs matter. They let the assistant identify the correct person, tag the right teammate, and avoid confusion when multiple people have similar names.

Turn on Developer Mode

  1. Open Discord.
  2. Click the gear icon in the bottom-left to open User Settings.
  3. Scroll to Advanced.
  4. Toggle Developer Mode to ON.

Once Developer Mode is on, Discord will let you copy IDs for users, channels, roles, and servers.

Copy a Team Member's User ID

  1. Go to the server or DM where you can see the person.
  2. Right-click their name or profile.
  3. Click Copy User ID.
  4. Paste that number into the TEAM.md file beside their name.
- **Jane Smith** (123456789012345678) - Founder & CEO

If “Copy User ID” doesn’t show up

  • Make sure Developer Mode is turned on
  • Try right-clicking the person's name in the member list
  • Try clicking their profile card and then right-clicking their name
  • On mobile, tap and hold the profile after enabling Developer Mode in settings

Quick tip for clients

They don’t need every ID on day one. Start with leadership, department heads, and anybody the AI needs to tag or escalate to.

Minimum viable setup: Founder, leadership team, key managers, and anyone who handles escalations.
Ready-to-Send

Prompt to Give Your AI Employee

This version is intentionally simple. The client pastes it to their AI Employee and then fills in the fields.

# TEAM.md Input Prompt for Your AI Employee

Create a `TEAM.md` file using the information I provide below.

Use this exact format:

# TEAM.md

## COMPANY OVERVIEW
- **Company Name:** 
- **Primary Industry:** 
- **Team Size:** 
- **Primary Communication Platform:** 

## EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## SALES & CUSTOMER SUPPORT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## OPERATIONS
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## MARKETING
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## HR / RECRUITMENT / TRAINING
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## PRODUCT / DEVELOPMENT
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## CREATIVE / MEDIA
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## OTHER KEY PEOPLE
- **[Full Name]** ([Discord ID / User ID]) - [Role]

## REPORTING STRUCTURE
- **[Person Name]** reports to **[Manager Name]**

## NOTES FOR AI
- **[Person Name]** handles [responsibilities]
- **Escalate urgent issues to:** [Name]
- **Default decision-maker for team questions:** [Name]

If any information is missing, use `(unknown)`.

Why this version is better

  • Short and easy to paste
  • Matches the simple sample format
  • Gives the AI a clear structure without over-explaining

Best use case

Use this when the client already understands their team and just needs a clean format to give their AI Employee.

Tip: pair this with the Discord Developer Mode section above so they can also collect user IDs correctly.
Best Practices

Keep It Clean. Keep It Current.

Use specific roles

Don’t just say “Manager.” Use titles like Client Success Manager, Operations Manager, or Head of Recruitment so the AI can route work properly.

Use consistent names

Don’t switch between Mike, Michael, and Michael S. Pick one standard name format and use it everywhere.

Update it often

This file gets stale fast. Update it when people join, leave, change roles, or shift reporting lines.

Start simple

Clients do not need a perfect org chart on day one. Even a basic version with names, roles, IDs, and reporting lines is enough to make the AI much smarter.

Example

Filled-Out Mini Version

Use this sample to show clients what “good enough to start” looks like.

# TEAM.md

## COMPANY OVERVIEW
- **Company Name:** Acme Growth Co.
- **Primary Industry:** Marketing Agency
- **Team Size:** 12
- **Primary Communication Platform:** Discord

## EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
- **Jane Smith** (123456789012345678) - Founder & CEO
- **Mark Evans** (234567890123456789) - COO

## SALES & CUSTOMER SUPPORT
- **Lisa Tran** (345678901234567890) - Head of Sales
- **Ben Carter** (456789012345678901) - Client Success Manager

## OPERATIONS
- **Tina Moore** (567890123456789012) - Operations Manager

## MARKETING
- **Chris Young** (678901234567890123) - Content Manager

## REPORTING STRUCTURE
- **Lisa Tran** reports to **Jane Smith**
- **Ben Carter** reports to **Lisa Tran**
- **Tina Moore** reports to **Mark Evans**
- **Chris Young** reports to **Jane Smith**

## NOTES FOR AI
- **Lisa Tran** handles revenue and sales approvals
- **Ben Carter** handles client issues and renewals
- **Tina Moore** handles internal operations and SOPs
- **Chris Young** handles content and campaign execution
- **Escalate urgent team issues to:** Mark Evans
- **Default decision-maker for sales questions:** Lisa Tran

How to Position This to Clients

Simple version: “If you want your AI to act like part of the team, it needs a team map.”

Expanded version: “This file teaches your AI who your people are. It’s the difference between having a chatbot and having an assistant that actually understands your organization.”