> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kowalah.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Operating model setup

> Get your operating model live: how it is built with your Kowalah team, and how to set people's positions and home units so they land at the right altitude.

This page is for admins and core team members setting up the [AI Operating Model](/platform/operating-model/overview) for your organization. It covers how the map gets built, and the two settings you control that decide what each person sees: their **position** and their **home unit**.

## How the map gets built

You do not build your operating model from a blank canvas. It is created **with your Kowalah team**, during discovery and the Vision Map Workshop, where your leaders and Kowalah map your org tree, your key processes, and each step's current and target disposition.

From there, ownership shifts to you and your Kowalah partner together:

* Your **Kowalah owner** on each process helps keep it true, as part of the managed service.
* Your **core team** and process owners maintain the map between reviews.
* Everyone with the right position keeps the processes they own current.

<Note>
  Keeping the map current is a shared, standing responsibility, not a one-off project. A map that goes stale is worse than no map. The quarterly review with your Kowalah partner is where the whole map is checked and refreshed.
</Note>

## Positions and altitude

Every person on the operating model has a **position**, which sets their **altitude**: where they land and what they own. Positions are assigned by you, the admin, on each member.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="C-suite" icon="crown">
    Lands at the company view. Sees coverage rolled up across all business units.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Senior leader" icon="briefcase">
    Owns a portfolio of processes. Lands in the division or function they lead.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manager" icon="users">
    Owns their team's processes. Lands in their team's unit.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Individual contributor" icon="user">
    Sees the steps they are part of. Lands in their home unit.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Position is separate from a person's **role** (admin, core team, member). Role decides what someone can *do* across the platform; position decides *where they sit* on the operating model. A person can be a senior leader by position and a member by role, or a manager by position and core team by role. See [roles and permissions](/platform/organization/roles-and-permissions) for what each platform role can do.

## Home unit

Alongside position, each person has a **home unit**: the part of the org tree they belong to. Together, position and home unit decide where someone lands when they open the operating model, and which slice of the map is "theirs."

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open members">
    Go to your organization members in Settings.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the position">
    Choose the person's position: C-suite, senior leader, manager, or individual contributor.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the home unit">
    Assign the unit they belong to in the org tree. Leaders are usually the home unit of the unit they lead.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    The change takes effect immediately. Next time they open the operating model, they land at the right altitude.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Set positions and home units for your leaders first. They are the people who will own processes and drive the redesign backlog, so getting their altitude right has the most impact.
</Tip>

## What people can do once set up

With positions and home units in place, the three operating model permissions decide what each person can do:

| Permission  | Who has it                                         | What it allows                                                   |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **View**    | Everyone                                           | Read the whole map: units, processes, steps, KPIs.               |
| **Suggest** | Members and above                                  | Propose changes to processes they run, for the owner to approve. |
| **Edit**    | Core team and admins, plus process and unit owners | Change the parts of the map they own directly.                   |

How ownership and editing are governed in detail, including granting direct-edit rights to specific people, is covered in [ownership and governance](/platform/operating-model/ownership-and-governance).

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Ownership and governance" icon="git-pull-request-arrow" href="/platform/operating-model/ownership-and-governance">
    Assign owners and govern how the map changes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Operating model overview" icon="map" href="/platform/operating-model/overview">
    What the operating model is, for everyone
  </Card>
</CardGroup>