Product2026-05-28·6 min read

Saved Views: Private, Department, Public — How Visibility Levels Work

Most teams use one view for everything. But saved views with three visibility levels — private, department, public — unlock a new level of focus and collaboration.

The Problem with "One View Fits All"

Saved views are filter configurations that teams save and share for quick access. A saved view with visibility levels is a saved filter that respects who is viewing it — private views are visible only to the creator, department views to the team, and public views to the entire organization.

The typical project management tool gives everyone the same view or no saved views at all. This creates two problems: team members can't filter to just their work without doing it manually every time, and managers can't see org-wide state without building separate reports. Saved views with three visibility levels solve both.

What Are Saved Views in Project Management?

Saved views in project management are filter + column + sort configurations that you save and reuse. Think of them as personalized lenses on your team's work.

Instead of manually filtering for "my tickets + high priority + not closed" every morning, you save that configuration as a view. One click, and you're looking at exactly what you need.

Most tools stop at one shared view or make all views public by default. Sunday implements three visibility levels:

Private — Only you can see this view. Perfect for personal dashboards, daily standup prep, or work that isn't relevant to others.

Department — Your team (department) can see this view. Great for team-specific workflows like "Engineering blockers" or "Design review queue."

Public — Everyone in the organization can see this view. Use this for company-wide dashboards or cross-team visibility like "Active projects" or "Weekly status."

Why Visibility Levels Matter for Team Accountability

When every view is public, you get two problems:

  1. Information overload — People see tickets that aren't relevant to them, leading to ignore and noise.
  2. Visibility gaps — Team members can't build personal views without cluttering everyone else's experience.

With private views, individuals can build exactly what they need without affecting anyone else. With department views, teams can share workflows without exposing internal work to the whole company. With public views, leadership gets the org-wide visibility they need without invading individual contributor focus.

This is the foundation of team accountability: people see what they're responsible for, not everything the company is working on.

How to Build Your First Saved View

Let's say you're a team lead who needs to see every ticket assigned to your team members that is either Working, Blocked, or New — sorted by deadline.

  1. Set your filters: Status = Working OR Blocked OR New. Assignee = [your team members].
  2. Choose your columns: Status, Priority, Title, Owner, Deadline, Blocker.
  3. Sort: Deadline ascending (soonest first).
  4. Save the view: Name it "Team Pulse" and set visibility to Department.
  5. Done: One click loads this view every time.

Now your entire team can load the same view with the same filters, columns, and sort — without you manually maintaining a shared spreadsheet or weekly report.

Real Example: The Engineering Team

Here's how an engineering team at a mid-size SaaS company uses saved views:

Private views per engineer:

  • "My tickets" — all tickets assigned to me, any status
  • "My blockers" — tickets I'm blocking or that are blocking me
  • "My deadlines" — tickets with deadlines in the next 7 days

Department views for the team:

  • "Sprint board" — all Engineering tickets in Working, filtered by current sprint
  • "Open blockers" — every ticket marked as blocked, internal or external
  • "Awaiting feedback" — tickets in Done status waiting for beneficiary sign-off

Public views for leadership:

  • "Weekly status" — all tickets updated in the last 7 days
  • "Team velocity" — tickets closed per week, month-over-month

Three visibility levels, infinite combinations, zero confusion about who sees what.

The Practical Impact on Daily Workflow

Here's what changes when you implement saved views properly:

Monday standups take 10 minutes instead of 30. Everyone opens their "Team Pulse" view and sees exactly what needs discussion. No manual filtering. No missed items.

Context switching is instant. When a blocker is resolved, you load your "My blockers" view — it's empty. Done. You don't need to dig through everything to verify.

Onboarding new team members is faster. Instead of explaining which filters to use, you just say "load the Engineering Sprint Board view" — they see exactly what the team sees.

Leadership visibility doesn't invade individual focus. Executives load "Weekly status" and see org-wide progress. Engineers keep their private views for personal work. Nobody's stepping on toes.

Common Mistakes Teams Make

Mistake 1: Only using public views. If everything is public, you're back to information overload. Use private views for personal dashboards.

Mistake 2: One view for multiple purposes. "All tickets" isn't a useful view for anyone. Make views specific: "My high-priority work," "Design review queue," "Blocked external."

Mistake 3: Not using the department level. Many teams skip from private to public, missing the power of team-shared workflows that aren't org-wide.

Getting Started with Saved Views

If your current project tracking software doesn't support three visibility levels for saved views, that's a gap worth fixing. The workflow difference between "everyone uses the same three views" and "everyone builds what they need and shares what matters" is significant.

Sunday's ticket management platform includes unlimited saved views with Private, Department, and Public visibility levels. You can build personal lenses for your daily work, share team-specific workflows with your department, and expose org-wide dashboards to leadership — all from the same tool.

The key is starting: build your first private view today, for your most common filter combination. Then expand from there.

Related Articles


Want to see how saved views work in practice? <a href="/dashboard" className="text-[#D6BFA3] hover:underline">Try Sunday's dashboard</a> — create your first saved view in under 2 minutes.

Ready to get started?

Try Sunday's ticket management platform — start free, upgrade when you're ready.

Start for free