Product: ChatGPT Business / Teams
Summary
The current implementation of Shared Projects makes them unsuitable for running a business inside ChatGPT.
When a project is shared:
- Memory changes from Default to Project-only.
- File Library access is disabled.
- Work Mode becomes unavailable (“Work mode isn’t available for this type of project. This cannot be changed.”)
This forces business users to choose between collaboration and AI capabilities.
Business Impact
I use ChatGPT Business as the operating platform for my company, Pickleball Bella.
My workspace is organized into functional business areas:
- Leadership & Strategy
- Marketing
- Technology & Systems
- Finance & Administration
- Operations
- Sales
- Customer Service
- Product Development
These are long-lived knowledge bases, not temporary chat folders.
As soon as I share one of these projects with a teammate, it loses the very capabilities that make ChatGPT Business valuable:
- No Work Mode
- No File Library
- No shared long-term context outside the project
This makes collaborative Projects significantly less useful than personal Projects.
Suggested Solution
Introduce a new project type specifically for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise customers: the Business Shared Project.
Business Shared Projects should support:
- Work Mode
- Shared project memory
- Shared File Library
- Team permissions
- Multiple collaborators
- Workspace governance
- AI agents operating within the shared project
This would allow organizations to build persistent operational workspaces while still protecting user privacy and maintaining enterprise security.
Why this matters
Today’s implementation forces organizations to choose between:
- Collaboration
- AI capability
Business customers need both.
The current restrictions prevent ChatGPT Business from becoming the primary operating environment for many organizations. I believe Business Shared Projects would be a significant improvement for Teams and Enterprise customers.