---
url: https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/setting-up-a-program.md
description: >-
  Describe a recurring part of your business in a sentence or two. Pencel
  creates a room for it, and the room's lead asks the rest in the conversation
  and connects the accounts it needs.
---

# Set up your own Room {#set-up-your-own-program}

Use this when none of the [ready-made rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/programs/) fits and you want Pencel to look after a process that's specific to your business. You describe it in plain words and Pencel creates the room. The room's lead then asks what it still needs, one question at a time, right in the conversation.

It takes about 5 minutes.

## 1. Describe the room

1. Click the **+** next to **Team** in the sidebar (**Add a teammate**).

2. In **Describe your new room**, say what it should keep on top of, the way you'd brief a new hire. For example:

   > Every Monday, check the state small-business grant portals for new grants we qualify for. We're a 12-person food manufacturer in Ohio. Flag anything over $50K and write a one-page summary of each.

3. Click **Create room**.

If one of the ready-made rooms fits, Pencel says so. Click **Use it** to install it, which is usually faster, or **Create my own** to go on.

::: tip Good descriptions

* **Say what "done" looks like.** "A one-page summary of each grant" beats "look at grants".
* **Say how often.** "Every Monday", "each morning" or "whenever a new order arrives".
* **Say what matters.** Your size, location, limits and deal-breakers: "over $50K", "only in Ohio", "never cold-email".
* **Name the accounts.** "From my Gmail", "in our QuickBooks", "in the #sales Slack channel".
  :::

## 2. Answer the lead's questions

The new room opens and its lead says hello. The room appears under **Team** in the sidebar, listed by the lead's name. The lead asks one question at a time. Click one of the suggested answers, or type your own and press Enter.

## 3. Connect what it needs

When the room needs an account, such as Gmail or QuickBooks, a card in the conversation names it. Click the button on the card to sign in or connect, and the card shows when access works. Click **Not now** to connect it later; the room asks again when it needs it.

## 4. Accept the settings

When it has what it needs, the lead posts one settings card: the goal, the team, the rules and the schedule. Click **Looks good** to save it. To change something first, click **Change something** and say what to change. The room starts its first work once you accept.

Click **Skip setup** on the lead's first message to set the room up yourself instead. The room then asks for each remaining step on its own card.

## Ideas to start from

Copy one of these into **Describe your new room** and edit it to fit.

**Weekly executive briefing**

> Every Monday morning, review the documents in my workspace from last week and write a one-page briefing for me: what happened, what's at risk, and the three decisions I need to make this week.

**Customer escalations**

> Every hour, check my Gmail for angry or urgent customer emails. For each one, pull together the customer's history from our past emails, summarize the problem, and draft a calm reply for me to review.

**Competitor watch**

> Each weekday, check the websites and news for Acme Foods, Bright Kitchen and FreshCo. Tell me only about price changes, new products and major announcements, with links.

**Grant watch**

> Every Monday, search federal and Ohio small-business grant programs for new grants a 12-person food manufacturer qualifies for. Flag anything over $50K and summarize eligibility and deadline for each.

**Meeting follow-ups**

> Each weekday morning, look at yesterday's client meetings on my Google Calendar and draft a follow-up email for each one, with the next steps we agreed, for me to review.

## Change it later

Tell the room what to change, or click its name to change its goal, instructions, teammates, schedule, knowledge or budget. To pause everything, choose **Pause room** in the room's **⋯ Room options** menu or under **Schedule**. To retire the room, use **Advanced ▸ Archive**. You can restore archived rooms from the **Add a teammate** page.

## Related

* [Team and rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/programs.html)
* [Connect your accounts](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/setting-up-connections.html)
* [Run work on a schedule](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/scheduling-automation.html)
* [Teach Pencel about your business](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/teach-pencel-about-your-business.html)