Managing roles

RESPONSUM allows you to group permission settings into reusable Roles and assign them to one or more users. Instead of configuring permissions user by user, you define them once on a Role and apply that Role to as many users as needed. Permissions granted through a Role are additive, they stack on top of any permissions a user already has individually.

For more information on managing individual user permissions, see Managing users and permissions.

Note: Only Promoted users inherit permissions from Roles. Guest users assigned to a Role will not receive any permissions from it – this is by design.

When to use roles

Roles are useful in two main scenarios:

• Permission management: Instead of configuring the same permission set on each user individually, create a Role once and assign it to all relevant users. Any change to the Role automatically applies to everyone assigned to it.
• Notifications: When a Role is set as the owner of an item (Through Ownership & Access), all users assigned to that Role will receive the relevant notifications. This is useful for ensuring a whole team stays informed without having to list all individuals separately.

See it in action

Pre-requisites to get started

• Permissions on the „Users“ sub-module as accountable Promoted user or Power User

Fast-track to Brilliance

• Select the „Settings“ menu in the main menu bar (Gear icon next to your avatar top right)
• Hover over „User management“
• Select „Roles“
• Press the „Create“ button to create a new role
• Give the role a Name
• In the Users field, add one or more users who should be included in this role
• Press „Add item“ to add a permission entry to the role: (More information on setting permissions here)
  • Select the Sub-modules you want to grant access to
  • Optionally select Organizational Units to restrict items visible to the users
  • Select the Permission level (Reader, Collaborator, Editor or Accountable)
• Add additional permission entries if needed by pressing „Add one more record“
• Press Save – the selected users will now inherit the permissions defined in this role

Step-by-step guidance

Create a role

• Select the „Settings“ menu in the main menu bar (Gear icon next to your avatar top right)
• Hover over „User management“
• Select „Roles“
• Press the „Create“ button
• Enter a Name for the role (required). Choose a descriptive name that reflects the access level or team it targets, e.g. „Privacy team – Editor“ or „Risk – Reader“
• In the Users field, search for and select all users who should be assigned to this role. You can add multiple users.

Add permission entries to the role

Press „Add item“ in the permissions table – a new permission entry will appear

For each entry, configure the following fields:

• Organizational Units (optional): Restrict what items are visible to users. Only items linked to the selected organizational units will be shown. Leave empty to grant access across all organizational units.
• Sub-modules (required): Select the modules or individual sub-modules the users should have access to (e.g. Awareness, Privacy, Risks)
• Permission level: Select one of the following:
  • Reader: Can only view the items they have access to
  • Collaborator: On top of view rights, can also use comments and @mention functionality
  • Editor: On top of collaboration rights, can also edit items and freeze versions for review
  • Accountable: On top of editor rights, can also „Review“ items within RESPONSUM

To grant access to multiple sub-modules with different permission levels, press „Add one more record“ and configure a new entry

Save and apply

• Press Save on the top right
• All users below this role will now have the permissions you defined and receive notifications whenever this role is assigned to an item using ex. an „Owner“ field (See Ownership & Access to configure those fields). Role permissions are additive – they do not replace any permissions the user already has.
• You can edit a role at any time – changes will apply to all users assigned to it

Edit a role

• Navigate to Settings → User management → Roles
• Select the role you want to modify
• Click the Edit button on the top right to enter edit mode
• Update the name, users, or permission entries as needed and press Save
• To remove a permission entry, press the trash icon on the right side of the entry

Archive a role

• Navigate to Settings → User management → Roles
• Click the three dots (⋯) on the right side of the role you want to remove
• Select Archive

If you have any questions related to this guide or way of working, please reach out to your RESPONSUM contact for assistance.