User roles determine what each person can view, create, edit, and manage across EOS One.
What user roles are
EOS One has four company-wide user roles:
Owner
Admin
Member
Free Observer
A user's role sets their general level of access. Access can also depend on whether content has been shared with the user, whether the user owns a meeting, or whether the user is a meeting attendee.
Only Owners and Admins can manage users and roles from the People page in Settings. Members and Free Observers can view the People page, including each person's role, but can't change anything.
User role types
Owner
The Owner has full administrative access across EOS One.
The Owner:
Has the same permissions as an Admin
Is the only user who can delete the company
Is the only user who can update billing while the account is past due
Can manage users, roles, Teams, billing, and company settings
Can appoint another user as the new Owner
Can access and manage all V/TO and Accountability Chart drafts
There can be only one Owner at a time, and the Owner's seat is free. When a new Owner is appointed, the free seat moves to them and the previous Owner becomes an Admin.
Admin
Admins have the same permissions as the Owner, except Admins cannot delete the company or update billing while the account is past due.
Admins can:
Invite users at any role, including Admin
Deactivate and manage users
Assign user roles
Approve invites sent by Members, when approval is turned on
Find and restore deleted items across the organization in the Recycle Bin
Manage Teams, billing, and company settings
Create and manage all V/TO and Accountability Chart drafts
Manage company-wide reporting and administrative features
Appoint another user as the Owner
An Admin who appoints another user as Owner remains an Admin.
Member
Members can use EOS One's primary tools and work with content they own or that has been shared with them.
Members can:
Access the Dashboard, Insights, and Atlas AI
View the official V/TO and Accountability Chart
Work with V/TO and Accountability Chart drafts when access has been granted
Create and manage their own Rocks, Issues, Headlines, To-Dos, and Measurables
Work with shared items and items connected to meetings they attend
Start, join, and run meetings they attend
Manage meetings they own
View all Process Documents, create new ones, and edit or delete the ones they own
View the Learning Center
Take the Organizational Checkup and Culture Checkup
Use the Recycle Bin to find and restore items they're permitted to see, including items deleted by others in shared meetings (for Process Documents, only ones they own)
See the teams they belong to under Teams in the left-hand navigation
View the People page in Settings > Company (view only)
Invite new users at the Member or Free Observer level
Invite new meeting attendees at the Member level with Invite New Attendee
Edit their own profile under Settings > Account
Members cannot:
Create V/TO drafts
Change user roles, deactivate users, or approve invites
Invite anyone as an Admin
Create or manage Teams
Access billing or company settings
Launch checkups or view aggregate checkup results
Delete the company
Free Observer
Free Observers have limited, read-only access.
Free Observers can:
View the official V/TO
View the Accountability Chart
View Process Documents
View the People page in Settings > Company (view only)
Take the Organizational Checkup
Request an upgrade to the Member role
Free Observers cannot:
Access the Dashboard
Access V/TO or Accountability Chart drafts
Create or edit EOS One content
Join or run meetings, or be added to one
Access Insights or Atlas AI
Access the Learning Center
Take the Culture Checkup
Launch checkups or view aggregate results
Invite new users
Access the Recycle Bin
Access company administration settings (other than viewing People)
The V/TO is the landing page for Free Observers after they sign in.
What happened to the Manager role
The Manager role is no longer available in EOS One.
A user who previously had the Manager role becomes a Member the next time they sign in. The user then receives the standard Member permission set.
Change a user's role
Only Owners and Admins can change user roles. Members and Free Observers can see everyone's role on the People page, but can't edit it.
Click your profile picture or initials in the upper-right corner of EOS One.
Select Settings.
Under Company, select People.
Find the user you want to update.
Select the appropriate role from the role menu.
To transfer ownership, assign the Owner role to the new Owner. The previous Owner becomes an Admin.
Permission grid
The following grid shows the general access available to each role. Sharing, meeting attendance, and ownership rules can further determine which specific records a user can access.
Capability | Free Observer | Member | Admin | Owner |
NAVIGATION AND TOOLS | ||||
Home and Dashboard | NO ACCESS | VIEW | VIEW | VIEW |
Insights (reporting and dashboards) | NO ACCESS | VIEW | FULL | FULL |
Atlas AI chat | NO ACCESS | FULL | FULL | FULL |
Recycle Bin (find and restore deleted items) | NO ACCESS | ITEMS THEY CAN SEE | FULL | FULL |
V/TO | ||||
View the V/TO | VIEW | VIEW | FULL | FULL |
Edit and publish (make official and manage sharing) | NO ACCESS | IF SHARED | FULL | FULL |
ACCOUNTABILITY CHART | ||||
View the Accountability Chart | VIEW | VIEW | FULL | FULL |
Edit and share (seats, structure, and access) | NO ACCESS | IF SHARED | FULL | FULL |
MEETINGS | ||||
Run a meeting (advance the agenda and work through the list) | NO ACCESS | IF IN IT | FULL | FULL |
Manage a meeting (settings, attendees, name, and deletion) | NO ACCESS | IF THEIRS | FULL | FULL |
ROCKS, ISSUES, HEADLINES, AND TO-DOS | ||||
Rocks (quarterly priorities) | NO ACCESS | OWN + SHARED | FULL | FULL |
Issues (IDS List) | NO ACCESS | OWN + SHARED | FULL | FULL |
Headlines (people and customer news) | NO ACCESS | OWN + SHARED | FULL | FULL |
To-Dos (action items) | NO ACCESS | OWN + SHARED | FULL | FULL |
SCORECARD | ||||
Scorecard and Measurables (weekly numbers) | NO ACCESS | OWN + SHARED | FULL | FULL |
DOCUMENTS AND LEARNING | ||||
Process Documents | VIEW | VIEW ALL, MANAGE OWN | FULL | FULL |
Learning Center | NO ACCESS | VIEW | VIEW | VIEW |
CHECKUPS | ||||
Organizational Checkup (take the survey) | TAKE | TAKE | FULL | FULL |
Culture Checkup (take the survey) | NO ACCESS | TAKE | FULL | FULL |
Launch checkups and view aggregate results | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | FULL | FULL |
COMPANY ADMINISTRATION AND ACCOUNT SETTINGS | ||||
Request an upgrade to Member | CAN ASK | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS |
People table (view people and roles) | VIEW | VIEW | FULL | FULL |
Invite new users | NO ACCESS | MEMBER OR FREE OBSERVER ONLY (approval setting may apply) | FULL | FULL |
Teams (create and manage) | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | FULL | FULL |
Company settings | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | FULL | FULL |
Billing | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | FULL (not while past due) | FULL |
Assign the Owner role | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | FULL | FULL |
Delete the company | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | NO ACCESS | OWNER ONLY |
How to read the permission grid
FULL: The user can create, view, edit, delete, and manage content in that area.
OWN + SHARED: The user can create content and manage content they own, content shared with them, and applicable content associated with meetings they attend.
IF SHARED: The user can access the content only when it has been shared with them. Available actions depend on whether they received View or Edit access.
IF THEIRS: The user can manage the meeting only when they are the meeting owner.
IF IN IT: The user can start, join, and run the meeting when they are an attendee.
TAKE: The user can complete the checkup but cannot administer it or view aggregate results.
VIEW ALL, MANAGE OWN: The user can view everything in that area and create new items, but can edit, delete, or restore only the items they own.
VIEW: The user has read-only access.
CAN ASK: The user can request the change but cannot make the change themselves.
OWNER ONLY: Only the current Owner can perform the action.
NO ACCESS: The user cannot access the feature or content.
Important access rules
V/TO access
Owners and Admins can create V/TO drafts and manage every V/TO.
Members cannot create V/TO drafts. A Member can work with a draft only when it has been shared with them. The actions available to the Member depend on the access they were granted.
Free Observers can view the official V/TO but cannot view drafts.
Accountability Chart access
Owners and Admins can create and manage Accountability Chart drafts.
Members can receive View or Edit access to a draft:
A Member with View access can open the draft but cannot edit or publish it.
A Member with Edit access can edit the draft and publish it as the official Accountability Chart.
Free Observers have read-only access to the Accountability Chart and cannot access drafts.
Meeting access
Meeting access depends on attendance and ownership.
A meeting attendee can start or join the meeting and work through the live agenda.
A person who is not an attendee cannot access the meeting or its meeting data through a direct link.
A meeting attendee who does not own the meeting cannot change its setup.
The meeting owner can edit settings, manage attendees, send calendar invitations, rename the meeting, or remove it.
Recycle Bin access
The Recycle Bin is in Settings > Company > Recycle Bin. Owners and Admins can find and restore deleted items across the organization. Members can use the Recycle Bin to find and restore items they're permitted to see, including items deleted by others in shared meetings. Free Observers don't have Recycle Bin access.
Process Documents can also be restored from the Recycle Bin. Owners and Admins can restore any Process. Members can restore only Processes they own.
Settings and user invitations
To open Settings, click your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner, then click Settings. Settings has an Account section (Profile, Notifications, Preferences) and a Company section (Details, People, Integrations, Billing, Recycle Bin). Which items you see depends on your role.
Owners and Admins can access everything in the Company section, and they create and manage Teams. When an account is past due, only the Owner can update billing.
Members can access their own Account settings and edit their own profile. Members and Free Observers can view the People page in Settings > Company, including each person's role, but they can't make changes.
Owners and Admins can invite new users at any role, including Admin. Members can invite new users at the Member or Free Observer level from Settings > Company > People. In a meeting, Members can use Invite New Attendee (at the bottom of the Select Attendee to Add dropdown in the Attendees field) to invite at the Member level only, because Free Observers can't be added to meetings. Inviting this way adds the new person directly as a meeting attendee.
Owners and Admins can require approval for invites sent by Members. The setting is in Settings > Company > People, under Pending Invitations: "Require admin/owner approval for member invites." It's off by default, and only Owners and Admins can see it. When it's on, invites sent by Members wait in Pending Invitations until an Owner or Admin approves them. Invites sent by Owners and Admins always go out right away.
Members cannot assign roles, deactivate users, manage Teams, or access billing or other company settings.
Q&A
What happened to users who had the Manager role?
The Manager role was removed. Existing Managers become Members the next time they sign in and receive the standard Member permission set.
What is the difference between an Admin and the Owner?
Admins and the Owner have the same permissions throughout EOS One, with two exceptions: only the Owner can delete the company, and only the Owner can update billing while the account is past due. There can be only one Owner at a time, and the Owner's seat is free.
Who can invite new users?
Owners and Admins can invite at any role, including Admin. Members can invite at the Member or Free Observer level from Settings > Company > People, and can invite new meeting attendees at the Member level with Invite New Attendee. Free Observers can't invite anyone.
Do invites from Members need approval?
Only if an Owner or Admin turns on "Require admin/owner approval for member invites" in Settings > Company > People, under Pending Invitations. It's off by default. When it's on, Member invites wait in Pending Invitations until an Owner or Admin approves them.
Can a Member publish a V/TO or Accountability Chart draft?
A Member can edit or publish content only when the required access has been granted. For an Accountability Chart draft, a Member with Edit access can publish it as official. Members cannot create V/TO drafts.
What can a Free Observer see?
A Free Observer can view the official V/TO, the Accountability Chart, and Process Documents. They can also take the Organizational Checkup and request an upgrade to Member. They also have read-only visibility of the People table in Settings > Company, including each person's role, with no edit controls. They cannot access drafts, the Dashboard, meetings, Insights, or Atlas AI.
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