Understanding how permissions work in Onboard is critical to allowing you and your organization to access and edit your Meetings, Approvals, and other board materials. We'll explore the different types of permissions in OnBoard, where you can manage these permissions, and the features that each permission affects a bit more thoroughly.

You'll also find links to articles explaining more specialized permissions for individual features such as Meetings, Groups, and Actions.

Here are two Important Permission Notes to understand before you get started:

1. Organization Admins are Not Super Users.
   Like all users, Organization Admins must be explicitly invited to access content. 
   
   For example, if one Admin creates a meeting but doesn’t grant another Admin access, the second Admin won't see the meeting in OnBoard. This applies across OnBoard—for meetings, resources, actions, groups, and more.
   
   
2. Permissions are Managed Separate in Each Area of OnBoard.
   For each item in OnBoard - Meetings, Actions, Resources, etc. - access is based on the permissions set for that item.

   For example, even if you're an Organization Administrator, you won’t automatically have access to a new Resource folder unless it's explicitly granted. Your access in that folder depends on its specific permissions, not your role.

Directory

Within the Directory, you'll be able to designate the most important permissions for your Organization. These are separated into two tabs:

• The Members tab houses the main user list for your Organization, where you invite users, assign Organization Admins, and deactivate or remove users.
• The Groups tab allows you to create and manage Groups that can act as user sets to quickly assign permissions in an easy-to-update manner.

Organization Admin

Organization Admins have the highest level of access and is the only permission that can:

• Edit Organization Settings
• View Plan Details and request additional user licenses
• Manage user permissions at the Organization level
• Configure the Homepage
• Manage Roles & Terms
• Manage Skills Tracking

In addition, Organization Admins can create all object types in OnBoard, including Meetings, Groups, Actions, Resources, and Tasks.

Please note that Organization Admins cannot edit items created by other Admins or Creators unless they are specifically assigned as Admins of those items.

Creator

Organization Creators can create any type of item in OnBoard—Meetings, Groups, Actions, Resources, and Tasks. By default, they become the sole admin for anything they create.

However, unlike Organization Admins, Creators cannot manage Organization-level settings such as the Homepage, Plan Details, Directory, Roles & Terms, or Skills Tracking.

Member

Organization Members are the primary end-users of OnBoard. With this role, they can log in, access items shared with them, and be added to groups and item-level permissions across features like Meetings, Groups, Actions, Resources, Roles & Terms, Skills, and Tasks.

Find out about importing your users and setting their Organization Permissions here: Inviting Users to your Organization.

Global Admin (Hidden)

The Global Admin is avavilable only with select OnBoard package levels and is configured by the OnBoard Technical Support Team.

This role provides:

• Elevated access to manage permissions
• Access to user engagement reporting. 

Global Admins cannot view, create, or manage content in OnBoard.

For more information, please refer to the OnBoard Global Admin article. 

Groups

Group Admin

Group Admins can manage a Group's name, description, and permissions—either for Groups they create or are assigned to as Admins.

They also have access to all Diversity Reporting, though they themselves are not included in the Diversity Reporting data.

Important Note: An Admin of a Group is NOT the same as an Organization Admin. A Group Admin will also NOT be able to create or edit items the Group is permissioned to. Group Admins can only edit their specific Group within the Directory.

Member

Users added to a Group automatically be added to all the items (meetings, resources, actions, etc.) that the Group has been added to.

In addition they will inherit the permissions assigned to that Group within each item. For example, if a Group has Reader access to a meeting, all its members will have Reader access as long as they remain in the Group.

This makes permission management easier—just add or remove users from Groups to grant or revoke access to items like Meetings or Resource folders.

Members of the Group will be included in the Diversity Reporting data for that Group. Members can only view the Overall Diversity Chart and the Gender Diversity Chart, and do not have access to all Diversity Reporting. 

Admin & Member

Group Admin & Members have full administrative control of the group listed above, but are also included in the Diversity Reporting data. 

Read more about Creating and Managing Groups.

Important Note: Group Permissions only apply to the Group, not items like Meetings where a Group is given permission. A Group Admin will only have permission to affect the Group.

Meetings

Meeting Permissions

Meeting permissions are managed from the Manage Invitees panel by the Meeting’s Admin. By default, the Meeting creator (whether an Organization Admin or Creator) is the sole Admin and can assign additional permissions.

Groups can also be granted Meeting-level permissions, allowing you to easily assign roles to multiple users at once. For example, a Group can be set as Admins to allow collaborative editing, or a Committee Group can be added to ensure consistent access across similar meetings.

Read more about Meeting Permissions.

Meeting Agenda Section Permissions

By default, Agenda Sections inherit the meeting’s permissions. However, a Meeting or Agenda Section Admin can customize these in the Edit Details panel for more granular control. Sub-sections inherit their parent section’s permissions but can also be adjusted as needed.

Learn more about Meeting & Agenda Section Permissions.

Resources

Resource Admins can manage and edit Resource folders and documents. Readers have read-only access to folders and documents.

Learn more about Creating and Managing Resources

Actions

In OnBoard you can create actions: Approvals, Surveys, eSignatures, D&O Questionnaires, and Assessments.

An important note is that a separate permission needs to be granted for admins to take action on the item. For example, the Admin of an approval will need to be permissioned as an "Admin & Voter" in order to administrate and vote on the approval. 

Please review the different permission types in Actions below. 

Approvals 

Learn all about Creating and Managing Approvals.

Surveys 

See more on Creating and Managing Surveys.

eSignatures  

Article about eSignatures in our Creating and Managing eSignatures article.

Assessments  

Find out How To Get Started With Assessments here.

Questionnaires  

Article about Questionnaires Creating and Participating in D&O Questionnaires

Skills Tracking

Organization Admins are the only users who can manage Skills Tracking across the entire organization. However, all users can update their own skills. Additionally, Organization Admins can assign Skills Viewer permissions to others, allowing visibility into Skills Tracking data without granting administrative control.

Learn more in the Skills Tracking Article. 

Agenda Collaboration

Agenda Collaboration enables meeting invitees to review, comment, and make suggestions on the agenda before it becomes visible to all meeting invitees. This helps streamline feedback and ensures the agenda is aligned before publishing.

Learn more in the Agenda Collaboration Article. 

OnBoard Group Trainings:

If you are interested, we do offer further education. You can find the calendar and register for OnBoard Admin group training sessions by clicking here.