Summary: This guide shows Network Administrators how to scale a user's access up or down. You can do this in two ways: assign a network-wide role, or make someone an admin of a specific Business Unit, Department, or Group. This article covers the second path: element admins.
1. Two paths for managing user permissions
Depending on what you need, you can adjust an employee's access at the global or the local level:
- Method A: assigning a network role A network role determines a user's broad capabilities across the entire platform, such as creating Journeys, posting official news items, or editing network preferences. Roles are explained in Creating and Managing Roles & Permissions.
- Method B: making someone admin of an (organization) group Ideal when you want to limit a user's administrative power to a single part of the organization. Local admin status lets an employee run a specific Business Unit, Department, or Group without exposing the rest of the network. This article covers this method.
2. Step-by-step: setting a local element admin
Want to let a shift supervisor or local manager run their own team space? Promote them to element admin from the desktop interface:
- Open your web browser and navigate to the specific Business Unit, Department, or Group you want to manage.
- Click the gear settings icon on the right side of the element page.
- Select "Manage group..." (or the corresponding element management option) from the dropdown. This opens the user management screen.
- You can also skip steps 1 to 3: open Organization settings in the menu under your avatar, and open the correct Business Unit or Department there.
- Find the employee in the member list.
- Hover your mouse over the user's row to reveal a pencil edit icon.
- Click the pencil icon to open their settings.
- Toggle their status between Admin and Member, depending on whether you want to scale their rights up or down.
- Save your selection; the change applies instantly.
3. Permissions scope at a glance
| Access tier | Scope | Key rights granted | Ideal use case |
| Global network role | Entire platform | Global feature use, network preference toggles, role definitions. | Corporate HR directors, IT security teams, platform engineers. |
| Organizational element admin | Specific Business Unit, Department, or Group | Managing local memberships, approving group requests, publishing to local feeds. | Shift managers, department heads, social committee leads. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way to stop an employee from posting updates to a specific team group?
Go to that group's page in a desktop web browser, click the gear settings icon, and select Manage group.... Hover over the employee's name, click the pencil edit icon, and change their status from Admin back to Member. This instantly revokes their local moderation rights.
Can a local Department Admin see or modify our company-wide Network settings?
No. Local element administrators are limited to their assigned area. They can only add members or moderate content within their own department or group. To change network-wide settings, an account needs a Network Administrator role.
What happens to an employee's old posts if I reduce their rights from Admin to Member?
Changing someone's role or admin status only affects what they can do going forward. Any updates, comments, polls, or local announcements they published as an administrator stay fully intact and visible on the Feed.
Where do I give someone global rights to publish official News items?
Publishing official News items is a network-wide capability, so it's managed through network roles, not element admin status. See Creating and Managing Roles & Permissions.
Still stuck?
Email us at support@speakap.com with your network name and the Business Unit, Department, or Group involved, and we'll help you out.