Summary: This guide explains who can create, assign, see, and manage tasks in Speakap: the default permission tiers, the group/Business Unit setting that lets regular members manage tasks for their own group, and the five task permission options Network Administrators can assign through roles. It's for Network Administrators and Business Unit, Department, or group admins.
1. Default permission tiers
- Everyone: can create a task for themselves. This personal to-do ability isn't tied to any admin permission.
- Network Administrators: can see, assign, edit, and delete any task assigned on the network whether it be assigned by them or others to individuals, business units, departments, or groups.
- Business unit admins and group admins: have the same full control — see, assign, edit, delete — within their own scope, meaning their BU or group.
For the full walkthrough of the recipient picker and how selecting a group affects the people underneath it, see: Using the Recipient Picker in Tasks
2. Letting group members manage tasks for their own group
By default, only admins can assign, edit, or delete tasks for a group, Business Unit, or Local Department. A Network Administrator or the relevant group/Business Unit admin can open this up to every regular member of that specific unit:
- Go to the group, Business Unit, or Local Department.
- Click Settings, then Manage group (or the equivalent option for a Business Unit or Local Department).
- Open the Preferences tab.
- Under “Assigning tasks,” turn on “Members of this group may see, assign, edit, and delete tasks for the whole group.”
Once this is on, every member of that unit gets the same task permissions as its admins: they can see every task created for the group, even tasks not assigned to them, and they can assign, edit, and delete any of them.
This setting applies to one group, Business Unit, or Department at a time — turn it on separately for each unit where you want members to have this access.
3. Task permissions in roles (network-wide)
The setting above only affects one group at a time. For network-wide, user-level task permissions instead, Network Administrators can configure this as part of a role:
Go to Network settings > Roles, open a role, and select the Tasks tab. Under “Which actions are allowed?” choose any option you want to assign to that user — these are not mutually exclusive.
| Option | What the role can do |
| See, assign, and manage any task assigned to an entire group, Business Unit, or Department. | Users with this role can create tasks for any group in the network. They need to select a group, Business Unit, or Department as the scope first — doing so auto-selects every member, and they can then deselect specific people, but they can't pick individual people without selecting a group first. They can see, edit, and delete any task assigned to a group anywhere in the network. |
| See, assign, and manage any task assigned to any individual across the network. | Users with this role assign tasks to individuals rather than groups, and can see and manage any task assigned to an individual anywhere in the network. They can't browse or select groups in the recipient picker — only groups they personally admin (or have other permissions over) are visible to them. Because this role can only target individuals it can't be used to create Shared tasks, as those are reserved for groups. |
| Assign tasks to individuals across the network. See and manage only tasks assigned to or created by them. | Users with this role can assign tasks to individuals, but without managing permissions over other people's tasks — a user with this role only sees and manages tasks they personally created. Like that option, it can't be used to create Shared tasks, since it can't target groups. |
| Assign tasks to entire groups, Business Units, or Departments. See and manage only tasks assigned to or created by them. | Users with this role can assign tasks to groups, Business Units, or Departments, but without managing permissions over other people's tasks — a user with this role only sees and manages tasks they personally created. |
| Assign tasks to the entire network only. See and manage only tasks assigned to or created by them. | Users with this role can only assign tasks with the entire network as the recipient, not specific groups or individuals. In the recipient picker, they can only browse and select groups they personally admin. They don't have managing permissions over other people's tasks — only their own. |
You can assign these permissions to each user as you see fit by combining them. Every option you select here combines with other selections, as well as with Group or BU permissions as described in point 2.
None of these five role options grant permission to manage tasks assigned to the entire network as a recipient — managing network-wide tasks stays exclusive to full Network Administrators.
For how roles and permissions work in general, including how to create and assign a role, see: Creating and Managing Roles & Permissions
For giving someone admin rights over a single group, Business Unit, or Department instead of a network-wide role, see: Assigning Element Admins - Giving Users More or Fewer Rights
Frequently asked questions
Which users can't select individual people directly from the People tab?
Network Administrators, users with task permissions granted through a role, and Business Unit or group admins all need to select a scope before picking individual people. None of them can jump straight to the People tab and search for someone directly — they first need to select their Business Unit, Local Department, or group as the scope. From there, they can fine-tune the selection down to individual people.
Who can change task permissions?
Only Network Administrators can change task permissions — both the group-level “members may manage tasks for the whole group” setting and the network-wide role options.
Can a Business Unit or group admin assign a task directly to a specific person without picking a group first?
No. Business Unit admins and group admins need to select their Business Unit, Local Department, or group as the scope first. From there they can deselect individual people, but they can't select someone directly from the People tab without going through a group first.
Why can't some roles create Shared tasks?
Shared tasks need a group, since one member completes the task on behalf of everyone in it. Roles that can only assign tasks to individuals, not groups, can't create Shared tasks for this reason.
Still stuck?
Email us at support@speakap.com with your network name, your network name, the role or group involved, and a screenshot, and we'll help you out.