Roles & Permissions
Understand owner, admin, and member roles and what each can do.
Joyous uses a simple three-tier role system to control what people can do within an organization. Every member has exactly one role, and roles determine access to management features like invites, member management, and organization settings.
Role overview
| Role | Description | Can manage members? | Can manage org settings? | Can create invites? | |------|-------------|---------------------|--------------------------|---------------------| | Owner | Full control. The person who created the org. | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Admin | Elevated permissions for team management. | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Member | Standard access for day-to-day work. | No | No (view only) | No |
All roles can create outcomes, work cards, sprints, comments, and updates. The differences are about organizational management, not daily work.
Owner
The Owner role is the highest permission level. It's automatically assigned to the person who creates the organization and cannot be removed or transferred.
Owners can:
- Manage all organization settings (name, domain)
- Invite new members and manage invites
- Change member roles (promote to Admin, demote to Member)
- Remove members from the organization
- Access all teams, outcomes, and work cards
The Owner cannot be removed from the organization. If you need to transfer ownership, promote another member to Admin — they'll have equivalent management capabilities.
Admin
Admins have the same management capabilities as Owners. Promote trusted team leads or managers to Admin so they can handle invites and member management without needing the Owner to be involved.
Admins can:
- Create and manage invite codes and links
- Change member roles between Admin and Member
- Remove members from the organization
- Edit organization settings
Member
Members have full access to the working features of Joyous — they can create and manage outcomes, work cards, sprints, comments, and updates. The only restriction is access to organizational management:
- Cannot create invites
- Cannot change other members' roles
- Cannot remove members
- View-only access to organization settings
Members who join via an invite code or link are assigned the Member role by default. An Admin or Owner can promote them from Settings → Members.
Changing roles
Admins and Owners can change member roles from the Members tab in Settings:
Open Settings → Members
Navigate to the Members tab to see all organization members.
Find the member
Members are sorted by role: Owners first, then Admins, then Members.
Use the role dropdown
Click the role dropdown next to a member's name and select Admin or Member. The change takes effect immediately.
You can't change your own role, and you can't modify the Owner's role.
Next Steps
- Teams & Members Overview — Return to the full overview
- Members Management — Manage invites and roles from Settings