---
title: "Open collaboration on projects"
description: "Open collaboration is the Projects model that lets you assign any member, role, or circle across the organisation, shaped by per-project access roles, an assignment control, and three privacy levels."
category: collaboration
section: projects-and-tasks
type: Quick Fix
lastUpdated: 2026-08-26
locale: en
canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/collaboration/what-is-open-collaboration-on-projects
---

# Open collaboration on projects


Open collaboration is the way the Projects module shares work across your whole organisation instead of locking each project to a single circle. You assign a project, and the tasks inside it, to any combination of members, roles, and circles from anywhere in the structure. Who can then act on a project depends on three things: each person's access role, the project's assignment setting, and its privacy level.

## Who can act on a project?

When you add someone to a project, they hold one access role that sets what they can do: **Owner**, **Admin**, **Contributor**, or **Viewer**. A **Viewer** reads the project, a **Contributor** creates and edits tasks, and an **Admin** also configures the project and manages its members. Assignees themselves are not limited to individuals: a task or a project can be assigned to a **Member**, a **Role**, or a **Circle**, so work follows the structure rather than a fixed team.

Task assignment carries its own control. The **Who can assign tasks** setting chooses between **All members** and **Admins only**, and it governs assigning existing tasks to people. Creating tasks is separate: a member without assignment rights can still create tasks. For the steps to assign circles, roles, and members, see [Managing assignments under open collaboration](/en/collaboration/how-to-manage-assignations-within-open-collaboration).

## How is access to a project controlled?

Each project has one of three privacy levels, set when you create it and changeable afterwards:

- **Public**: everyone in the organisation can view and find the project.
- **Private**: only project members can view the project. It still appears in the directory, but its content is restricted.
- **Secret**: only project members can view the project, and it does not appear in the directory.

![Project settings General tab with the Privacy field open, showing the three levels: Public, Private, and Secret, each with its description](/images/collaboration/what-is-open-collaboration-on-projects/project-settings-privacy-levels.png)

![Project settings General tab showing the Who can assign tasks control set to All members, with Admins only as the other option](/images/collaboration/what-is-open-collaboration-on-projects/project-settings-who-can-assign-tasks.png)

## Next steps

- [Managing assignments under open collaboration](/en/collaboration/how-to-manage-assignations-within-open-collaboration)
- [New Projects module Overview](/en/collaboration/new-projects-app-overview)
- [Strategies to onboard your team](/en/administration-security/strategies-to-onboard-your-team)