--- title: "Building relations between roles and circles" description: "A relation is derived, never typed. Talkspirit records one when a role or a circle mentions another in its domains or accountabilities, and shows it in the read-only Relations section on a circle's General tab." category: structure-governance section: roles-and-assignments type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/building-relationships-between-roles --- # Building relations between roles and circles ## Building relations between roles and circles A relation is a link Talkspirit works out for you. Mention a circle with **@** inside a role's or a circle's **Domains** or **Accountabilities**, and that circle's General tab lists the mentioning role or circle in its **Relations** section. Nothing else creates a relation, and nothing lets you write one by hand. ## What a relation is made of Talkspirit reads two fields, and only two: **Domains** and **Accountabilities**, on roles and on circles alike. Every **@** mention of a role or a circle inside them is recorded as a reference, and the circle on the receiving end shows the other side of it. Three things follow, and they are the ones people get wrong: - **Purpose, policies and custom fields do not count.** The **@** picker works in them and the mention still becomes a working link, but it never reaches Relations. - **Only circles display relations.** A role page has no Relations section, so mentioning a role creates a link without creating anything you can read back on that role afterwards. - **Typing a name is not mentioning it.** The reference travels with the chip you pick from the list, not with the words. Writing a circle's name by hand records nothing. ## Building one 1. Open the role or the circle that has the dependency, in **Structure**. 2. Start editing its **Domains** or its **Accountabilities**. In the interface those fields open for a decision maker: on a role, a decision maker of the circle the role sits in; on a circle, a decision maker of its parent circle. Everyone else reads them. 3. Type **@** and the first letters of the circle's name, then pick it from the list. 4. Save the field. Inside a governance field the picker offers members, roles and circles only. For the gesture itself, see [How do I mention roles?](/structure-governance/how-to-mention-roles). For how the change is saved, directly or as a proposal, see [How do I edit governance fields for roles and circles?](/structure-governance/how-to-edit-core-and-custom-governance-fields-for-roles-and-circles). ## Reading them back Open the circle you mentioned and stay on its **General** tab. **Relations** sits below the governance fields and the custom fields, with a count beside its title. ![The General tab of the Business Operations circle in Structure, with Purpose, Domains, Accountabilities, Policies and Strategy above an outlined Relations section showing a dash because nothing references this circle yet](/images/structure-governance/building-relationships-between-roles/01-relations-section-on-a-circle.png) Each line names the role or circle that mentioned this one, followed by its own parent circle, so two roles called the same thing stay apart. Click a line to open that role or circle. When nothing points at the circle, the section shrinks to a single row with a dash, which is what the frame above shows. The list is derived and read-only by design. Hover the section and a padlock appears in its header, marking it as calculated rather than authored. To change what it says, change the mention that produced it: remove the mention and the line goes with it. Everyone who can open Structure sees the same Relations. It is a shared view of the organisation, not a personal one. ## What relations do not do **They do not draw a chart.** Explore organisation offers three views, **Circles & roles**, **Hierarchy** and **Network**, and all three plot the same containment tree: which circle holds which role. None of them turns mentions into lines between roles, and no setting adds that. If you came looking for a relations chart, this section is the whole of it. See [How do I navigate my chart?](/structure-governance/how-to-navigate-your-chart). **They are not cross-circle roles.** A cross-circle role is an existing role invited to work inside a second circle, which is a real structural change with its own holders and permissions. A relation only records that one entity referenced another. See [What are cross-circle roles?](/structure-governance/cross-circle-roles-overview) and [How do I add, edit, or delete a cross-circle role?](/structure-governance/how-to-add-edit-or-delete-a-cross-circle-role). **They grant nothing.** A relation carries no rights, no reporting line and no obligation. It is a signpost between two governance texts, useful for spotting who has declared a dependency on a circle before you change it. ## What's Next? - [How do I mention roles?](/structure-governance/how-to-mention-roles) - [How do I edit governance fields for roles and circles?](/structure-governance/how-to-edit-core-and-custom-governance-fields-for-roles-and-circles) - [What are cross-circle roles?](/structure-governance/cross-circle-roles-overview) - [How do I navigate my chart?](/structure-governance/how-to-navigate-your-chart)