--- title: "Adding a role or a circle" description: "Adding a role or a sub-circle in Talkspirit goes through a proposal, which takes effect once the circle adopts it. Administrators can also add one straight to the chart in Architect mode." category: structure-governance section: chart-and-circles type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle --- # Adding a role or a circle ## Adding a role or a circle A role holds a set of activities and responsibilities. A circle is a team of roles, and it can hold sub-circles of its own. You add either one from the circle it will live in, and the change travels as a **proposal**: it appears on the chart when the circle adopts the proposal, not when you fill in the form. Organisation administrators have a second, immediate route through **Architect mode**. > **In summary:** open the circle, select **Add role** or **Add sub-circle**, fill in the name and the governance fields, then **Save proposal**. Submit the proposal, and the new role or circle joins the chart when it is adopted. ## What you need You must be a **decision maker** of the circle you are adding to. Everyone assigned to a circle is one by default, whether they hold a role in it or were added to the circle without one, so in practice this is most people. Being an organisation administrator does not grant it: without an assignment in that circle, **Add role** and **Add sub-circle** do not appear on it. See [Decision makers in a circle](/structure-governance/what-is-a-decision-maker-of-a-circle). ## Add a role or a sub-circle 1. Open the circle in the **Structure** app, then click the three dots at the end of its header. 2. Select **Add role** or **Add sub-circle**. ![The Services circle page with the three-dot menu at the end of its header open, listing Copy URL, Assign member, Add role, Add sub-circle, Move circle, Settings and Delete.](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle/01-add-role-menu.png) 3. The circle is already filled in on the first step. Click **Next**. 4. For a role, choose how to start: **Create from scratch**, **Copy from existing role**, or **Import role template**. Then click **Next**. **Create with AI** is shown on this step but is not available yet, so it stays greyed out. A circle goes straight to the form. ![Step 2 of the Create role dialog. Under From scratch, Create from scratch is selected and Create with AI is greyed out. Under From a model, Copy from existing role and Import role template.](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle/02-create-role-methods.png) 5. Fill in the details. **Name** is the only required field. **Purpose**, **Domains** and **Accountabilities** are optional, and an administrator can hide any of them for your organisation. 6. Optionally click **Add reason (optional)** and say why the change is needed. 7. Click **Next**, name the proposal on the **Review proposal** step, then click **Save proposal**. ![The Create role step, headed by the note "Will be created in Services once the proposal is adopted", with a filled-in Name field and empty Purpose, Domains and Accountabilities fields above an Add reason (optional) link.](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle/03-create-role-form.png) The confirmation reads **Proposal created!** with the status **Draft**. Nothing has changed on the chart yet. Click **View proposal**, then **Submit** to send it to the circle's decision makers. The role or circle is created at the moment the proposal is adopted, and a banner confirms that the changes have been applied. If your organisation has switched off **Require proposals for governance changes**, submitting adopts the proposal on the spot, so the new role or circle appears immediately. Your administrator sets this in **Structure settings**, and it can be overridden per circle. > **Note:** you can put several changes in one proposal. Use **Add another evolution** on the Review step, or open an existing draft proposal and add the new role or circle there. An alternative entry point is the **New** button at the top of the Structure panel, which offers **Add role** and **Add circle**. You pick the circle in the dialog, Talkspirit creates the proposal straight away, and its page opens with the form ready. The fields are the same, on a different screen. ## Add one straight to the chart in Architect mode Organisation administrators can bypass the proposal entirely. 1. Go to **Explore organisation** and select **Architect mode** in the header. 2. Choose **Live** to change the organisation directly, or **Draft** to collect changes and release them later with **Apply to organisation**. 3. Click a circle in the chart to open its panel. The orange **Architect mode** band offers **Add role** and **Add circle**. 4. Click one. The role or circle is created at once, named *Untitled role* or *Untitled circle*, and opens with its title ready to edit. Type the real name, then fill in the remaining fields in the panel. ![The Product Development circle panel with an orange Architect mode band across it carrying an Add role and an Add circle button, above the circle's Purpose, Domains and Accountabilities.](/images/structure-governance/how-to-add-a-role-or-a-circle/04-architect-mode-panel.png) ## Good to know - A new circle arrives with a copy of every **main role** your organisation has defined as a role template. Define none and it starts completely empty. - Create a circle in Architect mode and you become a member and a **Circle Admin** of it. Create one through a proposal and it starts with no members, and until someone is assigned to it nobody is a decision maker of it, so **Add role** does not appear on it. Assign the first member from its **Members** tab. - Add a sub-circle from an existing proposal's page and the form also offers **Roles: select roles to include in this circle**. Leave it empty. The proposal lists the roles you tick, but adopting it does not move them. Create the sub-circle first, then move each role in as a separate change. - Bringing a role in from another circle is a different action, **Invite a role**, offered on a proposal's page rather than in this dialog. It does not create a new role. ## What's Next? - [Creating a proposal](/structure-governance/how-to-create-a-proposal) - [Restructuring a sub-circle in a governance meeting](/structure-governance/how-to-restructure-a-circle-in-governance-meetings) - [Assigning or removing a member from a role](/structure-governance/how-to-assign-or-remove-a-member-from-a-role) - [Role Templates Overview](/structure-governance/role-templates-overview)