--- title: "Decision settings" description: "Decision settings control whether governance changes in Talkspirit apply directly or become a proposal that circle members can object to first" category: structure-governance section: proposals-and-decisions tags: [admin] type: Reference lastUpdated: 2026-08-05 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/what-are-decision-settings --- # Decision settings ## Decision settings Decision settings control how your organisation decides governance changes: adding a role, reshaping a circle, adopting a policy, running an election. You choose whether a change applies as soon as someone makes it, or becomes a proposal that the circle's decision makers can object to first. Only administrators can open the page. > **In summary:** Decision settings live on **Structure settings → General → Decision settings**. The **Proposal adoption** card is the one that decides whether governance changes go through a proposal, and how that proposal is resolved. ## Open decision settings You need administrator rights. 1. In the **Structure** app, click **Structure settings** at the bottom of the left sidebar. 2. Click **General**. 3. Open the **Decision settings** tab. ![The Decision settings tab of Structure settings, showing the Decision rules card with four switches and the Proposal adoption card set to adopt proposals after 7 days](/images/structure-governance/what-are-decision-settings/01-decision-settings-tab.png) ## Decision rules The four switches in the **Decision rules** card (**Consent-based decisions**, **Objection round**, **Asynchronous governance** and **Decision log**) are placeholders for a feature that has not shipped. They are not connected to anything, so moving them changes nothing and their positions do not describe how your organisation works. > **Note:** Configure consent in the **Proposal adoption** card below, not in **Decision rules**. ## Proposal adoption **Require proposals for governance changes** is switched on for a new organisation. While it is on, a governance change is submitted as a proposal rather than applied. Switch it off and a change takes effect as soon as it is submitted, with no review round. While it is on, choose how a proposal is resolved under **Proposals will be adopted**: - **After N days, if no objections are raised**: the proposal opens a consent round with the circle's decision makers and adopts itself when the period ends without an objection. The field accepts a whole number from 1 to 365 and starts at 7. - **Immediately**: the proposal is adopted the moment it is submitted. A proposal raised inside a live governance meeting is not affected, because it is still decided in the room. > **Note:** Click **Save** on this card once, even when the options already look right. Until you save it, the review period on screen is not in force, and a proposal submitted outside a governance meeting has no way to be adopted: it stays open until someone withdraws it. If **Save** is greyed out, select the other option, then select the one you want, and the button becomes active. ## Proposal editing and meetings **Proposal editing** sets who may change a proposal while it is still a draft: **Only the author can edit**, **Author and circle leads can edit**, or **All circle members can edit**. Individual circles can override it. **Proposals workflow in meetings** applies only to a proposal raised during a live governance meeting. **Full validation workflow** runs the complete present, clarify, react, object and integrate sequence. **Present and decide** lets the facilitator adopt or reject straight after the presentation. Each card saves on its own, with its own **Save** button. ![The Proposal editing card with its three options and the Proposals workflow in meetings card with Full validation workflow and Present and decide](/images/structure-governance/what-are-decision-settings/02-proposal-editing-and-meeting-workflow.png) ## Who proposes and who objects Creating a proposal in a circle requires the **Decision maker** flag on an active assignment in that circle. Administrator rights alone do not grant it. Every new circle member starts as a decision maker, so the flag is something you remove rather than something you award. When a decision maker declines a proposal, a written reason is always required. No setting makes it optional. ## Settings for a single circle A circle can depart from the organisation's defaults. On the circle's own settings page, **Governance Overrides** offers a **Governance change mode** (**Via proposal** or **Direct modification**), an auto-validation delay, and a proposal editing policy. Each control carries a **Use org default** switch, and turning that switch back on returns the circle to the organisation's setting. Whether a working agreement goes through a governance proposal is set per document type in **Structure settings → Working agreements**, not here. ## What's next - [Proposals Overview](../structure-governance/proposals-overview) - [Setting up consent decision-making for my organisation](../structure-governance/how-to-set-up-consent-decision-making-for-my-organization) - [Decision makers in a circle](../structure-governance/what-is-a-decision-maker-of-a-circle) - [Personalising a circle's settings](../structure-governance/personalizing-your-circles-settings)