You may have seen our article about user types describe Collaborators and Contributors like this:
Collaborator | Onboarding Specialists, Exec Stakeholders | Participate in assigned projects, complete tasks, leave comments, and view project data. |
Contributor | Cross-Functional Stakeholders | Complete assigned tasks and interact with the onboarding team. Very limited visibility. |
But what does that mean exactly? And who on your team should have which role? Read on to see what features and actions each type can access, and typical ways that our customers implement these user types.
The primary difference? Collaborator users have access to Views and Insights and Contributor users do not.
What can they see?
Here's an example of what a Contributor sees:
Note the two available sections of the left-hand panel on the side:
Dashboard - this is where the Collaborator can access projects and tasks (the red arrow is pointing to a project the Collaborator can open. Every user type has this view.
Users - the Collaborator can view (but not edit) all internal users (not customers).
And here's what a Collaborator sees:
This time, the left-hand sidebar contains:
Search - access to search comments, tasks, etc.
Dashboard - the same view as every other user type, including Contributors.
Views - access to create filtered views of projects, tasks, and comments.
Users - the same view as Contributors, with the ability to view but not edit internal users (not customers).
Insights - shows how Playbooks, Projects, and Tasks are performing, helping track completion trends, monitor timelines, and identify improvements.
Note the red arrow: both Contributors and Collaborators can get to projects via the Dashboard. They are both able to complete tasks, comment on tasks, and change the assignment of tasks.
What can they do?
Contributors and Collaborators both can interact with customers, via comments and task completions. They can:
reassign tasks
add remove, and rearrange subtasks
complete and reset (un-complete) tasks
change the visibility of tasks so customers can see or not see the tasks
Anything other user types can do with tasks, these two user types can also do.
Example team structure
Super Admin
Strategic Implementation Manager: controls project structure, users, and reporting.
Collaborators
Customer Success Manager: coordinates long-term relationship and participates in onboarding tasks.
Implementation Specialist: manages project activities and customer communication.
CS Leadership (Director/VP): views Insights and project health.
Contributors
Account Executive: supports deal handoff and customer introductions.
Solutions Architect: completes architecture or configuration tasks.
Finance: handles contract activation or billing setup.
Leadership and delivery teams have full visibility into onboarding progress and performance, while supporting teams participate only where their expertise is required.
See also: