Workspaces and groups¶

Rhizome maps organizational structures across three levels: workspaces, groups, and project groups. This structure is deliberately agnostic to any particular organizational model.

Workspace¶

The workspace is the top level. Everything an organization does in Rhizome happens within a single workspace. Each team or organization has exactly one workspace where all members collaborate.

Groups¶

Groups are the second level below the workspace. They bring together people who have something to contribute to a particular area.

Depending on how your organization is structured, groups can represent different things:

• Departments — e.g. HR, Marketing, Production
• Thematic circles — e.g. in start-ups where groups are organized by topic rather than hierarchy
• Circle organizations — groups can represent circles in which members take on various roles

Every workspace automatically includes an Everyone group that all new members join by default. It serves as a plenary or all-hands space.

Visibility and safe spaces¶

Groups are protected spaces. When a topic is published in a group, only the members of that group can see it — throughout the entire process: from publication through deliberation and decision-making to archiving.

Individual people can also be added to a topic directly. Decided topics can optionally be shared outside the participating groups with a tailored summary text.

Lead group¶

Every topic has a lead group — the group primarily responsible for driving the topic forward. If a topic is created in a single group, that group is automatically the lead. When multiple groups are involved, the first group added becomes the lead. The lead group can be changed later, for example when the focus of the topic shifts during the process.

Topics across groups¶

Topics can belong to multiple groups and project groups at the same time. All members of the participating groups become part of the decision-making process.

Project groups¶

Project groups work like regular groups but follow a different logic:

• Groups represent the permanent organizational context — they may be created as early as day one and can persist as long as the organization uses Rhizome.
• Project groups are temporary. They have a start and an end and are archived or deleted when the project is complete.

When project groups make sense¶

• Projects often have a different participation logic than the regular organization. Someone with little to say about finances at the organizational level may be responsible for project finances within a specific project.
• Project-specific topics would quickly flood the organization-wide context. Project groups separate signal from noise.