How to Add Users to Ninety

When a business is adopting Ninety, we frequently see one person acting as the “Ninety Scribe” – they input all the existing data and then capture the Rocks and To-Dos in Ninety for other team members.

(Here’s a good time to mention that we will upload your past data for free.)

Adopting what we call the “Scribe” method allows one person to become intimately familiar with the mechanics of Ninety. It’s an excellent way to “get your feet wet,” but understand that it’s not how we’ve engineered Ninety to work. 

Accountability falls apart when only one person is active inside Ninety, and accountability is the oil that keeps your business' gears turning.

So how do you know when to add users into Ninety?

When setting up your business on Ninety, we recommend first adding everyone as an Observer. Observer users are free to add but have limited capabilities within the system – they can view your Vision, Responsibilities, and Process details. They can also be assigned Roles on the Responsibilities Chart. Observers cannot create, edit, complete, or be assigned items such as Rocks, To-Dos, or Measurables. They cannot submit Issues or Headlines for Weekly Meetings or participate in 1:1s.

Adding employees as Observers means they have visibility into Ninety but without the commitment of a full-power user. Observer users are perfect for business stakeholders that want visibility but don’t necessarily interact with the day-to-day over the long-term (think investors, consultants, or board members).

Short-term, however, the limitations on the Observer user type will become self-apparent. When you think, “I wish Paul could just add notes to this Rock himself,” or “I wish I could assign this To-Do to Leto,” you’ve reached the point where it’s worth changing their user type in Ninety to Team Member or Manager. Another good indicator is when someone is active in Weekly Meetings, as the power to influence topics through Issues and Headlines is essential for some users.

Remember that this is not a comprehensive strategy that works for everyone. A degree of judgment is required when adding new users to Ninety. The chances are strong that the most significant contributors are apparent. Ninety is powerful when teams use it to work together, and by getting the entire team involved in the early stages, your business can harness that power.

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