Managing Groups & Roles

Once you understand the users and how to create them in ServiceNow, it is important to know how to work with them across different roles and groups. 

In this topic, we will be covering the same, along with how to delegate users in ServiceNow. 

Working with Groups

ServiceNow groups are collections of users added based on departments, roles, or responsibilities. Groups are used to organize users for assigning tasks, approvals, and permissions to multiple users at once.

How to Create a Group?

Assigning roles in a group makes it easier to manage. If someone joins a team, it is easier to add them to a group that lets them access group roles without individual setup. The steps involved in Group creation are:

1. Go to User Administration → Groups in the left navigation.
2. Click New to open the group form.
3. Fill in the Group Name and optionally Description.
4. Add Members (users who will be part of this group.
5. Assign Roles to the group (optional, all members get these roles.
6. Click Submit to create the group.

Note: You can also assign a Group Manager — this person can manage group membership without needing full admin access. This is useful for team leads.

Working with Roles

ServiceNow roles define what a user can do in the system. It helps control permissions like viewing records, creating tasks, or accessing modules. Roles are used to:

• Gives users the required access.
• Manage security and responsibilities easily.

Roles in ServiceNow also support inheritance. One role can be included inside another using the Contains Roles related list. For example, an ‘itil_admin’ role could contain the ‘itil’ role, automatically granting all ITIL permissions plus additional ones.

How to Create a Role?

Creating roles in ServiceNow has the following steps: 

1. Go to User Administration → Roles in the left navigation.
2. Click New to open the Role form.
3. Enter Name for the role (required).
4. Optionally, add a Description to explain the role’s responsibilities.
5. Click Submit to create the role.

How to Assign Roles to Users and Groups?

Assign Roles to Users

The steps to servicenow assign role to user include: 

1. In User Administration → Users → All.
2. Open the user record you want to assign a role to.
3. Scroll to the Roles related list at the bottom.
4. Click Edit.
5. Select roles from the available list and add them to the user.
6. Click Save or Update.

The user now has access based on the roles assigned. Roles assigned directly appear in the user’s Roles list. The inherited roles are shown separately and cannot be removed from the user record; they are managed at the group level.

Assign Roles to Groups

Steps to assign roles to groups are: 

1. In User Administration → Groups → All.
2. Open the group record you want to assign roles to.
3. Scroll down to the Roles related list.
4. Click Edit.
5. Select the roles you want to assign from the available list.
6. Click Add and then Save or Update.

Tip: All users in the group will now inherit the roles assigned to the group. To confirm what roles a user currently has (both direct and inherited), open the user record and scroll to the Roles related list. Roles marked as ‘Inherited’ come from group membership.

How to Delegate Users in ServiceNow?

Delegating users in ServiceNow allows a user to temporarily grant another user access to their tasks or approvals. The process is perfect while the original user is unavailable, and a delegated user can act on their behalf for approvals, tasks, or requests.

The delegate can act on behalf of the original user but does not inherit the original user’s roles. They can only act within their own existing permissions. ServiceNow Admins or users can set specific delegation periods with dedicated start and end dates.

What are the Steps to Delegate a User?

1. Go to User Administration → Users.
2. Open the user record of the person who wants to delegate their tasks.
3. Scroll down to the Delegates related list (usually at the bottom of the user form).
4. Click New in the Delegates related list.
5. In the Delegate field, select the user who will act on their behalf.
6. Set Start Date and End Date for the delegation.
7. Click Submit to save.

Note: You can also define the scope of delegation, for example, limit to Approvals, or allow broader task delegation. Check the Type or Conditions field in the Delegates form for these options.

After that

What’s Next? 

In the next topic, we will cover the organizational structure at different levels.

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