Permissions and visibility for a dotted-line (secondary) manager
What is a dotted-line manager?
A dotted-line manager is a user who is an additional manager to a user in Lattice but is not their primary manager shown in the Org Chart.
To create a dotted-line manager, follow the steps listed below:
- Step 1: Create a dotted-line manager attribute
- Step 2: Apply the custom attribute to employees
- Step 3: Configure what visibility to give the dotted-line manager
Step 1: Create a dotted-line manager attribute
- Navigate to Admin > Organization > People > User attributes.
- Click Create custom attribute.
- Choose Relationship as the attribute type.
- Add a custom attribute Name.
- Under Visibility, choose who can see the custom attribute.
- Click Add attribute.
After you have created the custom relationship, you will be taken back to that "Custom attributes" page, where you will see that field listed.
Step 2: Apply the custom attribute to employees
You must apply the custom attribute to employees via either CSV or manually. Note that dotted-lined managers will not have visibility into their assigned employees until visibility has been set up via Step 3.
Apply the custom attribute via CSV
To bulk change the custom attributes of many employees at once, admins can upload a CSV (also from the People page on the Admin Panel) by clicking Upload CSV. In the CSV, be sure to have a column for the custom attribute you want to change and that all of the values for each employee are a valid option for that custom attribute. To upload a field that is a custom relationship, use that user's email address in Lattice to designate the relationship in the CSV.
Apply the custom attribute manually
- Navigate to Admin > Organization > People > Employees.
- Find the employee you would like to give another employee visibility into.
- Click on the ellipsis (...) > Edit profile to the right of that employee's name.
- Under the Custom section, add the employee you want to grant visibility to. For example, suppose I want to give Jack manager-type visibility into Preston's profile. In that case, I will want to 1) click in to edit Preston's profile and then 2) add Jack's name under the "Dotted Line Manager" custom attribute I created.
- Click Save.

Step 3: Configure what visibility to give the dotted-line manager
- Navigate to Admin > Organization > People > Permissions.
- Under Custom attribute relationships, click Configure next to the associated attribute.
- Choose one of the seven visibility options for the custom relationships:
- Click Save.
