In this article, we'll answer key questions and considerations for creating Group rules. We'll share guidance and shortcuts to help you work at scale, and signpost some useful fields to reference as a basis for Group Rules.
We'll cover:
- Some considerations before you create Group Rules
- Key fields available to reference in Group rules
- Wildcard characters in conditions
- Keep it simple and test, test, test
Some considerations before you create Group Rules
Be mindful that every time you create rules, you create admin - something that needs to be maintained, so always ask these questions before you start out:
- Is the rule really necessary?
- If it is necessary, can it be simplified?
- Is the rule necessary or complex because of gaps in your source data?
If you're satisfied that the rule is necessary, take a moment to consider these two important questions.
Is your people-data accurate and up-to-date?
Group rules rely on accurate and up-to-date people-data, so, it's important to be confident that your People-data is reliable and up-to-date - and if it's not, take steps to rectify.
This will minimise the need for rules, and where they are necessary, keep rules as simple as possible. It's always best to update data at source instead of using complex Rules as a workaround to missing data.
Can the automated People-data feed create and populate the Group automatically?
Many Groups in Learn LMS will be automatically created and populated by the People-data feed, based on the information contained in your HR data source. This is absolutely the best way to create and populate your Groups - it's automated, scalable, and future-proof.
However, some User Information might not exist in the source data, and is manually added and maintained by the LMS admin team. Or perhaps a rule is required that references multiple fields - something the Data feed does not do.
When that's the case, Group Rules may be necessary. But before you go ahead and create the rule, ask the data owner - can we add the detail we need to the HR data source?
Key fields available to reference in Group rules
Group Rules can reference a wide range of fields. All your User information fields are available - along with generic information - such as LMS role, email address, and job title, as well as fields related to learning progress, group membership, and enrollment status. We've outlined the key options below.
User information fields
All your custom and default people-data fields are available to use as a basis for Group Rules. If the Group you need cannot be created and populated with the automated People-data feed, the Rules are the next best thing.
Dates - Start date, end date, and birth date
This allows administrators to schedule learning activities based on key dates in the employee lifecycle.
For instance, rather than assigning a large number of Courses all at once, learning can be spread out over time. In the first week, users might be assigned a specific set of courses, and in the second week, a different set. This ensures a more manageable and structured learning experience for new employees.
Assigning learning relative to birth date can be helpful when there is a minimum age requirement to take training.
The score achieved in an eLearning Lesson
Reference the score achieved for a Lesson, and create a 'score pathway' - adding Users to Groups, based on the score achieved for benchmark learning.
The status for a Course or Lesson
Reference a User's status for a specified Course or Lesson as a condition for Group membership. Available fields are 'Course Complete', 'Course enrolled', and 'Lesson Complete'. This can be useful to move learners between groups and create a 'linear pathway' of learning:
If you don't see this option, add the ACL permission Admin.Groups.Rules.AllowCoursesComplete to your LMS role.
Note: a User will match the Course=Complete rule when they have finished all the Lessons in the Course. This will include any Lessons where a User has achieved a 'Failed' status. Equally, a User will match the Lesson=complete rule when they have finished the Lesson. This will include any Lessons where a User has achieved a 'Failed' status.
Therefore, to add a User to a Group when a Course is successfully completed, we recommend using the 'score achieved' Group rule for the final Lesson in a Course (note that Lesson prerequisites can be used to require Lessons to be completed in a preferred order).
Wildcard characters in conditions
Where text is referenced in a Group rule, it is possible to add wildcard characters in place of known text. Think of wildcards as placeholders, in which a number of possible matches might be made. Both the % and the _ characters can be used, and each performs a slightly different function.
The % character represents any string of zero or more characters. For example, add "Temp%Group" in the value field, and both "Temporary Group" and "Temperature Group" would match.
The _ character represents any single character. For example, "Temp0_Group" would match "Temp01Group" and "Temp02Group"
For example, a customer contacted our Support team to ask how we could assign learning to people based on where in the world they worked. The tricky part? This information was not available in the HR data source.
Of course, the ideal solution would be to add the field to the data source, and have the automated People Data feed create and populate the groups automatically. Instead, the administrator had to use rules as a workaround.
The only piece of User data that could identify a User's location was the email address suffix. So the solution was to manually create a Group for each country, and add a rule like this (to add Users to a 'New Zealand' Group:
It worked but of course, it created admin. A far easier solution would be to add the detail to the HR data source. It's important to have a good relationship with the data owner in your organisation!
Keep it simple and test, test, test
Can the rule you're creating be simplified? The more conditions a Group rule contains, the more vulnerable it is to changes in the data fields that are referenced.
Group Rules are applied overnight, but you can test ahead of that. We recommend that learning is not assigned to the Groups until you've tested the rules work as expected.
Check for conflicts - remember that an OR rule happens wherever more than one Rule has been added to a Group - but how do you know when each applies? Remember it this way:
- Rules are 'OR'
- Conditions are 'AND'
Get deeper learning in The Academy
A Learn LMS administrator can manually add users to Groups with just a few clicks, but when you're working at scale it's way more efficient to automate the process, and your data is key to that. View 'Automate learning assignment' for more detail.
View the 'Create a learning pathway' Course to see how your site set-up and Group rules can be used to deliver a tailored and focused learning experience for your people.