“I want to have a training session where the learners can only see their cohort on Catalyst.”
We get this request quite a lot. A facilitator wants to host a DiSC class using Catalyst, but they only want the people in the class to be able to see each other during the training. Since many of our clients do this, we thought it would be a good idea to explain the best practices for doing so.
The way to do this is to use a separate organization on Catalyst that we’ll call a “Temporary Learner Organization”.
You may have read our article, "Multiple Organizations or Just One?" in which we ultimately favor having everyone in a company in the same organization. In this case, however, the separation of some learners is only temporary and there are some benefits in separating them.
Remember:
Folders are only for organizing records and simplifying the admin’s job. Organizations determine which respondents other respondents can see.
Why have a Temporary Learner Organization?
While moving learners to their own organization isn’t necessary, it can be helpful before and during a training session. Here’s how this would work: A new organization is created, which we'll call "XYZ Company - Marketing". New Catalyst assessments are issued to the fine people in the marketing department at XYZ Company and they are placed in this organization. As they complete their assessments, they can see the others in their department that have also completed the assessment, but no one else in the company.
This is beneficial because it focuses the group on their closest coworkers. It’s probably easier for them to understand the differences in DiSC styles by associating the styles with people they know. And during the session, it will be easier to coordinate group and one-on-one activities when the field of view is limited to those in the room.
If they were placed in the main organization, it’s certainly not a bad thing if they seek to understand others outside their group. In fact, we do want that--but after the session.
Temporary Learner Organizations - How To
Step 1: Create the new Organization
The first step is to create the temporary organization. The easiest way to do this is to simply start issuing assessments.
- In EPIC, go to the Manage Reports menu and choose Create a New Report/Issue Access Codes
- Selecting Everything DiSC and then Catalyst
- On the Select Organization screen, enter the new, temporary organization
- In the example we used before, this would be XYZ Company - Marketing (but obviously you would enter whatever would work for you)
- The organization won’t be found, so click the blue + Add “XYZ Company - Marketing”...
- In the dialog box, enter the city and logo, if desired
- Click the Add button to close the box and save the new temporary organization
Continue to issue assessments as you normally would.
The Franchise Model
Another example of building a classroom cohort is when learners are brought together from separate entities. This is common when a franchise organization is training its franchisees en masse.
Typically, an organization is created in Catalyst for the training session, for example “XYZ Co. Management 101”, and the learners are placed in this organization. After the training, each person would be moved to their respective organization, such as XYZ Store 327, XYZ Store 433, etc.
Step 2: Prepare for the Training Session
We like to have the facilitator’s record in the same organization as the learners (Why? See the article Why Facilitators Should Take Catalyst). Assuming they have already completed a Catalyst assessment, we can move their record into the temporary organization. To do this:
- In EPIC, go to the Manage Reports menu and select Edit Existing Records
- Use the Search screen to find their record
- Click the Edit button to bring up the record
- Overwrite the Catalyst Organization field with the temporary organization
- Click the “I confirm…” checkbox and click the Save button
You can also do this for anyone with an existing record that needs to be part of the training cohort. This could be a manager or supervisor or any other person who had previous training and already has completed an Everything DiSC on Catalyst assessment.
Step 3: After the Class
Once the class is over, it’s time to put the learners (and the facilitator) back into the main organization.
If everyone in the class is being moved to the same organization
In this case, the process is really easy:
- In EPIC, go to the Manage Reports menu and choose Catalyst: Edit Organization under the Batch Functions header
- On the first screen, enter the main organization into the Organization field
- Click the Add Reports button
- On the Search screen, enter the temporary organization into the Organization field
- You should be able to select it from the drop down list as you type the name of the temporary organization
- Don’t fill out any other fields; just click the Search button
- Select the records you want to move to the main organization and click the Next >> button (or just click the Select All>> button)
- On the final screen, click the “I confirm…” checkbox and then click the Update Organization button
Pro tip!
Depending on the structure of the class, sometimes we move the learners to the main organization before the class is over. That way we can reinforce the idea that they can use the tools in Catalyst to improve relationships with others in the organization, even if (or especially if!) they don’t interface with them frequently.
That’s it! The learners are now moved from the temporary organization to the main organization.
If the learners need to be moved to different organizations
The process is different and a little more involved. If the learners are from just a few organizations, you can repeat the process described above a few times, selecting only the learners from the organization you entered on the first screen.
If the learners are from many different organizations, it’s easier to use this process:
- In EPIC, select the Edit Existing Records function under the Manage Reports menu
- On the Search screen, enter only the temporary organization into the Organization field
- Edit each record individually, updating their Organization with the main organization
- After you save, click the Return to Search Results button
- Once you have edited a record, it will disappear from the results
- Continue until there are no more records in the results lists
It’s a little tedious, but it goes pretty quickly!
Other Thoughts
If you have a standing class, you can leave the temporary organization in place and reuse it over and over. If the class was a one-off, you might consider removing the temporary organization to prevent clutter building up in your system. To do that, go to the Manage Your Account menu in EPIC and choose Manage My Organizations.
Questions?
We are here to help our clients solve problems just like these. If you have any questions about this process or if you have a different issue that you would like us to help with, don't hesitate to contact us!