Smart Groups provide an efficient and automated way to manage groups of users based on specific user attributes such as department, location, or role.
What is Smart Group automation?
In a Smart Group, users are automatically added or removed from their groups based on the user attributes of that specific group. This means that:
If new users join your organisation and they meet the criteria of an existing Smart Group, they will automatically be added to that group
The user will also be assigned to the content that group is assigned to (if there is an active enrollment rule set up).
What is the value of smart groups?
Automation and automatic updates: Admins can set up Smart Groups based on specific attributes, such as department or location. Once set, the system automatically adds and removes users who meet or no longer meet these criteria, saving admins the manual work of updating group memberships.
Time savings and reduction of manual labor: This automated process reduces the time spent on managing user groups. Admins don't need to manually add new joiners or remove users who no longer fit the group criteria.
User management - simplified: It simplifies user management as admins can easily classify users based on their attributes and assign them to relevant groups.
Content assignment - simplified: It makes the process of assigning content more efficient. Admins can assign specific courses to a Smart Group, and any user who joins this group will automatically have these courses assigned to them
Use case examples for smart groups
Department-based trainings. For example, create a Smart Group for the "Marketing" department. Any new employee who joins the Marketing department will automatically be added to this group and receive access to the marketing-specific courses assigned to this group.
Location-specific information: If your company operates in multiple countries or cities, you can create Smart Groups based on the location-attribute. For instance, a Smart Group for "Sweden" will automatically include all employees based in Sweden. This is useful for sharing location-specific information or regulations.
Onboarding of new employees: By creating a Smart Group based on a start-date attribute, this group could be used to automatically assign onboarding courses via a program to new employees, ensuring they receive the necessary training as soon as they join the company.
💡 Note! For smart groups to work, your need to have user attributes set up. Read more about user provisioning and attributes here.
How to create a Smart Group
First off we will need to establish the user parameters for a group. For this example, we want to create a Smart Group containing Active/Pending users, who are in the Marketing department and are based in Sweden:
Go to Manage > Users
Click Add filters and select each specified parameter - the following are the filters that we will set:
Preset*Type: Standard
Preset*Status: Active/Pending
Area: Marketing
Country: Sweden
All users who fit within the above parameters display in the user list
Click Create Smart Group
A pop-up will appear where you can enter the name and description of the group then click Create in the bottom right to generate the group
*Type and Status filters are defaults as these are commonly used parameters for viewing users, however these can be changed to suit your preferences.
Add an Administrator of the Group
In your newly created smart group consider adding an administrator of the group eg. the line manager of the department.
💡 Adding a group admin as administrator of the group will give them full administration privileges over that group of users. They can assign courses, enroll users in programs and generate reports for them.
Where can I find my Smart Group?
Go to Manage > Groups and search for your Smart Group like you would any other group.
💡 Note: all Smart Groups have a star icon in front of their name
How to integrate Sana with your HRIS?
For more information on how to integrate Smart Groups with your HRIS please contact your CSM at Sana.
Heatmaps
The filters can also be used to generate a heatmap, simply add filters then press View heatmap and Add content to see how the learners are progressing
💡 The filters can also be used to generate a heat map. This can be accessed from the 3 dot menu under the Create Smart Group option