This article discusses programs in QA. Administrators and team managers can assign programs to teams and individual members in enterprise accounts. 

What are Programs?

Programs automate the process of assigning training to your team members. They are one of the 'Skills Readiness Solution Tools', and you can use them alone or with job roles to optimize your training automation.

Step 1: Select who you want to train (formerly 'Training Goal')

When you create a program, you choose 'select who you want to train'. This determines how the system assigns the training content. For example, your program might automatically assign training to everyone with a given job role or onboarding training whenever a new member joins a team. This area is divided into two; “Assignments across the organization” and “Assignments across teams". 

As long as the program runs, it will continue to assign training to members who match your criteria.

The training due date depends on the duration of the training content and the date the program assigned it to the member. For example, you could create a program to assign a one-week training to all members of the 'Backend Developers' team. As soon as you make a program, it assigns the training to everyone on the team with a due date of one week from today. If new people join the 'Backend Developers' team a month later, the program also assigns the training to them with a due date of one week after joining the team. 

Depending on who you want to train, you can choose the content to assign or select Smart Skills to train and let the program choose the content automatically. In this case, you can select the number of stars you want your team members to score on the Smart Skill once they complete the program. You get more time savings from creating a program that chooses content automatically.

Step 2: Skills and content

After the program goal has been configured, you can choose whether to base the training content on Smart Skills or content from the training library.

For skills-based programs, you select one or more 'Smart Skills' you want to train as long as it's the level of proficiency you want your members to have in that skill by the time they complete the program. If you choose the 'Training for a job role' goal, the 'Smart Skills' and proficiency level come from the job role you set up. Visit Career Paths and Job Roles for more information.

For content-based programs, you choose content from the training library to assign. Everyone assigned to this program completes the same training without the opportunity to customize the level of difficulty based on the members' current skill level.

Skills-based programs offer more opportunities for time savings: When you create a skills-based program, the platform first administers a 'Smart Assessment' to the members. The members' performance on the 'Smart Assessment' indicates whether they can skip some of the beginner-level content to achieve the level of proficiency you indicated.

The training content related to Smart Skills is available only through skills-based programs. You cannot find this content in the training library to assign through other means. You cannot assign custom content using a skills-based program.

A skills-based program cannot train on custom skills created when you set up your job roles. You must train custom skills using content-based programs.

Step 3: Additional Settings

When the platform assigns a program to a team member, it chooses the due date based on the assignment date. That means multiple team members assigned to the same program may have different due dates based on their start dates. A single team member can have many programs assigned at the same time.

Select who you want to train

The training you choose for a program is the most important choice in how the program behaves. The choices are:

• Training for a Job Role
• Company Members
• Company Onboarding
• Team
• Team Onboarding
• Team Member

The training selected determines how the system assigns the program, as described in the following sections.

Training for a Job Role

When you choose this training, the system assigns your program to each user based on the specified job role. This program can be useful for assigning training to everyone who performs a certain role, such as training about new additions to an existing platform.

Note: This type of program contains training for people with this job role and not for people working toward this job role. 

Company Members (formerly 'Custom Goal')

'Custom Goal' is now 'Company Members' and has been renamed without changing the rule logic. In addition, the system will anticipate your user selection during program creation to speed up the program creation. When you choose this training, the system automatically assigns the program to one or more existing members of your organization. They must already have a QA account.

Company Onboarding 

When you choose this training, the system automatically assigns the program to a member as soon as they join your QA account.

Note: Currently, the platform does not have a way to differentiate new employees who join your account from long-time employees who join your account.  

Team 

When you choose this training for a program, the system assigns it to the existing members. As long as the program runs, the platform also assigns training to anyone who joins the program.

Team Onboarding 

When you choose this training for a program, the system automatically assigns it to a member as soon as they join a team. As the name suggests, a program with this training is useful for teaching new members the basics of working on that team, such as standard procedures, introductions to the tools you use, and references for whom to contact for help.

Team Members 

When you choose the team members' rule, the system allows you to select one or more members of the same team. This rule creates one program with all the previously selected assignees, but no additional users can be added to the same program later. You must be a team owner to assign its members to a program.

How to Create a Program

Use the following steps to create a program. You will need to be an administrator to complete this procedure.

1. From the dashboard, click the building icon in the top toolbar. Choose the 'Training' tab, and then 'Programs'.

2. The 'Programs' screen appears.
   

3. Click 'Create new Program'.
   The 'Select who you want to train' screen appears.
   

4. Choose the training. The steps that follow depend on who you want to train.

Across your organization (accessible to Admins only)

• • Training for a job role: Select the job role. Enter the title of the program.
    The platform will automatically assign the program to anyone assigned to this job role and future members who are assigned to this job role.
    Note: If you choose this option, the platform can automatically select content in the next step. See Using Programs with Careers. 
  • Company Onboarding: Enter the title of the program.
  • Company Members: Select one or more members. Enter the title of the program.

Across your Teams (accessible to Team Managers and Admins)

• • Team Training: Select one or more teams. Enter the title of the program.
    The platform will assign the program to all current members and anyone who joins the team afterward.
    Note: The platform does not automatically assign training to members of subteams. Click the arrow next to the team name to select subteams.
  • Team Onboarding: Select one or more teams. Enter the title of the program.
    The platform will automatically assign the program to anyone who joins this team.
    Note: The platform does not automatically assign the training to members of subteams. Click the arrow next to the team name to select subteams.

  • Team Members: Select a team from those you manage, then choose one or more members of that team to assign to an assessment.

    

5. Click Continue. 
The 'Define the content' screen appears.

1. Click 'Select' from 'the Content Library' or 'Smart Skills' and choose one or more pieces of training. Click the 'Update program' content button to close the training window.
2. Click Continue.
   The 'Additional Settings' screen appears.
3. Select how long you want your team members to work on this program each week. Alternatively, you can click the 'Fixed Duration' tab to choose how long the team has to finish the material.
4. (Optional) You can click 'Advanced Settings' to access the 'Expiration date' field. If you select an expiration date, the platform archives the program upon expiry.
5. Review the information you input for the program, and click Confirm and Deploy.

How to Update a Program

You cannot update the content of a program after you deploy it. If you need to change the content of a program, you must delete the program and create a new one. However, you can use the following steps to update a program's title, description, and duration. You must be an administrator to perform this procedure.

1. From the 'Programs' screen, click the name of the program you want to change.
   The View 'Program' screen appears.
2. Click the button with the three dots on the right side of the screen. Select 'Edit Program' from the menu that appears.
   The 'Edit Program' screen appears.
3. Update the values you want to change and click Save.
   The platform updates the program for every member currently assigned to the program as well as new assignments of the program going forward. 

How to Duplicate a Program

You can duplicate a program to assign the same training content as part of a program with a different goal. You can duplicate archives programs, which include programs where the expiration date has passed.

To duplicate a program, open the program and click the button with the three dots near the top-right part of the screen. Select the 'Duplicate' program from the menu that appears.

How to Delete a Program

If you want to stop the platform from assigning a program to members who meet the assignment criteria, you must delete the program. Deleting the program removes it from all members' assignments. If you want to change the content of a program, you must delete it and create a new program.

Use the following steps to delete a program. You must be an admin to perform this procedure.

1. From the Programs screen, select the check box next to the name of the program you want to delete. 
   A Delete option appears above the list of programs. 
2. Click Delete.

You can also delete a program from the 'View Program' screen. Open the program you want to delete and click the button with the three dots. Select 'Delete Program' from the menu that appears.