Cohort Settings Explained (Fields, Tabs, Upload & Configuration Options)

Cohorts Definition

Before managing your cohorts, ensure you understand the different Cohort Types (360, Group, or Individual) and Initiation Methods available.

For a full breakdown of these concepts and how to choose the right setup for your assessment, please see our guide: Cohorts Overview

Creating a Cohort

There are three different Cohort creation approaches available - please note that in all cases, you can't set up a cohort for invitations to automatically send for a future date.  The system can send them straight away if specified (in the case of using the CSV upload cohort template), or the administrator goes in later to manually click on 'Send Invitations':

• The System Administrator or Assessment Manager can create the Cohort for the Subject, and then upload all of the respondents. 

• The System Administrator or Assessment Manager can create the Cohort for the Subject, and have the system send an email inviting them to specify the respondents. 

• If the Assessment is set up for External initiation of the Cohort, the Subject can create the Cohort and then specify the respondents.  It is possible to have a credit card charge on this option. Both the user Initiation Screen and Respondent screens can be in any language.

In each case, the respondents will receive an automated email inviting them to complete their responses.

1. Search box.  Search for a cohort by entering a search term related to the cohort, for example, subject, respondent, assessment name.
2. Add Cohort. Add Cohort by selecting this button, you can add a new cohort to the system. Read more on Add Cohort.

3. Cohort Template.

   This button downloads the CSV template called Cohort Template, to facilitate the uploading of cohorts. Only one assessment can be loaded into the upload file at a time.  The Heading line must be left unchanged.  The 'Request Date' field is NOT used.

   • The required fields in the Cohort CSV template are:
     • AssessmentName
     • Email (Subjects or Contacts)
     • SubjectFirstName 
     • SubjectLastName (unless the Cohort is a group) 
     • CompletionDate

   • The Cohort Type on the Assessment Cohort Settings specifies whether the cohort is a Group, 360, or Single Respondent.

     The report name is an optional field.  The system will default the report name if there is one on the assessment/iteration that is being used for the cohort.

     Tip: If your CSV has Unicode characters (eg Russian, Chinese Japanese) in the assessment or respondent name, you need to "Save As" the file and select "CSV UTF-8" as the file type.  This is not required for accented characters that occur in Spanish etc.

     Column	Value
     AssessmentName*	Assessment Name, must match the assessment name exactly as configured in your site, including the version number (e.g., Leadership.1)
     CohortReportName	Cohort Report Name, must be a valid Cohort Report linked to the specified Assessment. This can be found in the Feedback tab in the assessment settings
     Email*	Email Address of the subject or Contact
     BusinessName	Business Name
     CompletionDate*	Requested Completion Date. This date is available for emails and if an automated report is set up, it will be produced on the night of this date, providing the minimum number of responses have been received.  The format should be DD/MM/YYYY
     RequestDate	Not used
     SubjectFirstName*	Subject First Name.  If the Cohort is a Group, enter the group name here.
     SubjectLastName	Subject Last Name. If the Cohort is a Group, leave this field blank.
     CustomerTypeCode	Customer Type Code - If required, must be the one Character code for the Customer Type. The Customer Type tab can be found under the Features tab in Site Settings. For 360's this is often set from the Cohort Role, so should be left blank here
     GroupName	Group Code if applicable
     CopyInAddress	Copy In Address the BCC for the Cohort Report, if used.  Also copied to the responses if feedback reports are emailed.
     SuppressEmails	Suppress Emails - set to 1 if no emails should be sent.
     OrganisationLevel1	Organization Level 1
     OrganisationLevel2	Organization Level 2 (Level 1 must also be set)
     OrganisationLevel3	Organization Level 3 (Level 2 must also be set)
     OrganisationLevel4	Organization Level 4 (Level 3 must also be set)
     OrganisationLevel5	Organization Level 5 (Level 4 must also be set)
     MinRespondents	Minimum number of Respondents for the report to be produced.
     Assessor	Assessor Name, if applicable and using the assessor functionality
     BCCEmail	Not Used
     Role	Role Name of the subject or contact (on the Assessment Roles)
     ContactFirstName	Contact First Name only applicable when the Cohort Type (on the Assessment Settings) is Group. The subject is the Group name, the contact name is used with the email as the Group Contact.
     ContactLastName	Contact Last name, same rules as the First Name
     SendInvitations	Send Invitations set to 1 if you want the system to automatically send respondent invitations and create response records for the subject and all Raters specified below. The 1 is for respondents only, so you don't need it if only inviting subjects as the email to the subject will be sent anyway.
     Iteration	Only entered if Iterations are applicable and a particular iteration is required. Specify the Iteration Name exactly as it appears in the Cohort Iteration tab in the assessment settings. By default, the system will create the initiation on iteration 1.
     Report Password	Specify a password for the PDF Report. Only applies when the Cohort Report is produced by the automated process (not when the report is produced On Demand).
     [Classifiers]	All Classifiers will be available for Input.  This may include classifiers not associated with this assessment, which should be left blank.  The classifiers will populate the response records for all responses linked to the cohort Initiation
     Rater1Email	Email address for the first additional rater (other than the subject)
     Rater1FirstName	The first name for the first additional rater (other than the subject)
     Rater1LastName	The Last name for the first additional rater (other than the subject)
     Rater1Role	Role name for the first additional rater from the assessment roles (other than the subject)
     	The above 4 fields are repeated for a total of 10 raters.

4. Upload. This will show a pop-up box with the ability to find and upload your Cohort Template and thereby importing your respondents.
5. 'View' displays detailed information on the cohort, including all settings related to the cohort, iterations, respondents, emails sent, anonymous URL's and associated reports.  When you click 'View', it will display the following tabs: General, Iterations, Options, Respondents, Email Sent, Anonymous URL's, Cohort Reports.

General Tab

This tab only contains compulsory and most-used fields.

1. Tabs. There are tabs containing all the cohort details, sorted by:
   • General - contains compulsory and most-used fields.
   • Iterations
   • Options
   • Respondents
   • Emails Sent
   • Anonymous URL's and
   • Cohort Reports.
2. Assessment. The Assessment Name which is used for the Cohort assessment
3. Subject Email Address of the Subject or Contact of the Cohort.  In the context of an Individual or 360 Feedback, this is the email address subject of the cohort.  For groups, it is the email address of the contact.  The Cohort Report will be sent to this address, using the Cohort Report email template.  If you want all cohort communication to go to the administrator/assessment manager - enter their email address here.
4. Subject First Name. The name of the cohort.  For an Individual or 360 cohort, this will appear as two separate fields, the first and Last name.  For Groups, it should be the name of the group.
5. Subject Last Name. This only shows if an individual or 360 cohort type.
6. Business Name. Pending update
7. Organization.  The position in the Organization structure that this initiation should be linked to.  This controls which Assessment Managers can access this data. This field only displays if there is at least one Organization populated.
8. Requested Completion Date.  This date is the "closing date" for responses. This date will default in n days after the Request date, where n = the Default Days to Completion on the Assessment settings. The cohort report will be produced after this date, provided the required number of responses have been received, or an alternate report is specified on the Cohort Report record.  If there are not enough responses immediately after the completion date the system will keep checking it daily (for a maximum of two months) until the minimum number of responses has been reached.
9. Save, Save and Close, Delete. 
   • Save to save the changes and stay on the Cohorts screen.
   • Save and Close to save the changes and close the screen.
   • Delete to delete the cohort.

The following field only appears if 'Support PDF Passwords' is enabled in the Assessment Settings.

PDF Password. A PDF Password can be entered here that will be applied when the Cohort Report is generated by the automated process.  The password will not be applied when the report is generated in the Cohort Report OnDemand process.

If you set up a Group cohort, there is a single field for the Subject, usually, the group name, and fields display to enter Contact First Name and Contact Last Name.

Iterations Tab

This tab only contains compulsory and most-used fields.

1. Cohort Iteration Type Name. This field only appears if iterations are configured for this assessment.  Select the Iteration.  The system will default to the first iteration if not entered.  If this Initiation is automatically created in the Cohort Iterations process, the system will populate this field.
2. Iteration Label. This field only appears if iterations are configured for this assessment. The label that will be used for this iteration in charts produced by the system.  The label is configured in the Iteration section of the Assessment Iteration Settings.
3. Iteration Number. This field only appears if iterations are configured for this assessment.  An incrementing count of the iteration.
4. Original Iteration. This field only appears if iterations are configured for this assessment.  Shows the original iteration that the system generated subsequent iterations from.
5. Next Iteration Generation Date. This field only appears if iterations are configured for this assessment.  If left blank the system will calculate this using the rules in the iteration section of the Assessment Settings.  This can be overridden if a particular date is required for this iteration.
6. Save, Save and Close, Delete.

Options Tab

This tab displays all the optional fields not included in the other tabs.  If you have classifiers set up, the fields will be visible in this tab.

1. Cohort Report Name. The Cohort Report that is to be produced on Completion Date.  This report is produced automatically, provided the minimum number of responses have been received, and provided there is an email template of the type Cohort Report.
2. BCC Report Address. This email address is used to automatically send a copy of the report to an adviser at the same time as it is sent to the respondent.
3. Assessor. This field only appears if 'Open Response' is selected in Assessment Options Settings. If this is an Open Response using an Assessor (read about Assessor functionality) you can optionally select an assessor.  If you aren't using Assessors, then this field would usually be left blank.
4. Request Date.  Automatically populated by the system.
5. Group Name – Group names are loaded using the Lookup Lists. Group names can be used for reporting, either as a filter or a dimension. This field only appears if at least one Group is populated.
6. Customer Type.  Normally left blank, as the Customer Type is normally assigned at Respondent level (if used). This field is only displayed if at least one Customer Type is populated.
7. Minimum number of responses.  This number is required for the cohort report to be automatically produced.  This field should only be entered if the Assessment Roles do not specify the minimum number for each role. 
8. Save, Save and Close, Delete.

Drivers Tab

The Drivers tab is used to select Assessment Drivers applicable to this Cohort.  Drivers are defined one the Assessment Options tab. Drivers are designed to be used to select the components of an assessment that are applicable to a particular organization, cohort or response.  The Drivers are also listed in a multiple choice question (usually hidden) in the assessment.  Sections, subsections or questions are then made conditional on each of the drivers. Read more about Drivers here.

If Drivers for an assessment are selected for any Organization for this assessment, they will not appear here. If they are selected in any cohort, they won't be available for selection in Response Settings.

Respondents Tab

The list of people invited.  This tab displays fields relevant to adding and removing respondents, including sending invitations to take the assessment.

1. Add Respondent.  A form opens to enter each respondent by providing their Email address, First Name, Last Name and selecting their cohort Role.
2. Link Response(s).  This button only appears if Dynamic Cohorts is enabled in the Features tab under Site Settings. Displays a 'Response Pick List' Shows a list of responses that you can search and select from.  Responses are then linked to the cohort.  A response can be a member of multiple cohorts (in which case the response will appear on the responses list multiple times, once for each cohort - but there is still only one response held. 
   •  a. Use the search to find responses.
   •  b. Use the selector to indicate the responses required.
   •  c. Link responses to include them in the cohort.
3. Send Invitations.  When you are ready for all the respondents to be invited to take the assessment, you can click 'Send Invitations' and the system will send the Welcome Cohort Recipient emails, provided this email type is set up for the assessment.  You can read more about email types here.
4. CSV Template. Download a CSV template called Cohort Template, to facilitate the uploading of cohort respondents.  The Heading line must be left unchanged.
   • The included fields in the template are:
     • Email
     • FirstName 
     • LastName
     • Role
5. Upload. This will show a pop-up box with the ability to find and upload your Cohort Template and thereby importing your respondents.
6. Edit. This enables editing of respondent details.  As well as the details on the list screen, classifiers marked as Admin Entry and linked to this assessment will be available for entry.  If the Classifier is also marked as "Values set by Organization" a dropdown list will list the available values for the organization (or the parent of the organization.)
7. Remove.  This option only appears if Dynamic Cohorts is enabled. You can click here to remove a response from the cohort.  This does not delete the response, it just removes the link to this cohort.

Emails Sent Tab

This tab shows details of emails sent for this cohort.

1. This column shows the status of the email.  If there's been a problem sending the email, you would see InError.  To view the error details, you can click on InError and also be able to copy the error message.  The most common reason for email errors is when the password has expired or been changed with the email provider, but the BA platform hasn't been updated with the new password.  In this case, you would need to go into Site Settings to update your password.  
2. Resend.  This allows you to resend the email.

Anonymous URL's Tab

This tab provides the URL's for this cohort.  This is useful when you're not sure who the subject or respondents are going to be.  The shareable cohort link is provided to send to respondents, instead of inviting them by email.  You can use this option for all of the cohort set up types available.

1. Subject.  Specifies the subject for this cohort.
2. Role Name.  Specifies the roles set up for this cohort.
3. Role.  Provides the URL for each role.  This can be copied and made available to the group.  When clicked on, the URL goes to a unique response each time.
4. Copy to Clipboard.  You can copy the URL from here.

Cohort Reports Tab

This tab shows the available reports linked to this cohort and provides the ability to run the report directly from this tab.

1. Run OnDemand.  By selecting Run OnDemand, a pop-up box appears with the subject pre-populated.  The email address of the person logged into Brilliant Assessments also pre-populates, however, this can be overridden.  You can then choose to run the Word or PDF version of the cohort report.

General Tab

1. Report Name.  This is set in the settings screen and not updatable here.
2. Report Description.  This is set in the settings screen and not updatable here.
3. Assessments.  Select one or more assessments that this report will access responses from.  The assessment must be identical in structure.  Caution should be used in using this feature as it is very resource-intensive. This field will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
4. Subject.  This is the subject of a Cohort Initiation - only available if this option has been activated in the Settings screen. This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
5. Email.  Specifies to which the report should be sent, it defaults to the current user. The Email Template Cohort Report On Demand will be used. 
6. Get Word Report / Get PDF Report / Cancel.  You can opt to email the report in Word or PDF format, or you can cancel to go back to the prior screen.

Options Tab

1. Customer Types.  Select one or more Customer Types.  All responses for those customer types will be included. This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
2. Organizations.  Select one of more Organizational Levels.  All responses for those organizational levels will be included. This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
3. Group Names.  Select one or more Groups.  All responses for those groups will be included. This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
4. Businesses.  All responses for those businesses will be included.  This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
5. Response Names.  All responses for those response Names will be included. This filter will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.
6. Report Title. This can be used to pass a Title into the Cohort Report.  The {Title} merge type is used to access the tile in the report. This field will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.

7. File Name.  The Filename is used to name the PDF. This field will default to the value of the settings screen (if any) and can be overridden for this report only.  The name will have the file extension (.pdf) added automatically and shouldn't be included.  The Report Title and Filename can include merge parameters that will be resolved by the system. It is the responsibility of the user to make sensible selections for the Cohort.  For example, if there are multiple respondents, the First Name merge string would use the First name from the first response found.  They will normally reflect the filters specified.  The available options are:

   FirstName LastName ContactFirstName ContactLastName BusinessName Subject CompletionDate SubjectFirstName SubjectLastName TenantName CohortOrg1

   CohortOrg2 CohortOrg3 CohortOrg4 CohortOrg5 Date(yyyyMMdd) Date(MM) Date(MMM) Date(MMMM) Date(yy) Date(yyyy)

Email Tip:

For Iteration 1: For the first email, which will be the email for 'Iteration 1', you will need to have the usual Welcome email type set up with the ResponseLink merge string.

For follow up iterations:  Only if you want the system to automatically generate repeat iterations, do you need a different email template.  In this case use the email type of Welcome Cohort Recipient and ensure it has the CohortLink merge string.

Read more about the email types available here