When you configure a follow-up Cohort Iteration, the Respondent Generation Option field controls how respondents are handled when the next iteration is created. There are four options. Picking the wrong one is one of the most common iteration setup mistakes, so it is worth reviewing each before you save the iteration record.
The four options
| Option | What the system does | Best for |
| New Initiation | The contact (or subject) is emailed using a cohort Initiation email. They open a fresh initiation screen and re-specify the respondents from scratch. | Use when the respondent list is likely to change significantly between iterations and you want the contact to start fresh each time. |
| Respondents Copied | The contact is emailed a link to an initiation where the previous iteration's respondents are pre-populated. The contact can add or remove respondents before sending invitations. | Use when you expect the respondent list to be mostly the same, but the contact should still review and confirm before invitations go out. |
| Respondents Copied and Invited | The respondents from the previous iteration are automatically invited again, responses are created and Welcome emails are sent immediately, without any review step. | Use when you want a fully hands-off reassessment using the same respondents (most common for individual iterative feedback and recurring 360s with stable raters). |
| Previous Responses Copied for Updating | A copy of each previous response is created (without the completion date or status). Respondents receive a Welcome email and can simply update their previous answers rather than starting over. | Use when respondents are updating an existing assessment rather than reassessing from scratch (for example, an annual self-review where most answers stay the same). |
How to choose
- Same respondents, fully automatic → Respondents Copied and Invited.
- Same respondents, but the contact should review the list first → Respondents Copied.
- Brand-new respondent list each time → New Initiation.
- Respondents update their previous answers (not a clean re-assessment) → Previous Responses Copied for Updating.
You can change the Respondent Generation Option on the iteration record at any time before the next iteration is generated. The setting only affects future iterations, not iterations that have already been created.
For the full iteration setup including scheduling and reporting, see Setting Up Assessment Iterations.
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