| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Launch | In the context of Calibration, launching a session means successfully activating the session. A session can only be activated if validation is successful. In cases where Performance Management forms are being calibrated, this involves a check to make sure there are employees in the session with performance forms at the correct route step to calibrate. |
| Clone | Duplicate to retain all configurations and potentially repurpose for future use. |
| Calibration Settings | Controls that affect the entire calibration session and consist primarily of permissions that enable roles to view, edit, download, and delete information from calibration sessions that are in progress or approved. |
| Read Permission | View-only access for a user (cannot edit). |
| Write Permission | Edit access, meaning a user can both view and modify information. |
Launching Calibration Sessions
Objective
After completing this lesson, you will be able to launch calibration sessions.
Calibration Session Terminology
Calibration Session Launch
A single calibration session may be launched at a time using the configuration instructions discussed in Unit 3. After a session is successfully validated, the individual session may be launched by choosing Activate (green tick icon) from the Validation tab in Manage Calibration Sessions.
The session will then become available to any users granted permission to the Calibration tab from the Main Navigation Menu.
Multiple Calibration Sessions Launch
A more efficient way to launch calibration sessions is to mass-launch sessions using a .csv file. The .csv file may be downloaded using the Mass Create Calibration Sessions option. You can navigate from the Admin Center or use the Action Search.
Choose the file template link to export a comma-separated value (.csv) spreadsheet with the correct headers to import multiple sessions at one time. After exporting the .csv file, reference the following table to complete the spreadsheet.
Note
Do not change any of the headers in rows 1 or 2 of the .csv spreadsheet. Row 1 includes the import headers the system needs to read to successfully process the file, and row 2 provides a more descriptive title of the header.
| Column Header | Description |
|---|---|
| Session Name | The name for the session as it will appear to the end user. |
| Template | The form template that will be used to populate manager rating data. |
| Session Date | Session date. |
| Activation Date | Planned session activation date. |
| Location | Location, if applicable. |
| Participant | Participants or managers whose direct reports will be pulled into the session as subjects. |
| Session Facilitator | Facilitator of the session; usually someone from the HR team. |
| Session Owner | Session owner; if the owner has two levels of direct reports, the first level should be Participants, and the second level should be Subjects. |
| Subjects | Employees whose ratings are being calibrated. |
Note
Participant, Session Facilitator, Session Owner, and Subjects are assigned in the .csv file with their usernames. You may find it helpful to export the User Data File to easily find each person’s username when completing a spreadsheet to import multiple calibration sessions.
When finished filling out the .csv spreadsheet, save the file to a location where you will be able to easily find the file, and make sure the file is saved in CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) format. Navigate back to Mass Create Calibration Sessions, browse for your file, validate, then browse again to create the sessions. Both the Validate Import File and Create Sessions buttons will trigger a message in the instance, and send an email of whether the validation or import was successful.
Note
Emails sent after validation are often sent relatively quickly, but the email notification after choosing Create Sessions can take more time to be sent. Please wait for at least one hour, although it typically does not take that long, for the email regarding session creation. You may then navigate to Manage Calibration Sessions to verify the new session has been created.
Caution
A feature in Manage Calibration Settings→Global Settings can be enabled to restrict each employee to only be a member of one active calibration session at a time. This can cause validation errors, but is a safeguard against calibrating an employee in one session, then overwriting the calibrated ratings in another session.
You may find it helpful to export an existing calibration session to review how that session looks in the .csv spreadsheet. To export an existing session, navigate to Manage Calibration Sessions from Admin Center or use Action Search. Select the checkbox to the left of any session you would like to export and choose the Export button that becomes available.
Multiple Calibration Sessions Validation and Activation
An admin can also validate and active multiple sessions at a time, from Mass Create Calibration Sessions.
Note
Only setup and deactivated sessions can be validated and activated. In progress, approving, and approved session statuses are not supported.
- Indicate the session IDs separated by commas.
- Choose Step 3 to Validate Sessions. A job will be run in the back end and you will receive the Mass Session Validation Job notification to our email with the results.
- Choose Step 4 to Activate Sessions. A job will be run in the back end and you will receive the Mass Session Activation Job notification to our email with the results.
Create a Session Through Mass Launch
Business Example
In this exercise, you launch a calibration session by importing a .csv spreadsheet.
Note
It is important that the session you created in previous exercises was successfully validated, because this exercise will use the same people in that session for this new session.
Steps
Navigate to Manage Calibration Sessions using Action Search.
Select the checkbox next to the session you created in the Create a Calibration Session exercise and choose the Export button that becomes available.
Open the .csv spreadsheet, but do not make any changes. This spreadsheet is only for reference when completing the actual mass-launch session spreadsheet.
Hint
Microsoft Excel settings to read comma-separated value (.csv) files can vary by country. If your version of Excel does not sort the information in the file into columns, please download and use the OpenOffice version of Excel.
Navigate to Mass Create Calibration Sessions using Action Search.
To download a .csv spreadsheet with the correct header format, in the instructions along the top of the page, choose the file template link.
Open the .csv spreadsheet.
Note
Do not make any changes to rows 1 or 2.For the title of the session, in row 3, column A, enter [Your Initials] Mass Launch Session.
In row 3, column B, enter the exact, case- and space-sensitive title of the performance template being used for calibration (as it appears in the .csv you opened in step 3).
In row 3, column C, enter today’s date in the following format: mm/dd/yyyy. Excel may remove zeros if the month and/or day is less than 10.
In row 3, column D, enter today’s date in the following format: mm/dd/yyyy. Excel may strip zeros if the month and/or day is less than 10.
In the .csv you opened in step 3, from row 3 to the last row, copy the usernames in columns G, H, I, and J (see sample screenshot below).
In the file template for mass session creation that you have been editing in steps 6-10, paste the usernames from step 11 in the correct rows and columns.
Note
This exercise requires you to create a calibration session with participants, facilitators, owners, and subjects already assigned to an active calibration session. Please note this is for testing purposes in this course only. During an actual calibration, administrators may find it easier to use the auto-populate feature by identifying a session owner in the instance (Manage Calibration Sessions) and having subjects and participants populate based on their relationship to the session owner. Sessions from the previous year could also be exported and copied over to the mass-import spreadsheet we’re currently working with, or administrators could review the organizational chart in the instance and manually fill in usernames of session owners, subjects, and participants.
Save the mass launch spreadsheet to your desktop in .csv format.
Navigate to Mass Create Calibration Sessions using Action Search.
Choose Browse… and locate your .csv file.
Choose Validate Import File.
Browse for your file again and choose Create Sessions.
To verify the new session has been created, wait 30-60 minutes and check back into the instance (Manage Calibration Sessions).
Calibration Session or Template Cloning
Calibration sessions and templates may be cloned. If you will be creating several sessions with similar characteristics, but different subjects and participants, this may be a time-saver. Once cloned, you can edit the cloned template or session using the same procedure as when creating a new template.
To clone a session or template, navigate to Manage Calibration Sessions or Manage Calibration Templates. Choose which session or template you would like to clone from the list, then choose the paper icon to the far right of the session title to open up a clone of the session.
Clone a Calibration Session
Business Example
In this exercise, you clone a calibration session.
Steps
Navigate to Manage Calibration Sessions using Action Search.
Select a session to clone.
To the far right of the session title, choose the paper icon. A new session is created with Clone of before the session name.
As an optional step, change the session name from Clone of [your session name] to a name of your choice and choose Save.
Summary
- In the context of Calibration, launching a session means successfully activating the session from Manage Calibration Sessions. A session can only be activated if validation is successful.
- A more efficient way to launch calibration sessions is to mass-launch sessions using a .csv file. The .csv file may be downloaded using the Mass Create Calibration Sessions option.
- If you will be creating several calibration sessions with similar characteristics, but different subjects and participants, you may decide to clone calibration sessions and templates to save time.