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Groups
Welcome to ikigize's flexible groups system - the foundation for organizing people, enabling collaboration, and building vibrant learning communities. Groups provide the organizational and social structure that brings people together around shared learning goals, projects, and interests.
Overview
Groups on ikigize are powerful organizational tools for managing people and facilitating collaboration. Whether you're assigning cohorts of students to courses, creating study groups within campuses, organizing project teams, or building learning communities, groups provide the structure and social features needed to bring people together effectively.
Groups for People Management
Groups organize people into teams, cohorts, communities, and collaborations. They enable efficient people management (like assigning entire cohorts to courses), facilitate social learning through dedicated channels, and support hierarchical structures with sub-groups and nested communities.
What Are Groups?
Groups are collections of people organized around shared purposes, interests, or organizational structures. They serve as the primary way to organize people on the platform for both practical management and social collaboration.
Core Features of Groups
People Organization: Create groups for any purpose - from course cohorts and project teams to interest-based communities and study groups.
Social Channels: Every group comes with built-in communication and collaboration features, including chat channels, discussion forums, and shared resources.
Hierarchical Structure: Groups can contain sub-groups, enabling complex organizational hierarchies and nested communities (e.g., campus with department sub-groups).
Efficient Management: Assign entire groups of people to courses, campuses, or sessions at once, rather than managing individuals one-by-one.
Collaboration Tools: Built-in tools for group discussions, resource sharing, project coordination, and peer learning.
Why Groups Matter
Traditional learning platforms often struggle with efficiently managing large numbers of learners and facilitating meaningful collaboration. Groups on ikigize solve these challenges by providing:
Efficient People Management: Assign entire cohorts or teams to learning experiences in one action, saving time and reducing administrative overhead.
Natural Collaboration: Groups reflect how people actually work and learn together in real-world settings, with built-in social features.
Scalable Structure: As communities grow and evolve, group structures can adapt without requiring system overhauls.
Flexible Membership: People can belong to multiple groups simultaneously, reflecting the complex nature of modern work and learning.
Social Learning: Every group has its own social channels, discussions, and collaborative spaces—transforming isolated learning into community experiences.
Group Types and Organizational Levels
Groups can be created at different organizational levels, each serving specific purposes and enabling different types of collaboration and organization.
Platform-wide groups that can include members from any organisation. Perfect for cross-organisational communities, special interest groups, and global professional networks.
Groups within a single organisation for teams, departments, and company-wide initiatives. Enables internal collaboration and organisational structure management.
Learning community groups within campuses for study groups, interest-based communities, and peer support networks. Can include nested subgroups for complex hierarchies.
Course-specific groups for student cohorts, teaching teams, and course assistants. Supports batch-based learning, study groups, and course-related collaboration.
Module-level groups for focused learning units, specialized topics, and module-specific discussions. Ideal for deep-dive learning and topic-based collaboration.
Session-specific groups for live learning activities, workshops, and interactive sessions. Supports real-time collaboration and session-based learning experiences.
Multi-Level Group Management
Create groups at the level that makes sense for your organizational needs. Campus groups can have department sub-groups, courses can have cohort groups, and organizations can have team groups—all working together to organize your community.
Common Group Purposes and Use Cases
Groups can serve a wide variety of organizational and collaborative purposes. Here are some of the most common ways groups are used on the platform:
Organise users into functional teams, departments, or working groups within organisations. Perfect for project teams, cross-functional groups, and departmental collaboration.
Group students by enrollment periods, cohorts, or learning tracks. Enables batch-specific communication, progress tracking, and cohort-based learning experiences.
Create smaller learning groups within larger courses for focused discussions, peer learning, and specialized instruction. Ideal for breakout sessions and study groups.
Organize participants within learning sessions for collaborative activities, group projects, and interactive exercises. Supports dynamic group formation during live sessions.
Form learning communities within campuses, including study groups, interest-based communities, and peer support networks. Can include nested subgroups for complex hierarchies.
Organize platform administrators, moderators, and support staff into specialized groups based on their responsibilities and areas of expertise.
Group community moderators and leaders who facilitate discussions, maintain community standards, and support member engagement across different areas.
Bring together users with shared interests, expertise areas, or professional focus. Enables knowledge sharing, networking, and collaborative learning around specific topics.
Endless Possibilities
These examples represent just a fraction of how groups can be used. The system's flexibility means you can create groups for any organizational need, from formal cohort management to informal learning communities.
Groups for People Management
One of the most powerful features of groups is their ability to simplify people management across the platform. Instead of managing individuals one-by-one, you can manage entire groups efficiently.
Bulk Course Assignments
Assign Entire Cohorts: Add all members of a group to a course with a single action, perfect for enrolling student cohorts or training groups.
Multiple Groups per Course: Assign several groups to the same course, useful for combining cohorts from different campuses or departments.
Group-Based Role Assignment: Assign roles (like Student or Teaching Assistant) to all group members at once.
Progress Tracking by Group: Monitor learning progress across entire groups, identifying which cohorts need additional support.
Sub-Groups and Nested Structures
Campus Sub-Groups: Create department groups within a campus, then further divide into program or year-level groups.
Course Sub-Groups: Divide large course cohorts into smaller study groups or project teams for more intimate collaboration.
Project Teams: Organize groups into project sub-groups, each working on different aspects of a larger initiative.
Flexible Hierarchies: Create any organizational structure that matches your real-world needs.
People Management Features
Bulk Operations: Add, remove, or update multiple members simultaneously through group management.
Role Templates: Apply standard role combinations to all group members based on group purpose.
Communication: Send announcements or messages to entire groups at once.
Analytics: Track group performance, engagement, and progress as a unit.
Efficient Administration
Groups transform administrative tasks from tedious individual operations to simple bulk actions. Assign 100 students to a course in seconds, create sub-groups for project work, and manage entire cohorts as efficiently as single users.
Social Features and Collaboration Tools
Every group comes with a comprehensive set of social and collaboration features designed to facilitate communication, knowledge sharing, and community building.
Real-time messaging and communication channels for each group. Support for text, file sharing, and multimedia content. Perfect for quick updates, discussions, and collaboration.
Broadcast important messages to all group members. Ideal for updates, policy changes, event notifications, and organisational communications.
Structured discussion spaces for deeper conversations, Q&A sessions, and knowledge sharing. Topics can be organized by categories and pinned for easy reference.
Plan and coordinate group events, meetings, and activities. Includes scheduling tools, RSVP management, and event reminders for seamless coordination.
Collaborative file sharing and resource libraries. Group members can upload, organize, and access shared documents, media, and learning materials.
Discover and connect with other group members. View profiles, expertise areas, and contact information to facilitate networking and collaboration.
Tools for managing group projects, assigning tasks, tracking progress, and coordinating team efforts. Perfect for collaborative learning and work projects.
Insights into group activity, engagement levels, and collaboration patterns. Help group leaders understand member participation and optimize group dynamics.
Built-in Community
These social features transform every group into a vibrant community where members can connect, collaborate, and learn together. The tools are designed to support both formal organizational needs and informal community building.
Default Groups for Easy Setup
To help you get started quickly, ikigize provides a comprehensive set of default groups organized by category. These pre-configured groups can be customized to match your specific needs while providing a solid foundation for your organizational structure.
Full administrative access to organisation settings and user management
Management-level access to teams and departmental resources
Standard employee access to organisational learning resources
Course creation and teaching capabilities within the organisation
Access to enrolled courses and learning materials
Support instructors and help manage course activities
Community moderation and content oversight capabilities
Guide and support other learners in their development
Lead discussions and foster community engagement
Create and publish learning materials and resources
Provide technical assistance and platform support
Review and ensure quality of content and processes
Customizable Defaults
All default groups can be customized, renamed, or modified to match your specific organizational needs. You can also create entirely custom groups beyond these defaults.
Cross-Entity Collaboration Examples
One of the most powerful features of groups is the ability to create groups that span multiple organizations. This enables unprecedented collaboration across organizational boundaries while maintaining security and access control.
Cross-organisational group for healthcare AI professionals
Shared healthcare AI resources, cross-company sessions, collaborative research projects
Multi-company collaboration group
Shared project resources, cross-company sessions, joint development tools
Worldwide educators and learning professionals
Global learning resources, international collaboration, best practice sharing
Breaking Down Barriers
Cross-entity groups enable organizations to collaborate in ways that were previously impossible, creating new opportunities for knowledge sharing, joint projects, and global learning communities.
Groups vs. Roles: Understanding the Difference
It's important to understand how groups and roles work together in the ikigize platform:
Groups Organize, Roles Grant Permissions
Groups organize people into teams, cohorts, and communities for collaboration and management.
Roles grant specific permissions that determine what people can do within entities.
Groups and roles are complementary—groups organize people, while roles define what those people can do.
How They Work Together
Group Membership: Joining a group connects you with other members and gives you access to group social features and channels.
Role Assignment: Roles (like Student, Instructor, Admin) are assigned separately and grant specific permissions within entities.
Group + Role: A typical scenario: you're in a "Fall 2024 Cohort" group (for social learning and collaboration) AND have the "Student" role in a course (for permissions to submit work and view content).
Example:
- A student joins the "Data Science 101 - Spring Cohort" group → gains access to cohort chat, discussion forums, study group channels
- The same student is assigned the "Student" role in the "Data Science 101" course → gains permission to view lessons, submit assignments, and track progress
Practical Examples
Course Enrollment:
- Create a "Spring 2024 MBA Cohort" group
- Add students to the group
- Assign the entire group to the MBA course
- Each student gets both: group membership (for social learning) AND Student role (for course permissions)
Teaching Team:
- Create an "Advanced Chemistry Teaching Team" group
- Add instructors and TAs to the group
- Assign appropriate roles (Instructor, Teaching Assistant) to each member
- Team has both: group collaboration tools AND individual teaching permissions
Getting Started with Groups
Quick Start Guide
- Identify Your Needs: Review your organizational structure and identify the types of groups you need
- Start with Defaults: Use the default group templates as a starting point for your organization
- Create Your Groups: Set up groups based on your organizational structure and collaboration needs
- Add Members: Invite people to appropriate groups based on their roles and interests
- Enable Social Features: Configure communication channels and collaboration tools for each group
- Assign to Entities: Connect groups to courses, campuses, or sessions for efficient management
- Test and Iterate: Monitor group activity and adjust structure as your needs evolve
Best Practices for Groups
Start Simple: Begin with basic organizational groups (like cohorts or teams) and gradually add more complex structures as your needs become clearer.
Clear Purpose: Each group should have a clear purpose and scope to avoid confusion and maintain focus.
Regular Review: Periodically review group membership and structure to ensure they continue to meet your organizational needs.
Encourage Participation: Use the social features to encourage active participation and community building within groups.
Leverage Hierarchies: Use sub-groups to organize large groups into manageable units while maintaining overall structure.
Bulk Operations: Take advantage of bulk assignment features to efficiently manage large numbers of learners.
Your Next Steps
Now that you understand how groups work on ikigize, you're ready to explore how groups integrate with the platform's various features and systems.
Explore the Platform Systems
- People - How individuals participate in groups
- Roles & Permissions - How roles work alongside groups
- Organisations System - How groups work within organisational structures
- Campuses System - Group-based learning communities
- Courses System - Assigning course groups and cohorts
- Social Learning - Social features available in every group
- Administrator Setup Guide - Complete setup instructions
Ready to Create Your First Groups?
Whether you're setting up your first cohort groups or planning complex sub-group structures, ikigize provides the tools and framework you need to create effective people management and collaboration structures. Remember: the most successful groups are those that balance organizational efficiency with social collaboration and community building.
Your group implementation journey starts with understanding your organizational needs and collaboration goals. The ikigize platform is designed to grow with you, supporting everything from simple cohort management to complex multi-organizational partnerships.