Configuring & Managing Conversations (NextGen)

Note: The following article shows the Betterworks NextGen interface. If the steps and/or screenshots do not match what you see in your organization's Betterworks instance, try this article that shows the same feature in the Betterworks Classic interface.

Contents

• Overview
• Configuration
  • Enabling Conversations
  • Template Design
    • Anytime Conversations
    • Scheduled Conversations
  • Language Support
  • Cloning
• Management
  • Self-service
  • Manager Change
• FAQs

Overview

The Betterworks Conversations module offers a high-impact, structured approach to performance and coaching. It is engineered to eliminate process friction for managers and direct reports by providing a simple roadmap for every check-in.

By clearly defining the ext action for every participant, it reduces cognitive load and ensures your teams stay focused on meaningful development rather than administrative guesswork. For administrators, this means a more seamless experience to drive organizational alignment with minimal manual oversight.

Configuration

Enabling Conversations

1. Go to Admin → Program Management → Conversations.

   

2. Use the Settings tab to enable the module for your entire organization.

Template Design

The template creation flow uses a modular, accordion-style configuration to make setup faster and less overwhelming.

Anytime Conversations

Anytime conversations allow managers and direct reports to initiate a conversation at a time of their choosing.

• Targeting: Conversations can be targeted to the entire organization, specific departments/groups, or defined via a CSV upload.

  

• Auto-Triggering: Settings can be enabled to auto-trigger and repeat every [X] days.

  

• Initiation: Templates can be restricted so that only managers can initiate the conversation.

  

• Format: Determine which participants will answer questions and in what order.
• Permissions: Determine who can view and/or edit conversation responses.

• Questions: Create questions, determine whether the question is mandatory, and determine the answer types (e.g., paragraph, scale, rating, and multi-select).

  

• Deployment: Set the number of days participants have to respond.

  

Scheduled Conversations

Scheduled conversations are launched by administrators to a predefined population to take place within a specific timeframe. Conversations that contain multiple steps, such as confidential questions or an Admin Review Period (covered later in this section), will include a timeline stepper so that participants can easily track their progress. 

• Targeting: Conversations can be targeted to the entire organization, specific departments/groups, or defined via a CSV upload.

  

• Format: Determine which participants will answer questions and in what order.
• Confidential Questions: Administrators can enable confidential questions where the responses are only visible to specific roles, such as Super Admins and HR Admins.

• Auto-Approval: For confidential questions, administrators can enable an auto-approval option for edit requests to reduce manual work and keep cycles moving.

  

• Permissions: Determine who can view and/or edit conversation responses.

  • Note: For more information about the Matrix Manager feature, see this article.

    

• Questions: Create questions, determine whether the question is mandatory, and determine the answer types (e.g., paragraph, scale, rating, and multi-select).

  

• Cycle Management: Set the start and end dates.

  

• Admin Review Period: Provide a timeframe (with the cycle start and end dates) for participants to submit responses to administrators before sharing them with their counterparts.
  • Submit Deadline: The date by which participants must finish and submit their answers.
  • Review Deadline: The date by which administrators must complete their review.

  • Visibility: For active conversation cycles, the Admin Review Period dates appear in a read-only mode if the dates have passed. Any date in the future remains editable.

    

• Notifications: Ensure that the right participants are notified at the right time.
  • Selectable: You can enable or disable these notifications in the conversation template. 
    • Conversation Start: If enabled, participants will receive an email notification (on the cycle start date) that the conversation cycle has begun.
    • Mid-cycle Reminder: If enabled, participants with incomplete conversations will receive an email notification (on the date you select) that they are midway through the cycle.
    • Conversation Due: If enabled, participants with incomplete conversations will receive an email notification (on the cycle end date) that their responses are due.
    • Overdue Reminder: If enabled, participants with incomplete conversations will receive an email notification (on the date you select) that their responses are overdue. 
  • Non-selectable: These notifications are automatically enabled by other settings in the conversation template. 
    • Submission Reminder: If the Admin Review Period is enabled, participants who have not submitted their responses will receive an email notification (one day before the submission deadline date).

    • Auto-Approval: If auto-approval is enabled, participants who submitted an edit request will receive an email notification (immediately) that their request was approved.

      

• Additional Information for Managers: If your organization has custom fields, you can select from those fields. The fields selected will be displayed to the manager during the conversation, to support them with additional context for answer completion.

  

• Deployment: Deploy the conversation cycle.

  

Language Support

Add translations to a single conversation template so that global teams see content in their preferred language.

Cloning

Administrators can clone templates to preserve most settings, including locked questions and specific cycle dates.

Management

Self-service

Administrators can fully manage the conversation lifecycle end-to-end.

• Filtering: The Conversations table in the Admin module can be filtered and sorted by template name, manager, direct report, or status.
• Status Tracking: Administrators can track if a conversation has been submitted based on the status.

• Deletion: Permanently remove conversations individually or in bulk.

  

Manager Change

If a reporting structure changes during an active cycle, the new manager can take ownership of the conversation.

• When a new manager takes ownership, they gain access to any responses the previous manager had already submitted.
• The new manager is permitted to modify those previously submitted responses before finalized sharing occurs.

FAQs

Why can't I edit my responses after sharing?

Once responses are shared, the conversation typically locks. You must submit an edit request to your administrator to reopen your side.

What happens if I miss the Admin Review submission deadline?

You can still add responses during the review period. However, they will not be visible to administrators in the Admin module. Admins will need to generate a Conversation Answers Report to view these late responses.

How do I make changes during the Admin Review Period?

If you have already submitted your responses, you can still make changes during the review period by clicking the Save Answers button. Administrators will be able to see those changes from within the Admin module.