How to create a Cohort Session Workshop — a multi-session program where learners are locked into a cohort's specific dates and move through the program together.
Cohort Session Workshops are the right format when the cohort experience matters — onboarding, certification paths, leadership programs — and you want all learners in a cohort attending the same dates for each session. The creator controls pacing; learners don't pick their own schedule.
If you want learners to pick their own dates per session, use a Varied Session Workshop instead. For the strategic frame on cohort programs, see Workshop Strategy: When and How to Use Live Learning.
Important constraint: Once published, you can't add more sessions to a Multi-Session Workshop. Plan all sessions and cohorts before publishing.
How to Create a Cohort Session Workshop
1. Open the Workshops creator. Navigate to Admin > Workshops > Add a Workshop and select Multi Session Workshop.
2. Complete the basics, choose Cohort Session. Add the Workshop Title, Description, and Tags. In the workshop type field, choose Cohort Session. Click Next.
3. Add sessions and dates. Add and complete the session details for each session, then add dates to each. See Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops for the shared session-creation mechanic.
Add as many sessions as the program needs — remember, you can't add more after publish.
4. Add your cohorts. Use the Add Cohort button. Name each cohort (e.g., "Q4 2026 Onboarding Class A," "EMEA Leadership Cohort 2") and click Save.
5. Assign a date to each cohort, for each session. Use the drop-down menus to pick a date for each cohort-session pair. Any learner who registers for a cohort is automatically registered for the dates assigned to that cohort.
6. Upload an image. Required for publication.
7. Set categories, notifications, visibility, retake behavior, certificate, related Workshops, and Smart Segmentation. These work the same as a Standard Workshop — see Add a Standard Workshop for the strategic framing on each.
8. Preview and publish. Click Next to preview, then Create to publish.
When Cohort Session Is the Right Choice
Onboarding programs. New hire classes move through a structured program together. Cohort makes the shared experience real.
Certification with sequential content. Each session builds on the last. Locking learners to a cohort prevents them from jumping sessions out of order.
Leadership development. Group dynamics matter — the cohort relationship is part of the program's value.
Compliance recerts run on a schedule. When the org runs the program in waves (quarterly, annually), cohorts map directly to those waves.
Common Pitfalls
Publishing Before All Sessions Are Added. The single biggest gotcha for Multi-Session Workshops. Once published, sessions are locked. Plan the full series, then publish.
Forgetting to Assign Cohort Dates. A cohort without dates assigned to its sessions won't work for learners. Confirm every cohort has one date selected per session before publishing.
Overloading a Single Cohort. Cohorts are about the shared experience. A 50-person cohort working through a 6-session program is too big — split into multiple cohorts.
Naming Cohorts Generically. "Cohort 1" tells learners nothing. Use names tied to the cohort's identity (start date, region, role group) so the cohort means something.
Mismatched Date Capacity. If Session 3's date for Cohort A clashes with a major holiday, learners will miss it. Sanity-check dates against the calendar before locking them in.
Where This Fits
You're here because you're building a cohort-paced program. For the learner-choice variant, see Creating Varied Session Workshops. For the underlying session mechanic, see Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops.
See Also
- Workshops in Continu — the section gateway.
- Workshop Strategy: When and How to Use Live Learning — the strategic anchor.
- Creating Varied Session Workshops — for learner-choice multi-session programs.
- Adding Sessions to Multi Session Workshops — the shared session mechanic.
- Add a Standard Workshop — for single-session programs.