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= Overview =
Organisation structure is a combination of three Moodle Workplace features: [[Organisation structure#Departments|departments]], [[Organisation structure#Positions|positions]] and [[Organisation structure#Job Assignments (Jobs)|jobs]]. Departments specify '''where''' a user is operating; positions specify '''what''' a user's function is. You deploy department and position hierarchies to represent your organisation structure and define reporting lines by assigning job assignments to employees in any department with any position.
{{#ev:youtube|c-vx7SL2Q20|100%|center|Moodle Workplace Organisation Structure}}
These concepts — frameworks, departments, positions and job assignments — allow you to adapt the software to your company structure, defining roles and hierarchies that automatically create reporting lines. You can further assign management rights and security permissions to each role. The following diagram provides a high-level overview of the organisational components:
[[File:Organisation structure - High Level.png|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
User '''a''' has been assigned to job assignment '''C'''. Job assignment '''C''' is linked to '''Department''' '''3.1.1''' and '''Position 2.2'''. So, user '''a''' works in '''Department 3.1.1''' and has '''Position 2.2'''.
User '''b''', on the other hand, has been assigned to two job assignments: '''A''' and '''B'''. '''A''' is linked to '''Department 2.1''' and '''Position 1.1'''; '''B''' is linked to '''Department 3.1.1''' and has position '''Position 2'''. User '''b''' not only has two jobs in the organisation but is also likely to be the manager of user '''a'''! Do you see why this is the case? They both work in the same department, and the position of user '''a''' is located below the position of user '''b''' in the position framework.
An organisation structure belongs to a single tenant unless it has been configured in the [[Organisation structure#Shared Organisation Structure|Shared Space]]. By default, these organisation structures can be managed by users within the admin, tenant admin, or organisation structure manager roles, respectively.
=Departments=
Departments are organised into '''department frameworks'''. Frameworks act as containers for departments and are usually part of the same business entity, managed centrally, for example subdivisions of an organisation or countries in a multinational corporation.


= Overview =
Department structures can be hierarchical; however, it is more likely that only one of the structures in an organisation is hierarchical and the others are flat. See [[Organisation structure#Example 1: Organisation structure hierarchy based on departments|Example 1]] for a typical scenario.
Organisation structure is a combination of three Moodle Workplace features: departments, positions and jobs.
 
You access the management of organisations via '''Site administration > Users > Organisation structure''' or directly via the '''Organisation structure''' icon in the Workplace launcher. To set up a new department framework, select the '''+ New framework''' button on the '''Departments''' tab and give the framework a descriptive '''Name'''. The '''ID number''' and '''Description''' fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in.
[[File:Organisation structure - New department framework.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
 
 
 
To add departments to your department framework, select the '''+ New department''' button to the right-hand side of the framework.
 
The input screen is identical to the one for adding department frameworks; only the heading is different and you have the ability to select the department parent.
 
The input screen is identical to the one for adding department frameworks; only the heading is different. To create sub-departments select the + icon next to a department; alternatively, use the built-in drag-and-drop functionality. To support complex organisation structures, drag-and-drop will be disabled if there are too many nodes.
[[File:Organisation structure - Departments.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]


{{MediaPlayer | url = https://youtu.be/c-vx7SL2Q20 | desc = Moodle Workplace | Training | Organisation Structure}}


We can use departments and positions hierarchies to define any organisation structure and define all reporting lines, assigning jobs to employees in any department with any position.  
The '''Jobs''' column displays the number of active and, in parentheses, the number of past [[Organisation structure#Job Assignments (Jobs)|job assignments]]. On the right-hand side, you will see the familiar '''Actions''' options for each department. Be careful when deleting a department, as this action cannot be undone. Note that you can only delete a department when no jobs are assigned to it or any sub-departments.


Having an organisation structure can help the tenant administrator to:
Having an organisation structure can help the tenant administrator to:
*Create dynamic rules that automatically do something based on a users position or department (for example, enrol them in an induction course)
*Create custom reports that have a specific department (or position) as their audience
*Filter/search lists of users within the organisation based on their position and department
*Create team managers by assigning jobs with "Manager" or "Department lead" positions to users
=Positions=
Positions are organised into '''position frameworks'''.
A position framework is effectively a container that related positions are grouped in, for example, subdivisions of an organisation or countries in a multinational corporation.
Position structures can be hierarchical; however, it is more likely that only one of the structures in an organisation is hierarchical and the others are flat. See [[Organisation structure#Example 2: Organisation structure hierarchy based on positions|Example 2]] for a typical scenario.
Positions are structured in the same way as departments but have two additional properties, called '''Manager''' and '''Department lead'''. These are effectively permissions that are tied to their respective positions:
*'''Manager''': This is the manager of anyone in a lower position, regardless of their department. This is not to be confused with Moodle's manager role!
*'''Department lead''': This is the manager of anyone in a lower department or sub-department(s), regardless of their position.
You access the management of positions via '''Site administration > Users > Organisation structure''' or directly via the '''Organisation structure''' icon in the Workplace launcher. To set up a new position framework, select the '''+ New framework''' button on the '''Positions''' tab and give the framework a descriptive '''Name'''. The '''ID number''' and '''Description''' fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in.
To add positions to your position framework, select the '''+ New position''' button to the right-hand side of the framework and give the position a descriptive Name. The ID number and Description fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in. The Parent selection determines where in the hierarchy the position will be located.
For both the '''Manager''' and '''Department lead''' options, the following three permissions are available:
*'''Allocate users to programs/certifications''': This setting grants permission to assign users to [[programs]] and [[certifications]].
*'''View user reports''': This option allows managers to view reports containing progress data about their staff. The list of staff can be narrowed down via the "Relation to the report viewer" condition.
*'''Receive notifications''': If this option is selected, managers and department leads will receive alerts when configured appropriately.
[[File:Organisation structure - New position.png|border|center|frameless|1038x1038px|alt=]]
Any user holding a Manager or Department lead position can display their team list on the [[Workplace Dashboard|dashboard]]. The list can further be narrowed down via the '''Organisation structure''' filter on the Teams tab.
To create sub-departments select the '''+''' icon next to a department; alternatively, use the built-in drag-and-drop functionality. To support complex organisation structures, drag-and-drop will be disabled if there are too many nodes.
[[File:Organisation structure - Positions.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
The '''Jobs''' column displays the number of active and, in parentheses, the number of past [[Organisation structure#Job Assignments (Jobs)|job assignments]]. The '''Permissions''' column shows the manager and department lead permissions with icons. On the right-hand side, you will see the familiar '''Actions''' options for each position. Be careful when deleting a position, as this action cannot be undone. Note that you can only delete a position when no jobs are assigned to it or any positions.
=Job Assignments (Jobs)=
A job assignment connects a department and a position to a user and adds some auxiliary data, namely the start and end dates. Note that departments and positions need to be created to proceed with job assignments.
You access the management of jobs via '''Site administration > Users > Organisation''' structure or directly via the '''Organisation structure''' icon in the Workplace launcher. To create a new job assignment, select the '''+ New job''' button on the '''Job assignments''' tab.
[[File:Organisation structure - New job assignment.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
For each job, you have to '''Select users''', a '''Position''', and a '''Department'''. The default '''Start date''' option is today's date. It is not possible to leave '''Start date''' empty. The '''Start date''' and optional '''End date''' are used to decide whether a job is current or a past job.
If you select multiple users, you effectively create multiple jobs with the same position, department, start date, and end date for each employee.


* Create dynamic rules that automatically do something based on a users position or department (for example, enrol them in an induction course)
Moodle Workplace deliberately does not perform any checks on overlapping jobs. This
* Create custom reports that have a specific department (or position) as their audience
* Filter/search lists of users within the organisation based on their position and department
* Create team managers by assigning jobs with "global manager" or "department manager" positions to users


Having a manager position means that:
is to facilitate scenarios where one employee holds two or more positions in the same company. If you need to create a second job for a user, you can use the + icon beside the user entry to perform this operation without having to select the user again.


* Your team list is displayed on your dashboard
It is not recommended to delete job assignments unless they were created by mistake. Instead, you should set the end date of the current job and create a new job in the new position or department to guarantee a complete and consistent job and learning history of all users.
* You are able to allocate your team members to programs and certifications ''without any capabilities'' (if enabled in the position settings)
[[File:Organisation structure - Jobs.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
* You are able to view custom reports on your team members ''without any capabilities'' (according to configured [[Report_builder#Configuring_audience|report audience]] settings)
* You can receive notifications about completions/overdue certifications (if enabled in the position settings)


= Departments and positions =
To access the page, click "Organisation structure" from the workplace launcher. This page is available to users with either the [[Tenant administrator role|Tenant administrator]] or [[Organisation manager role|Organisation manager]] role.


Departments and positions can be grouped together into '''frameworks'''. There can be different use cases for the frameworks - they can be used to create completely isolated sets of departments, for example one framework could be based on physical location and another one on a team within an organisation. Frameworks can also represent sub-divisions of a big organisation.
In the sample screenshot, Arda Gotfrey has been promoted to the position of the UK Regional Manager, while Blythe Boshere is holding two simultaneous positions in Spain and Italy. Note that managers are assigned indirectly via positions, not directly to an employee.
==Example 1: Organisation structure hierarchy based on departments==
An organisation structure based on departments is modelled around '''where''' in the business staff are located, as opposed to what their function is. In this type of organisation, departments represent different divisions and teams inside the company. Their structure is almost always hierarchical.


[[File:wp-os-frameworks.png]]
The Regions department framework shown earlier is an example of such an organisation structure. The department hierarchy is usually accompanied by a position framework with staff and department leads. When users get assigned jobs in different departments, the manager(s) will see everybody from their department as their team.
==Example 2: Organisation structure hierarchy based on positions==
An organisation structure based on positions is modelled around '''what''' the functions of staff are, as opposed to where in the business they are located. In this type of organisation, the hierarchy is stored in a position tree.


Both position and department structures can be '''hierarchical''', however it is more likely that the organisation would have only one of them hierarchical and another one as a flat list.
In the position hierarchy shown earlier on, the CEO has the top position, and underneath are the COO, CTO, etc. The managers of several teams are located under the COO, and the members of these teams are positioned under these managers. This means that there might be project managers operating in different parts of the company, but while they are all part of a (different) local team, they report to the (same) COO.


Positions have additional properties that are called "Global manager" and "Department manager". See the following example for an explanation:
In this structure, all positions with sub-positions have manager permissions that allow users who hold jobs in these positions to see everybody in the positions below them as their team. In our scenario, the CEO does not need to receive notifications from their subordinates but sees reports on them.
==Example 3: Matrix Organisation==
In a matrix organisation, some individuals report to more than one supervisor or manager. A software developer might report to the COO for their day-to-day activities and report to a project manager for a particular project she is working on. Conversely, a manager might be responsible for multiple cross-functional or cross-business teams.


== Example 1: Organisation structure hierarchy based on positions ==
When representing a matrix organisation, you can create completely isolated sets of departments; for example, one framework could be based on physical location and another on a product team within the organisation.
[[File:Organisation - Matrix organisation.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]


The company chooses to store their hierarchy in the "Positions" tree. The CEO is the top position, underneath are the CTO and CFO. Managers of several technical teams are under the CTO, and members of these teams are under these managers. This means that there are separate positions in the hierarchy for "Members of team A" and "Members of team B". The same company uses departments as physical locations (countries, cities or rooms). They may or may not have a hierarchy. In this structure all positions that have "children" will be marked as a "Global manager". This will allow people who hold jobs in these positions to see everybody in the positions below them as their team. It's probable that the CEO does not need to "Receive notifications" from everybody in their company but they may need to see reports on them.


== Example 2: Organisation structure hierarchy based on departments ==
In the example screenshot, Aloysia Harrington holds the position of Lead Developer in the department UK. Additionally, she is the Project Manager for a customer called Romgen Pharma from March 1, 2020, until August 31, 2021. In her role as lead developer, she reports directly to the CTO; in her role as project manager, she reports to the colleague who is responsible for the customer.
== Example 4: Co-Managers ==
The main idea behind co-managers is to have multiple managers in the same department, so they can 'manage' each other. To achieve this setup, the following setup is recommended:


In this company departments represent different divisions and teams inside the company. Their structure is hierarchical. There are several positions, such as "Facilitator" and "Staff member". The "Facilitator" position has the "Department manager" checkbox enabled. When people get assigned jobs in different departments, the facilitators will be able to see everybody from their department as their team.
Create jobs in the same department for all co-managers and enable the '''Department lead''' permission for that department. There are four co-managers in the Editorial department in the example below - three Project Managers and one Lead Developer.
[[File:Organisation - Co-managers I.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px]]
When logging in as any of the co-managers - here, Arleen Smaile - the '''Dashboard''' shows the other co-managers once the filter has been configured accordingly. Either set '''Show everybody reporting to me''' or narrow down the filtering further via the '''Customise...''' option, as done here.
[[File:Organisation - Co-managers Dashboard.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px]]
Co-managers can now be managed in the same way as any other staff in the team.
=Shared Organisation Structure=
Organisation structures can be created in the Shared Space to be used across all tenants.  


It's possible to create more complex structures with hierarchies in both positions and departments, and also positions that are both "Global manager" and "Department manager".  
Jobs can be assigned to users in their tenants using shared Departments and Positions, and when moving users between tenants, jobs using shared departments and positions will be moved along.


= Assigning jobs =
To create shared departments and positions, you need to access the Shared space from the tenant switch dropdown in the navigation bar. When inside the Shared Space, go to the Organisation structure tool, and create new departments and positions as usual. Note that there are no jobs in the Shared Space because users cannot belong to Shared space.


When the organisation structure is defined, the tenant administrator can assign jobs to different users. As shown in the examples above, when somebody is assigned a job that has manager permissions they are able to see other users from their team.  
Once departments and positions have been created in the Shared space, they can be used from within all the other tenants. When creating a new job, they will be available in the departments and position selectors, and they can be assigned to the users in the tenant.
[[File:Organisation structure - Shared Space.png|border|center|frameless|900x900px|alt=]]
=Automations and Integrations=
Organisation structures are often managed by an existing HR system that has to synchronise data with other systems. Moodle Workplace offers two main options to automate this process:
==CSV files==
The [[Migrations|Migration]] tool supports the creation of departments and positions in bulk. The Import wizard allows you to specify how columns in the CSV file should be mapped onto the properties of departments and positions.


One user can have multiple jobs and be part of multiple teams.  
Only the '''name''' field is required, that is, the smallest working CSV file can have only a single column.  


A job represents the current job that an employee is performing, consisting of a position within a department. Actual employees' jobs can change over time, people can be promoted or transferred from one department to another.  However once a job is created it is not possible to change its department and position. It is also not recommended to delete any jobs (unless they were created by mistake). Instead, the tenant administrator should set the "End date" on the current job and create a new job in the new position or department. Most reports will only show "current jobs" (i.e. those that are active at this moment in time) and automatically hide past jobs.  However for historical purposes it is very useful to keep a history of all jobs that employees have had.
Below a sample CSV file adding 10 nodes to the department hierarchy


[[File:wp-os-new-job.png]]
<code csv>
id,code,parent,name,description,descriptionformat
1,SAL,,Sales,Sales department,1
2,SAD,SAL,Sales development,Sales development department,1
3,CSC,SAL,Customer Success,Customer Success department,1
4,EDI,,Editorial,Editorial department,400
5,AND,EDI,Art and design,Art and design department,1
6,PRO,EDI,Production,Production department,1
7,RNE,EDI,Research and Education,Research and Education department,1
8,MED,RNE,Medical advising,Medical advising department,1
9,MHR,RNE,Mental Health research,Mental Health research department,1
10,ONR,RNE,Oncology research,Oncology research department,1
</code>


Permissions to be a team manager or allocate users to programs are always taken from the '''current user's jobs''' (when current date is between job's start and end date).
The [[Upload users in Moodle Workplace|Upload users tool]] has been enhanced in Moodle Workplace to assign job assignments in bulk or change existing jobs (set the end date).


= Automation and integrations =
The [[Administration via command line|Moodle CLI]] has been extended to support the import of CSV files for departments and positions. In order to import organisation elements into a department framework, the CLI syntax is as follows:<blockquote><code>php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file=<CSV file> --importer=”tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=<tenant_id> --user=<user_id> --settings=<settings></code></blockquote>The following command imports the above sample department file into a '''new framework''':
<code>php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file="/var/www/html/organisation1.csv" --importer="tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=1 --user=admin --settings="{\"target_framework\":\"new\",\"hierarchy\":\"selected\",\"identifier\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:name\":\"name\",\"csvmapping:idnumber\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:description\":\"description\",\"csvdefault:descriptionformat\":\"1\",\"csvmapping:parentid\":\"parent\",\"conflict:csvdata:idnumberconflict:action\":\"increment\"}"</code>


To create departments and positions in bulk you can use [[Migrations]] tool. There are CSV importers available and via both web and CLI interfaces. Import wizard allows to specify how columns in the CSV file should be mapped to the properties of departments and positions. Only name is required, the smallest working CSV file can have only one column
The following command imports the above sample department file into an '''existing framework''' with the '''idnumber''' "org2":


It is also possible to use Web Services: '''tool_organisation_create_positions''' and '''tool_organisation_create_departments''', parameters descriptions are available inside Moodle itself - see [[Using web services]]
<code>php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file="/var/www/html/organisation1.csv" --importer="tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=1 --user=admin --settings="{\"target_framework\":\"selected\",\"select_frameworkidnumber\":\"org2\",\"hierarchy\":\"selected\",\"identifier\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:name\":\"name\",\"csvmapping:idnumber\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:description\":\"description\",\"csvdefault:descriptionformat\":\"1\",\"csvmapping:parentid\":\"parent\",\"conflict:csvdata:idnumberconflict:action\":\"increment\"}"</code>


The [[Upload_users_in_Moodle_Workplace|Upload users tool]] was enhanced in Moodle Workplace and it includes functionality to assign users jobs in bulk or change existing jobs (set the end date).
For more information on the importing and exporting data can be found in the Migration CLI section.
== Web services==
The following web services have been introduced to handle organisations:
*tool_organisation_create_departments
*tool_organisation_create_job
*tool_organisation_create_positions
*tool_organisation_department_delete
*tool_organisation_department_move
*tool_organisation_get_managed_users
*tool_organisation_get_potential_parent_departments
*tool_organisation_get_potential_parent_positions
*tool_organisation_get_teams_tab_filters
*tool_organisation_job_delete
*tool_organisation_position_delete
*tool_organisation_position_move
*tool_organisation_update_departments
*tool_organisation_update_job
*tool_organisation_update_positions
Parameters descriptions are available inside Moodle itself - see [[Using web services]]

Latest revision as of 07:41, 14 September 2022

workplacelogo.png This feature is part of Moodle Workplace™, which is available through Moodle Partners only.

Overview

Organisation structure is a combination of three Moodle Workplace features: departments, positions and jobs. Departments specify where a user is operating; positions specify what a user's function is. You deploy department and position hierarchies to represent your organisation structure and define reporting lines by assigning job assignments to employees in any department with any position.

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Moodle Workplace Organisation Structure

These concepts — frameworks, departments, positions and job assignments — allow you to adapt the software to your company structure, defining roles and hierarchies that automatically create reporting lines. You can further assign management rights and security permissions to each role. The following diagram provides a high-level overview of the organisational components:

User a has been assigned to job assignment C. Job assignment C is linked to Department 3.1.1 and Position 2.2. So, user a works in Department 3.1.1 and has Position 2.2.

User b, on the other hand, has been assigned to two job assignments: A and B. A is linked to Department 2.1 and Position 1.1; B is linked to Department 3.1.1 and has position Position 2. User b not only has two jobs in the organisation but is also likely to be the manager of user a! Do you see why this is the case? They both work in the same department, and the position of user a is located below the position of user b in the position framework.

An organisation structure belongs to a single tenant unless it has been configured in the Shared Space. By default, these organisation structures can be managed by users within the admin, tenant admin, or organisation structure manager roles, respectively.

Departments

Departments are organised into department frameworks. Frameworks act as containers for departments and are usually part of the same business entity, managed centrally, for example subdivisions of an organisation or countries in a multinational corporation.

Department structures can be hierarchical; however, it is more likely that only one of the structures in an organisation is hierarchical and the others are flat. See Example 1 for a typical scenario.

You access the management of organisations via Site administration > Users > Organisation structure or directly via the Organisation structure icon in the Workplace launcher. To set up a new department framework, select the + New framework button on the Departments tab and give the framework a descriptive Name. The ID number and Description fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in.


To add departments to your department framework, select the + New department button to the right-hand side of the framework.

The input screen is identical to the one for adding department frameworks; only the heading is different and you have the ability to select the department parent.

The input screen is identical to the one for adding department frameworks; only the heading is different. To create sub-departments select the + icon next to a department; alternatively, use the built-in drag-and-drop functionality. To support complex organisation structures, drag-and-drop will be disabled if there are too many nodes.


The Jobs column displays the number of active and, in parentheses, the number of past job assignments. On the right-hand side, you will see the familiar Actions options for each department. Be careful when deleting a department, as this action cannot be undone. Note that you can only delete a department when no jobs are assigned to it or any sub-departments.

Having an organisation structure can help the tenant administrator to:

  • Create dynamic rules that automatically do something based on a users position or department (for example, enrol them in an induction course)
  • Create custom reports that have a specific department (or position) as their audience
  • Filter/search lists of users within the organisation based on their position and department
  • Create team managers by assigning jobs with "Manager" or "Department lead" positions to users

Positions

Positions are organised into position frameworks.

A position framework is effectively a container that related positions are grouped in, for example, subdivisions of an organisation or countries in a multinational corporation.

Position structures can be hierarchical; however, it is more likely that only one of the structures in an organisation is hierarchical and the others are flat. See Example 2 for a typical scenario.

Positions are structured in the same way as departments but have two additional properties, called Manager and Department lead. These are effectively permissions that are tied to their respective positions:

  • Manager: This is the manager of anyone in a lower position, regardless of their department. This is not to be confused with Moodle's manager role!
  • Department lead: This is the manager of anyone in a lower department or sub-department(s), regardless of their position.

You access the management of positions via Site administration > Users > Organisation structure or directly via the Organisation structure icon in the Workplace launcher. To set up a new position framework, select the + New framework button on the Positions tab and give the framework a descriptive Name. The ID number and Description fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in.

To add positions to your position framework, select the + New position button to the right-hand side of the framework and give the position a descriptive Name. The ID number and Description fields are optional, but it is recommended that you fill those in. The Parent selection determines where in the hierarchy the position will be located.

For both the Manager and Department lead options, the following three permissions are available:

  • Allocate users to programs/certifications: This setting grants permission to assign users to programs and certifications.
  • View user reports: This option allows managers to view reports containing progress data about their staff. The list of staff can be narrowed down via the "Relation to the report viewer" condition.
  • Receive notifications: If this option is selected, managers and department leads will receive alerts when configured appropriately.


Any user holding a Manager or Department lead position can display their team list on the dashboard. The list can further be narrowed down via the Organisation structure filter on the Teams tab.

To create sub-departments select the + icon next to a department; alternatively, use the built-in drag-and-drop functionality. To support complex organisation structures, drag-and-drop will be disabled if there are too many nodes.


The Jobs column displays the number of active and, in parentheses, the number of past job assignments. The Permissions column shows the manager and department lead permissions with icons. On the right-hand side, you will see the familiar Actions options for each position. Be careful when deleting a position, as this action cannot be undone. Note that you can only delete a position when no jobs are assigned to it or any positions.

Job Assignments (Jobs)

A job assignment connects a department and a position to a user and adds some auxiliary data, namely the start and end dates. Note that departments and positions need to be created to proceed with job assignments.

You access the management of jobs via Site administration > Users > Organisation structure or directly via the Organisation structure icon in the Workplace launcher. To create a new job assignment, select the + New job button on the Job assignments tab.


For each job, you have to Select users, a Position, and a Department. The default Start date option is today's date. It is not possible to leave Start date empty. The Start date and optional End date are used to decide whether a job is current or a past job.

If you select multiple users, you effectively create multiple jobs with the same position, department, start date, and end date for each employee.

Moodle Workplace deliberately does not perform any checks on overlapping jobs. This

is to facilitate scenarios where one employee holds two or more positions in the same company. If you need to create a second job for a user, you can use the + icon beside the user entry to perform this operation without having to select the user again.

It is not recommended to delete job assignments unless they were created by mistake. Instead, you should set the end date of the current job and create a new job in the new position or department to guarantee a complete and consistent job and learning history of all users.


In the sample screenshot, Arda Gotfrey has been promoted to the position of the UK Regional Manager, while Blythe Boshere is holding two simultaneous positions in Spain and Italy. Note that managers are assigned indirectly via positions, not directly to an employee.

Example 1: Organisation structure hierarchy based on departments

An organisation structure based on departments is modelled around where in the business staff are located, as opposed to what their function is. In this type of organisation, departments represent different divisions and teams inside the company. Their structure is almost always hierarchical.

The Regions department framework shown earlier is an example of such an organisation structure. The department hierarchy is usually accompanied by a position framework with staff and department leads. When users get assigned jobs in different departments, the manager(s) will see everybody from their department as their team.

Example 2: Organisation structure hierarchy based on positions

An organisation structure based on positions is modelled around what the functions of staff are, as opposed to where in the business they are located. In this type of organisation, the hierarchy is stored in a position tree.

In the position hierarchy shown earlier on, the CEO has the top position, and underneath are the COO, CTO, etc. The managers of several teams are located under the COO, and the members of these teams are positioned under these managers. This means that there might be project managers operating in different parts of the company, but while they are all part of a (different) local team, they report to the (same) COO.

In this structure, all positions with sub-positions have manager permissions that allow users who hold jobs in these positions to see everybody in the positions below them as their team. In our scenario, the CEO does not need to receive notifications from their subordinates but sees reports on them.

Example 3: Matrix Organisation

In a matrix organisation, some individuals report to more than one supervisor or manager. A software developer might report to the COO for their day-to-day activities and report to a project manager for a particular project she is working on. Conversely, a manager might be responsible for multiple cross-functional or cross-business teams.

When representing a matrix organisation, you can create completely isolated sets of departments; for example, one framework could be based on physical location and another on a product team within the organisation.


In the example screenshot, Aloysia Harrington holds the position of Lead Developer in the department UK. Additionally, she is the Project Manager for a customer called Romgen Pharma from March 1, 2020, until August 31, 2021. In her role as lead developer, she reports directly to the CTO; in her role as project manager, she reports to the colleague who is responsible for the customer.

Example 4: Co-Managers

The main idea behind co-managers is to have multiple managers in the same department, so they can 'manage' each other. To achieve this setup, the following setup is recommended:

Create jobs in the same department for all co-managers and enable the Department lead permission for that department. There are four co-managers in the Editorial department in the example below - three Project Managers and one Lead Developer.

Organisation - Co-managers I.png

When logging in as any of the co-managers - here, Arleen Smaile - the Dashboard shows the other co-managers once the filter has been configured accordingly. Either set Show everybody reporting to me or narrow down the filtering further via the Customise... option, as done here.

Organisation - Co-managers Dashboard.png

Co-managers can now be managed in the same way as any other staff in the team.

Shared Organisation Structure

Organisation structures can be created in the Shared Space to be used across all tenants.

Jobs can be assigned to users in their tenants using shared Departments and Positions, and when moving users between tenants, jobs using shared departments and positions will be moved along.

To create shared departments and positions, you need to access the Shared space from the tenant switch dropdown in the navigation bar. When inside the Shared Space, go to the Organisation structure tool, and create new departments and positions as usual. Note that there are no jobs in the Shared Space because users cannot belong to Shared space.

Once departments and positions have been created in the Shared space, they can be used from within all the other tenants. When creating a new job, they will be available in the departments and position selectors, and they can be assigned to the users in the tenant.

Automations and Integrations

Organisation structures are often managed by an existing HR system that has to synchronise data with other systems. Moodle Workplace offers two main options to automate this process:

CSV files

The Migration tool supports the creation of departments and positions in bulk. The Import wizard allows you to specify how columns in the CSV file should be mapped onto the properties of departments and positions.

Only the name field is required, that is, the smallest working CSV file can have only a single column.

Below a sample CSV file adding 10 nodes to the department hierarchy

id,code,parent,name,description,descriptionformat 1,SAL,,Sales,Sales department,1 2,SAD,SAL,Sales development,Sales development department,1 3,CSC,SAL,Customer Success,Customer Success department,1 4,EDI,,Editorial,Editorial department,400 5,AND,EDI,Art and design,Art and design department,1 6,PRO,EDI,Production,Production department,1 7,RNE,EDI,Research and Education,Research and Education department,1 8,MED,RNE,Medical advising,Medical advising department,1 9,MHR,RNE,Mental Health research,Mental Health research department,1 10,ONR,RNE,Oncology research,Oncology research department,1

The Upload users tool has been enhanced in Moodle Workplace to assign job assignments in bulk or change existing jobs (set the end date).

The Moodle CLI has been extended to support the import of CSV files for departments and positions. In order to import organisation elements into a department framework, the CLI syntax is as follows:

php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file=<CSV file> --importer=”tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=<tenant_id> --user=<user_id> --settings=<settings>

The following command imports the above sample department file into a new framework:

php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file="/var/www/html/organisation1.csv" --importer="tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=1 --user=admin --settings="{\"target_framework\":\"new\",\"hierarchy\":\"selected\",\"identifier\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:name\":\"name\",\"csvmapping:idnumber\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:description\":\"description\",\"csvdefault:descriptionformat\":\"1\",\"csvmapping:parentid\":\"parent\",\"conflict:csvdata:idnumberconflict:action\":\"increment\"}"

The following command imports the above sample department file into an existing framework with the idnumber "org2":

php admin/tool/wp/cli/import.php --file="/var/www/html/organisation1.csv" --importer="tool_organisation\\tool_wp\\importer\\departments_csv" --tenant=1 --user=admin --settings="{\"target_framework\":\"selected\",\"select_frameworkidnumber\":\"org2\",\"hierarchy\":\"selected\",\"identifier\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:name\":\"name\",\"csvmapping:idnumber\":\"code\",\"csvmapping:description\":\"description\",\"csvdefault:descriptionformat\":\"1\",\"csvmapping:parentid\":\"parent\",\"conflict:csvdata:idnumberconflict:action\":\"increment\"}"

For more information on the importing and exporting data can be found in the Migration CLI section.

Web services

The following web services have been introduced to handle organisations:

  • tool_organisation_create_departments
  • tool_organisation_create_job
  • tool_organisation_create_positions
  • tool_organisation_department_delete
  • tool_organisation_department_move
  • tool_organisation_get_managed_users
  • tool_organisation_get_potential_parent_departments
  • tool_organisation_get_potential_parent_positions
  • tool_organisation_get_teams_tab_filters
  • tool_organisation_job_delete
  • tool_organisation_position_delete
  • tool_organisation_position_move
  • tool_organisation_update_departments
  • tool_organisation_update_job
  • tool_organisation_update_positions

Parameters descriptions are available inside Moodle itself - see Using web services

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