Conversations v2 in Perform & Engage 365: conversation campaign types

Introduction

When creating a conversation campaign, you must choose a timing mode that determines how and when conversations are created. Conversations v2 supports three timing modes for creating and scheduling conversations: Recurring, Ad-hoc, and Person property campaigns. Each timing mode is designed for different business scenarios and review processes.

This article explains how each campaign type works and when to use it.

Understanding campaign timing modes

The timing mode determines when conversations are generated for participants. Conversations supports the following timing modes.

Timing mode	Purpose
Recurring	Automatically creates conversations on a repeating schedule.
Ad-hoc	Creates conversations manually when needed.
Person property	Creates conversations based on employee profile dates such as a start date or birthday.

The timing mode affects when conversations are created, whether they are generated automatically or manually, and how participants receive them.

Select the timing mode carefully before launching a campaign. After a campaign is launched, its timing mode can't be changed. If you need a different timing mode, create a new campaign with the correct configuration.

Choose the right campaign type

Use the following guidance when deciding which timing mode to use.

If you need to...	Use...
Run scheduled review cycles	Recurring
Create conversations only when needed	Ad-hoc
Trigger conversations based on employee milestones	Person property
Run quarterly or annual review programs	Recurring
Create manager-initiated one-to-ones	Ad-hoc
Automate anniversary or probation reviews	Person property

The following sections describe each timing mode in more detail.

Recurring campaigns

Recurring campaigns automatically generate conversations at regular intervals. When creating a campaign, select Recurring from the Type drop-down list in the Timeline step.

Select a Cadence of your campaign from the drop-down list. The options are:

Weekly
Fortnightly
Monthly
Quarterly
Biannually
Annually.

Enter the Start date for the campaign. This defines when the recurring campaign begins generating conversations. The cadence and timing settings can be edited while the campaign is in Draft status. After launch, these settings become read only.

New conversations are generated automatically for each cycle based on this schedule.

When to use recurring campaigns

Recurring campaigns are well suited for:

Monthly one-to-one meetings
Quarterly performance reviews
Annual development discussions
Regular employee check-ins
Continuous feedback programs.

How recurring campaigns work

When a recurring campaign is live:

The first round of conversations is created on the start date.
Additional conversation rounds are generated according to the selected cadence.
New rounds continue until the campaign reaches its end date or is closed.

EXAMPLE

A quarterly performance review campaign launched on January 1 with a quarterly cadence creates conversation rounds every three months until the campaign reaches its end date.

Ad-hoc campaigns

Ad-hoc campaigns don't create conversations automatically. The decision to use an ad-hoc campaign must be made before launch because campaign timing modes can't be changed later.

When creating a campaign, select Ad-hoc from the Type drop-down list in the Timeline step.

Participants or managers create conversations as needed after the campaign is launched.

When to use ad-hoc campaigns

Ad-hoc campaigns are useful for:

Manager-led one-to-one meetings
Coaching discussions
Development conversations
Corrective action discussions
Conversations that don't follow a fixed schedule.

Creating conversations manually

For information about how to create conversations manually, see the Create ad-hoc conversations section in this article.

How ad-hoc campaigns work

With ad-hoc campaigns:

No conversations are created automatically.
Conversations are generated only when manually requested.
Each conversation uses the template as it existed when the campaign was launched. Changes made to the template after launch don't affect conversations generated by the campaign.

NOTE

Ad-hoc campaigns must be Live before conversations can be created. Draft campaigns don't generate conversations.

Person property campaigns

Person property campaigns generate conversations using employee profile dates. When creating a campaign, select Person property from the Type drop-down list in the Timeline step.

To use this option, at least one date-based person property must be available in your organization. If no eligible person properties have been configured, the Property name drop-down list will be empty.

1. Select the required Property name from the drop-down list.

The selected property and delay settings can be changed only while the campaign remains in Draft status.

2. Enter the Start date delay for the campaign. This is the number of days after the specified date that you want to generate conversations. Keep the default value 0 if you want to generate conversations on this date.

When to use person property campaigns

Person property campaigns are ideal for:

Probation reviews
Work anniversaries
Birthday check-ins
Career milestone discussions
New starter follow-up conversations.

Select a person property

Choose the profile date that should trigger conversations.

Examples include:

Start date
Birthday.

Configure delay days

Delay days enable you to create conversations a specified number of days after the selected person property date.

For example:

Start date + 90 days for probation reviews
Start date + 365 days for first-year reviews.

How person property campaigns work

When the selected person property date is reached:

A conversation is automatically created for the employee.
The assigned reviewer is selected using the campaign's reviewer strategy.
The conversation uses the campaign template.
Participants receive notifications.