LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform that enables individuals and organizations to access high-quality courses taught by industry experts. One useful feature of LinkedIn Learning is the ability to create child groups within a parent group.
What is a LinkedIn Learning group?
A LinkedIn Learning group is an online community where members can discuss common interests, share resources, and interact with each other. Groups can be public or private and focused on a particular topic, industry, or learning goal. For example, there may be groups for instructional designers, project managers, Photoshop users, etc.
As a group admin or manager, you have the ability to customize your LinkedIn Learning group in different ways. One option is to create child groups within the parent group.
What is a child group?
A child group is a subgroup within a parent LinkedIn Learning group. Child groups allow admins to organize members into smaller communities based on region, department, interest area, or other criteria.
For example, an instructional design group may have child groups for K-12 instructional designers, higher education designers, corporate training designers, etc. A photography group could have child groups for landscapes, portraits, weddings, etc.
Benefits of child groups
- Allows members to connect with others who share their specific interests
- Enables more targeted, relevant discussions
- Provides flexibility to segment members in logical ways
- Gives members choice in terms of which subgroups to join
- Allows admins to appoint subgroup managers
- Can reduce noise and overwhelm for members by organizing content
Creating child groups
As a LinkedIn Learning group admin, you can easily create child groups from your group’s admin console. Here is an overview of the process:
- From your LinkedIn Learning group, click Manage in the admin toolbar.
- Select Create child group from the left menu.
- Give the child group a name and description.
- Choose whether you want it to be public or private.
- Select initial members (optional).
- Click Create to finish setting up the child group.
Once created, members can browse child groups and join any they are interested in. As the admin, you can appoint managers for each child group as needed.
Managing child groups
As a LinkedIn Learning group admin, you have full control over your child groups. Here are some key management capabilities:
- Editing child group settings – You can edit the name, description, visibility, managers, and members for a child group at any time.
- Crossposting – Select whether discussions posted in the child group will also be visible in the parent group.
- Content moderation – Review and moderate posts and comments within each child group as needed.
- Analytics – View member numbers, post volume, and other analytics for each child group.
- Announcements – Send announcements specifically to members of a given child group.
- Email digests – Configure how often members receive email notifications for their child groups.
In addition, you can always delete a child group if you decide it is no longer needed. Members of deleted groups will simply no longer have access.
Best practices for child groups
When creating and managing child groups, keep these tips in mind:
- Have a clear purpose – Child groups work best when they have a distinct focus area.
- Keep names descriptive – Help members understand the child group’s purpose from the name.
- Appoint engaged managers – Active managers will motivate members to participate.
- Promote discovery – Make sure new members can easily find relevant child groups to join.
- Encourage crossposting – Allowing crossposts gives parent group visibility.
- Review metrics – Keep an eye on member counts and engagement to optimize.
Example child group structures
To give you some ideas for organizing child groups, here are a few examples:
| Parent group | Child groups |
|---|---|
| Photography | Portraits, Landscapes, Still Life, Post-Processing |
| Instructional Design | K-12, Higher Ed, Corporate, Healthcare |
| Project Management | PMP Prep, Agile, Construction, IT |
As you can see, child groups allow for specialized communities that all ladder up to an overarching topic. Get creative with ways to segment your members!
Conclusion
In summary, child groups are smaller communities within a parent LinkedIn Learning group. They provide a way to organize members by region, discipline, skill level, or shared interests. This allows for more targeted discussions, relevant content, and engaged subgroups.
As an admin, you have full control over creating, managing, and deleting child groups. Best practices include having a clear purpose, appointing good managers, and promoting discovery so members can find and join subgroups. Used strategically, child groups can boost engagement, add value for members, and take your LinkedIn Learning community to the next level.