Season Creation and Management
Seasons are time-boxed engagement periods that give your team a shared goal, a defined start and end date, and a focused leaderboard. Admins create and manage seasons from the Engage section of the admin panel.
The Pick a goal page (Boost Performance & Productivity, Build Connectedness & Culture, Foster Growth & Learning or Promote Wellness) is saved with the season as its focus. Choosing Boost Performance & Productivity makes it a Performance season, with extra goal features for that season (see Performance seasons below, and How Performance Seasons Work). SMART goals created during a season automatically link to it, and the season's detail page in Insights includes a SMART Goals wrap-up (goals created, completed, completion rate, participants, and drops paid).
Accessing Season Management
- Log in with your admin account.
- Navigate to Admin > Engage > Seasons.
- The Seasons page loads with a table of all existing seasons.
The Seasons Table
The table shows up to five seasons at a time. Each row includes:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Title | The name of the season |
| Description | A short summary of the season's purpose or theme |
| Rules | The rules governing how drops are earned or counted |
| Rewards (💧) | The drop reward amounts associated with the season |
| Status | Draft, Scheduled, Live or Ended (see below) |
| Type | Individual or Teams |
| Start Date | When the season begins |
| End Date | When the season ends |
| Edit | Opens the season to change it. A draft shows Continue setup instead, which reopens it on the page you left |
| Plan emails | (Admins who can send team emails) Plan this season's emails: kickoff, mid-season boost, final week and results — see Team Emails |
Click any column header (Rules, Rewards, Status, Type, Start Date, End Date) to sort the table by that column.
If you have more than five seasons, click See All to open a full-screen dialog showing the complete list.
Season Status
Each season has a setting of Active, Scheduled, Inactive or Draft:
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | The season runs between its start and end dates. Rankings and drop activity count toward this season. |
| Scheduled | You chose Schedule (or Start when the current season ends) on the last page. It becomes Active on its own on its start date. |
| Inactive | The season has ended or been paused. Activity no longer counts toward it. |
| Draft | The season is still being set up. Members don't see it. |
Active and Scheduled seasons can't overlap, so only one runs at a time. Drafts never get in the way: you can prepare a draft for any dates, and the dates are checked when you launch or schedule it.
The Status column turns that setting and the season's dates into the same pill used across Engage and Insights:
| Pill | When |
|---|---|
| Draft | The season is a draft, or paused (Inactive) before its end date. |
| Scheduled | Scheduled, or Active with a start date still ahead. |
| Live | Active and between its start and end dates. |
| Ended | Its end date has passed. |
A scheduled season starts in the first hour of its start date (UTC). If another season was set Active by hand for the same dates in the meantime, it waits until the dates are free.
Changing a Season's Status
- In the Seasons table, click the three-dot menu (action menu) on the right side of any season row.
- Select one of the following:
- Set Active — makes this the currently running season
- Set Inactive — ends or pauses the season
- Set Draft — moves the season back to draft state
Creating a New Season
On the Seasons page, click Create Season. You can also start one from the Engage overview, or from the Kick off step of team setup. The season opens full screen, with one marker per page across the top: done pages show a tick, and you can click a marker to go back to that page.
| Page | What you set | Needed to launch |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Welcome | A short look at what a season is | — |
| 2. Pick a goal | The season's goal. Each goal card turns over (hover, or tap) to show its rules: the ranking rule it starts with, a suggested length, and what it turns on. Start from a template fills in a title and description | A goal |
| 3. Basics | Individual or Teams, the title, the description and the dates (4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks or Custom) | A title, a description, and an end date that's after the start and still ahead |
| 4. Rewards | The ranking rule, the drops each place wins, an optional Team target and an optional Winner badge, with a live cost check (see Season prizes) | A rule and a prize for at least one place (plus the target's and badge's details when they're on) |
| 5. People and teams | Roles or people to leave out of the rankings, and the teams of a Teams season | At least one team, for a Teams season |
| 6. Keep it going | (Admins who can send team emails) The season's planned emails — see Season emails | — |
| 7. Review and launch | Everything at a glance, then launch | — |
Next won't leave a page until what it needs is filled in; it tells you what's missing instead. Back never checks anything.
The Welcome page shows every time, and once you've seen it, a Skip intro link takes you straight to the goals.
Goals and their rules
| Goal | Ranks by | Suggested length | Turns on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boost Performance & Productivity | Received drops | 12 weeks | The Performance season features (see Performance seasons) |
| Build Connectedness & Culture | Combined drops | 8 weeks | Nothing extra |
| Foster Growth & Learning | Earned drops | 8 weeks | Nothing extra |
| Promote Wellness | Given drops | 4 weeks | Nothing extra |
Picking a goal sets the ranking rule; you can still choose another rule on the Rewards page. Until you choose dates yourself, the goal also sets the length.
Your work is saved as you go
Once you pick a goal and click Next, the season is saved as a Draft, and it's saved again every time you change page. The bar at the bottom shows Draft saved (or Not saved · Try again if the connection dropped). You can close the season at any time: it waits in the Seasons table as a Draft, with a Continue setup button that reopens it on the page you left, with everything you entered.
Review and launch
The last page shows the season's settings and prizes, the drop values during the season (your company's drop settings today: how many drops each person can give, the most a person can earn, and the value of a drop), which drop sources add to the River Bank, and Dates to remember: the start, each planned email, the end, and the day prizes are paid (the day after the end). If anything is still missing, the page lists it; click an item to go to its page.
Then choose:
| Button | What happens |
|---|---|
| Launch now | The season starts today. If its start date was still ahead, it moves to today and keeps its length. |
| Schedule for date | Shown when the start date is still ahead. The season is Scheduled and starts on its own that day. |
| Start when the current season ends | Shown instead of Launch now when another live or scheduled season would overlap. The season moves to the day after that season ends, keeps its length, and is scheduled. The page shows the new dates first. |
| Save draft | Keeps the season as a draft, to finish later. |
Members don't see a season until it starts.
Performance seasons
A season whose goal is Boost Performance & Productivity is a Performance season: for that season only, SMART goals move to the front. On the Pick a goal page, under the goal cards, the Performance season features box has one switch per feature. All are on for a new Performance season; switch off any you don't want, now or later by editing the season. For the full picture, including what happens between seasons, see How Performance Seasons Work.
| Switch | What members get |
|---|---|
| Goals on Home | A My goals this season section on Home (their season goals, the next milestone and its drops, a quick check-in), and a Set a goal for this season card in Dailies during the season's first two weeks. Choose the Performance layout under Settings → Layout → Season layouts to put it first. |
| Milestone drops count in the standings | Approved goal-milestone drops add to each member's season score — and to their team's score in a Teams season. They count toward the season that's running on the day a milestone is approved, and under the Earned and Combined rules only; with Given or Received scoring they don't (the box says so). Season prizes are paid on the same numbers. |
| Goal reminders | A Dailies card when a milestone or goal is due within 3 days, or when a goal that was on track or at risk falls behind pace. At most one a day, on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the member's time zone, plus a push notification unless the member turned it off (My Goals > bell icon). Never email. |
| Team goals | One shared goal per team, set by the team's manager (Individual season: for their direct reports; Teams season: the captain, a manager of a team member, or an admin). Members' new goals start linked to it; it's reached when every linked goal is done, and every member whose linked goal has an approved milestone gets its bonus — paid like milestones and, under Earned or Combined scoring, counted toward the standings. Shows as the Team goal card on Team Hub, where managers also suggest goals to their reports. |
| Carry over unfinished goals | When the season ends, each member with an unfinished goal gets a card in Dailies named after the season (for example Q3 has ended) and decides, goal by goal: Carry over into the next season, Mark complete, or Let it go. Nothing happens until they choose. Carry over needs a season running at the time, so if there's a gap between seasons that option waits for the next one (the other two work any time). Finished milestones, paid drops and this season's results stay with this season. |
The switches do nothing for other season goals. Seasons created before these features existed keep them all off until you switch them on.
Keep the season Active until the day after it ends. Season prizes and the season-ended cards only go out for a season that's still Active after its end date. Set it to Inactive after that, not before.
Between seasons, members can keep checking in, submitting milestones and completing goals, and managers can keep approving them. Those drops are paid, but they don't count toward any season's standings. The Home section, the Team goal card and goal reminders return with the next Performance season (members who chose Remind me all year keep getting reminders).
When a member carries a goal over, the season that ended still counts it in its goal wrap-up (as unfinished), so its numbers don't change. Managers see their reports' goals, pace and check-ins under My River → My Goals → My team — see SMART Goals for Managers. Insights → Goals shows how quickly managers review milestones each season (see Admin Insights and Analytics).
Season emails
The Keep it going page, just before Review and launch, proposes four emails dated from the season's own start and end dates:
| When it's proposed | |
|---|---|
| Season kickoff | The start date, 9:00 |
| Mid-season boost | The season's halfway point, 9:00 (seasons of 2 days or more) |
| Final week | 7 days before the end, 9:00 (seasons longer than 8 days) |
| Season results | The day after the end, 9:00 |
Emails whose date has already passed aren't offered. Switch off any email you don't want, or click its date to move it. If your team doesn't send the weekly Game Day email yet, the page also offers Offer Game Day weekly (every Monday at 9:00 team time; it replaces the weekly recap).
The page ends with a choice: Schedule all (they go out on those dates) or Keep as drafts (the default — nothing is sent until you schedule them in Engage › Emails). The emails are created when you launch or schedule the season, save it as a draft from the last page, or save changes to a running season. If Start when the current season ends moves the season's dates, the emails are dated from the new dates. If you later change the season's dates, unsent planned emails move with them; if the season is cancelled, they are cancelled too.
For a season that already exists, use the Plan emails button in its row of the Seasons table. It only offers the planned emails the season doesn't have yet. See Team Emails for editing and results.
Season Prizes
The Rewards page starts every new season with 50, 30 and 20 drops for places 1, 2 and 3. These are drop prizes paid automatically when the season ends:
- Individual seasons: the members who finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the season leaderboard (ranked by the ranking rule you pick) receive those drops.
- Teams seasons: every member of the 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-place teams receives the full amount for their team's place.
50 / 30 / 20 is only a starting suggestion. Type any amount into a place, use Add a place to pay more places, or the remove button to pay fewer. The number of winners is the number of places with more than 0 drops.
What it costs
The What it costs box on the Rewards page updates as you type:
- Prize drops: the places added up. In a Teams season every member of a winning team is paid, so each place counts its drops times your average team size (members divided by teams).
- Team target drops: when the team target is on, its reward times everyone taking part.
- About $: the total at your company's drop value (set in Admin > Rewards > Drop Defaults). Without a drop value, the box says so instead of showing dollars.
- Likely monthly reward spend: your average monthly reward spend over the last 3 full months, plus this season's cost spread over its months (a season shorter than a month counts as one month). Without enough spending history, it's the season's share alone.
Editing an Existing Season
- In the Seasons table, click the Edit button on the row (a draft shows Continue setup instead).
- The season opens on Pick a goal, with its current settings filled in.
- Go to the page with the setting you want to change.
- On Review and launch, click Save changes for a running season. A scheduled season shows the launch buttons again, so you can launch it now, keep it scheduled, or turn it back into a draft with Save draft.
Changes to a running season are only saved when you click Save changes; closing asks before it throws them away.
Starting a Season from a Template
On Pick a goal, the Start from a template row lists your team's challenge templates. Click one to fill in the title and description; check them on Basics. You can also click Templates on Engage › Seasons and then Use a Template. The season isn't tied to the template afterwards.
This is the fastest way to launch a season that repeats a format (for example a quarterly "kindness streak").
Tips
- Pick dates first and let Schedule start the season for you: it goes live on its start date without anyone setting it Active.
- To line up the next season behind the one that's running, use Start when the current season ends.
- An ended season can stay Active while the next one runs. If you set an ended season to Inactive, wait until the day after its end date, so its prizes (and, for a Performance season, its season-end goal cards) go out first.
- Season rankings are visible to all members in the River Rankings leaderboard under the Season tab while the season is active.
- Completed seasons and their results remain visible in the Seasons table for historical reference.
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