Groundwork1

What Groundwork1 is

Groundwork1 is a learning management system and employee onboarding tool that delivers training by email. Its home page puts the idea in one line: "Simple employee training sent straight to email inboxes", and asks, "We all live in our inboxes, right?" Instead of sending staff to a separate portal, a training manager builds a course and Groundwork1 emails it out as a series of lessons that learners open like a newsletter. Groundwork1 is made by Switchback Interactive in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The site names its readers directly. It is for "busy (scrappy) HR departments, non-profits, churches with volunteers, and more", and especially for organizations with high employee churn, a mobile workforce, or a habit of repeating the same training workshops. The company says Groundwork1 is easier, faster to set up and more affordable than other learning management systems, and that training can be launched "in a day or two."

What learners get

Learners do not need a new app or a password. Each lesson arrives in their own inbox, where they read text and images and click interactive links. Those links open branded lesson landing pages, again without a login, where they can watch videos, take quizzes, download files or complete tasks. Because it all runs through email and the browser, it works on desktop and on mobile phones, which matters for volunteers and part-time staff who may only have their own phone and a personal email address.

The interactive pieces are called modules, and the features page lists them:

• Video built in, uploaded for cross-platform playback without ads or distracting related videos, or embedded from YouTube or Vimeo
• Straightforward quizzes to check understanding of the course material
• Digital signatures, where team members tick a box or complete an e-signature to show they understand and agree
• Secure downloads, stored safely, with the manager able to see whether the team has downloaded them
• Action buttons that work like a to-do list, asking learners to confirm something they have done outside the system
• Text and images, with headlines and rich text to guide learners through a process

The signature and action-button modules are what make the tool useful for policy sign-off: a volunteer can read a code of conduct, sign that they understood it, and confirm a task they completed outside the system before they start.

What training managers get

Courses are built in a drag-and-drop lesson designer. Managers upload their own training documents and videos, arrange them into the order that suits their audience, and choose whether to send a lesson all at once or split it into several scheduled emails. The site stresses that existing materials can be reused, so a church or a small HR team does not need to create content from scratch to get started. The FAQ describes a typical program as short-form video, some required reading, resource links and a short quiz, and recommends developing that content in-house so it fits the organization's own requirements.

Reminders are automatic. If someone misses the first deadline, Groundwork1 keeps nudging them on a schedule the manager configures; the home page gives the example of reminding people 4 times every 5 days. The nonprofit page sums up the benefit: "you don't have to nag people to finish their training materials, just let the system follow up on incomplete training."

Tracking runs through the Progress Grid, which shows which employees have completed their courses, with completion statistics across the whole organization. Clicking on a person shows "each action taken", and managers can export reports or view an individual's course progress. Organizations can also brand the training with their own logo.

What it is used for

The employee training page lists the jobs Groundwork1 is meant for: updates to company policies and procedures, software training for new systems, compliance with changing regulations, keeping up with industry best practices, soft and professional skills such as communication and leadership, and new employee onboarding. The footer adds virtual employee onboarding and a corporate e-learning solution.

The nonprofit and volunteer pages add jobs specific to that world: sending a friendly welcome message as new volunteers arrive, introducing staff through bios or videos before volunteers start, explaining policies and procedures, collecting volunteer agreements and signatures, role-specific training and systems training. The nonprofit page argues that many LMSs are built for large schools or enterprises, while nonprofits deal with volunteers and part-time staff who come and go and need to be trained quickly.

One customer quote on the home page shows this in practice. Becky Hawkinson, Berean Kids department coordinator, writes: "We used Groundwork1 for training 200+ volunteers that serve in our kids program. This tool was very user friendly! I like the automatic reminders so I don't have to contact each person to remind them to finish their training."

Plans and pricing

Groundwork1 publishes its pricing. Customers can create their first course for free and upgrade to a paid plan when they are ready to launch, and the Teams plan carries a "Start Free Trial" button. The Teams plan is shown at $299 a month, with a switch between monthly and yearly billing. The Enterprise plan is for "teams larger than 1000 people" and is priced on contact. The pricing page adds that "Eligible non profits can receive a discount", with details from the company.

Prospects can also schedule a demo or ask a question through the contact form, and the site has FAQs and an LMS blog for support.

Who it suits and who it does not

Groundwork1 suits small and mid-sized organizations where training has to reach people who will not log in to another system: churches and charities with volunteer teams, businesses with high turnover, and companies whose staff are out in the field or on shift. It fits a training manager who wants to turn an existing handbook, a few videos and a sign-off form into a course in a day or two, then let the reminders do the chasing.

Its design choices, email delivery and a short list of modules, aim at simplicity rather than the long feature lists of enterprise suites, and the company itself frames it as the easy alternative to bigger LMSs. A team that wants learners to browse a large library inside a portal is looking for a different kind of product. Organizations over 1000 people go to the Enterprise plan, where terms are set with the company.