How to create Lessons for Employee Training
Lessons are the individual building blocks of a 7shifts Employee Training Course and can be created manually or generated using AI tools.
⚠️ Note: 7shifts Training is currently in Beta and available for all accounts. Features and functionality may change as we continue to gather feedback. Training is completely free during our beta period. On August 30, 2026, you'll need to upgrade to the Premium plan for your employees to continue completing courses.
Things to Know
Important: Managers and Assistant Managers require the permission "Can manage training" to create and manage content and "Can view training" to view courses, approve tasks, and access training reporting.
- Employees must complete lessons in the specific sequence set by the manager.
- Training is built and managed on the 7shifts web app, while employees complete their assigned courses through the 7shifts mobile app.
- You can save time by using AI to instantly convert existing PDFs/Docs or text prompts into structured lessons and quizzes. AI-generated content should be reviewed for accuracy before publishing.
- Editing a lesson will automatically update it across all courses where it is currently used.
Creating Lessons with AI
Managers can use the AI-powered lesson builder to create course content quickly without starting from scratch. 7shifts offers two primary AI methods:
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Document Upload: Upload a PDF or DOCX file (up to 10MB) to transform your materials into engaging, custom lesson pages and quizzes. The AI may also pull graphics from your file to enrich your new lesson.
Tip: If you have a resource that you would like the team to be able to view as-is, upload it to the Resource Library for employees to access on the mobile app.
- Text Prompts: Enter a specific prompt, such as "Create a lesson on safe food handling," and the AI will generate the instructional text complete with content and quizzes.
Creating Lessons Manually
To create lessons manually, select +Create Lesson within the Lesson Library and choose Start from Scratch.
From there you can manually add your sections, pages, and content into the lesson.
- Mixed Content pages provide a flexible layout for adding text instructions, images, and video files.
- Quiz pages allow you to create multiple-choice or true/false quiz questions and allow you to select more than one right answer.
- Acknowledgement pages are a formal confirmation that a policy or document has been read and understood.
Tip: To change the order of your pages, click and hold the six-dot icon (⋮⋮) next to the page name and drag it to your preferred position.
Adding and Editing Media
You can add or edit media up to 500MB on any Content page. Supported file types include images (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp, .svg), videos (.mp4, .webm, .mov), PDFs (.pdf), and YouTube links.
- In the Lesson content builder, select the page you want to edit from the left-hand navigation.
- To add or edit media, click the pencil icon in the top-right corner of the media block, select your file, and click Add Media.
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To remove media, click the trash icon on the media block.
App Preview
As you build or edit your lesson, you can visualize exactly how your content will look to your team.
- The App Preview panel on the right side of the lesson screen automatically updates to reflect your changes, showing you a live mock-up of the mobile app interface.
- Click the Preview button (represented by the eye icon at the top of the page) to see an interactive, full-screen rendering of how employees will progress through pages, view media, and complete quizzes on their mobile devices.
Next Steps
After creating your lessons, you can build out your Training Course and assign them to your team!