Learn how to automatically update department by Organization Unit

Introduction

In this blog, we will learn how to automatically update department by Organization Unit. By implementing this automated system, organizations can save time and effort, ensuring that departmental data is always accurate and synchronized with the latest changes. However, admins often end up changing the organizational unit and forget to change the departments, or vice versa. But you need to update both details because they are co-related, and if you don't, then there will be an inconsistency between the department and Organization Unit information of your users. So, it's an important task to update the department whenever your user's Organization Unit has changed.

Why should you automatically update department by Organization Unit?

The department and Organization Unit are related to each other. In the company Directory, the department field is visible to administrators and other users. Furthermore, the Organization Unit is only visible to administrators. Organization Unit is a type of group, and it helps the admins to create particular settings for the users. Sometimes, companies may want to sync the department as per the Organization Unit (OU). The admin can manually update the department from the Admin Console. Thus, the Foresight Automation Tool, will save them a lot of time and effort if departments are automatically updated by the Organization Unit. As a result, this feature benefits them.

Automatically update department by Organization Unit using Foresight

Foresight implements a robust and precise automation solution for your Google Workspace workflows. This productivity tool allows you to create an automated work procedure for your regular business operations without any coding script. Resulting, it provides a flexible working environment and eliminates manual tasks. Now, let's talk about this feature. This feature is not available in Google Admin Console. Using Foresight, it automates the process of how to automatically update department by Organization Unit. In this way, it enhances the efficiency of admin and saves their time from manual tasks. Source

Instructions

Here, we will create two rules to complete this task–

• Rule 1:  After exporting users' CSV files, this rule will update their departments according to their organizational unit.
• Rule 2: It will create the automation after a time transition.

Video Demo

Rule Creation

1. Firstly, Log in to your Foresight account. Then, click on the New Rule (+) button.
2. Next, select the Manual Trigger.
3. Now, select the List users action, and this action will help you to export the CSV file.
4. Next, select the Email and Org unit path columns.
5. Then, click on Review.
6. Now, give a Rule Name [Rule 1(A): OU-based department update] and then, click Create.
7. Furthermore, trigger the rule to get the CSV file and download the file from the link here. Remember that, for this demo purpose we have created a list of 7 users. In real-life scenarios, we can create a list of up to 1,000 people.
8. Additionally, you need to complete the second part of this rule. Click on the + icon and select the Data uploaded trigger.
9. Now export the same CSV file. Click Next.
10. Then, select the If action and add Condition for Branch 1. Select Org Unit Path in the Select variable and the text starts with the operator in the Select operator field. Now, add your organizational unit’s path /Customer support/Customer Service.
11. Next, click Add Next Action. And, select the Update employee department. 
12. Now, select Email in the User primary email and Customer Service in the Department field.
13. Again, return to the If action and add the Branch 2. Now, select the Org Unit Path and the text starts with the operator. Now, select your OU’s path /Marketing/Digital Marketing.
14. Then, select the Add Next Action and select the same action - Update employee department.
15. Now, select Email in the User primary email and Digital Marketing in the Department field.
16. Again you should return to the If action and create the Fallback branch or click Add Next Action. Select Update employee department action.
17. Then, select Email in the User primary email and IT in the Department field.
18. Now, give the Rule Name [Rule 1(B) - OU based department update] then, click on create.
19. Now, verify the result of Rule 1 from the Google Admin Console. You can choose any user to check the result and find out that the OU path is Customer Service. Additionally, in the User information section, you will find that the department is not updated yet. Resulting, you will find the same results for the other users. Now click Create to execute the rule.
20. Next, upload the same CSV file. resulting, you can see the successful rule execution from the Logs page. Now, your OU path is Digital Marketing and the department has been changed to Digital Marketing, successfully. Additionally, you can check this from the Admin Console. For the other user - Aida Bugg, you can find the OU path is Customer Service and the department has been changed to Customer Service.
21. Now, to create the second rule, click on the + icon.
22. Then, select the User’s organizational unit changed. 
23. Then, select the /Customer Support/Customer Service in the New organizational unit and /Customer Support/Customer Success in the Present organizational unit field. And, click Next.
24. Next, select the If action. Set the conditions for Branch 1. Select New Organizational Unit Path and the text starts with the operator. Now, again select your OU’s full path - /Customer Support/Customer Services.
25. Then, click Add Next Action. And, select the update employee department action.
26. Now select the User Primary Email in the User primary email and Customer Service in the Department. Then, click on Review.
27. Now, give the Rule Name (Auto Update department by OU) and then, click Create.

Verifying the Result

1. To verify the result, you can go to the Change Organizational Unit section from the Admin Console. And, you will see that your department is Customer Service. So, change it to Customer Success. Then, click Continue> Change.

2. Now, log in to your Google account. You will find that your department has been changed to Customer Success. Furthermore, you can confirm the results by checking the notifications and the logs of Foresight about the successful rule execution.

Conclusion

So, this is all about how to automatically update department by Organization Unit. Syncing the department with Organization Unit helps to make your users’ information updated and accurate. Additionally, you can handle these tasks effortlessly with the help of Foresight. So, learn more about Foresight, utilize it, and improve your organization’s productivity.

Try a 14-day free trial with it. You can read other topics related to this one - Know How To Update Organizational Units Based On Departments, etc.