A Learning Management System (LMS) helps you create, manage and deliver online courses. In a way, LMS refers to online learning software, but a good LMS has much more. LMSs can be used to train employees, partners and customers, onboard new hires, improve employee development, streamline and automate compliance training.
What are the benefits of an LMS?
Investing in a good LMS has many benefits. The following list gives you an overview of what you can expect:
- Cost saving: with a good LMS, you will save on most traditional training costs. You will no longer need to pay for live instructors, their travel and teaching expenses, or the facilities to host the training. Everything can be done remotely but in-person training can also be coordinated via the platform.
- Time saving: employees can attend in-house training at different times, eliminating tedious scheduling and saving trainers and learners the time it takes to travel. A good LMS also increases the efficiency of administrators, by minimizing the time they spend tracking employee training.
- Maintain compliance: an LMS allows you to maintain knowledge standards across the company and even among partners and affiliates. Everyone is on the same page. You can also maintain compliance with company policies using this tool.
- Fast updates: revising company training content can be a quick setup on the LMS. Updates are then automatically delivered to students. With a centralized LMS, there is no need to be burdened with tedious curriculum revisions.
- Remote learning: an LMS makes training materials accessible from anywhere at any time. Employees can learn from home or on the go with simple login credentials.
- Employee engagement. interactive media and gamification offer new learning methods that are easy to implement in an LMS. No one likes a boring lecture. Spice up training with videos, photos, games and more.
What should you consider when choosing an LMS?
Why do you need an LMS?
The first question you should ask yourself when choosing your LMS is why you need such a platform? Before choosing your solution, you need to know your problem.
What kind of training materials do you want to provide? It can be PowerPoint documents, videos, online courses, artificial intelligence, augmented reality or various other learning features.
Another question to consider is what training issues do you face and what challenges do you face? Take stock of your current training materials and ask yourself what needs to be improved, what is outdated, and what is causing frustration for both your training managers and your employees. Does your training need to revolve more around compliance? Or do you need to develop the skills of your sales teams?
Finally, ask yourself about the results you expect. How will your choice of LMS affect your business performance? What are your growth objectives for the coming years? How will integrating a learning management platform help you achieve your goals?
When you have completed this process, you should have a list of all your current and future learning management and business management needs.
LMS hosting
Ask yourself if you want a cloud-based LMS or one that is installed on-premises.
Cloud-based LMSs are stored in the cloud, so you don't have to worry about installing them locally. Additionally, they are typically offered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This means that you typically pay for the service on a monthly basis in exchange for regular updates, support and scalability. This makes SaaS LMSs the most hands-free option. Plus, they're perfect for growing companies that may need to scale up their LMS as their headcount increases.
Locally installed LMSs require you to have your own IT team to customize and maintain them. The choice of a cloud-based LMS or an on-premises LMS comes down to preference. A cloud-based solution, however, is easier to maintain, easier to upgrade and most importantly, more secure. Lastly, this solution allows perfect accessibility to your platform from any location and any device.
LMS features
There are a multitude of features that can be implemented. But for your LMS to meet your primary training needs, it is essential that it has these basic features:
- User management: any LMS must allow you to manage users. Users can be administrators, instructors or learners. Managing them effectively is the key to a good learning experience.
- Course management: unless you plan to deliver a single course, you will need to manage multiple courses. You can ask your employees to take certain courses that are relevant to their position. You can also have them take courses that build on each other's content. Whatever you do, it's important to have a catalog of courses.
- Progress Tracking: tracking learners' progress allows you to see where they are in their training. This is important data for reporting purposes. By comparing learner progress with company performance, you can measure the effectiveness of your e-learning program.
- Intuitive interface: for any LMS, it is important to have an easy-to-understand interface. Users will not want to use the LMS if it is not designed in a user-friendly manner. So, make sure that your LMS is not too complicated to use for the average user.
It's up to you!
You now have all the information you need to make your choice and integrate an LMS that will revolutionize the learning experience for your employees and your training managers. If you still have questions and need a concrete example, our experts are here to discuss your needs and offer you a free demo.
