Implementing an LMS can be highly beneficial to everybody involved. Users get to experience well-designed, easy-to-follow courses, and the company gets to save time and resources by hosting all training content on one platform – allowing them to train users more effectively and in less time. There are 3 key steps that we advise for a painless and organized LMS launch: Defining and Scoping, Planning, and Launching.
1. Defining And Scoping
The first step in the process of effectively implementing an LMS is Defining and Scoping the project. That means conducting a thorough analysis of your company’s needs and forming a general idea of your expectations of this new eLearning system. This preliminary planning will help you define your overall goals (and help you measure success) for the launch of your new system.
Here are a few important questions to consider during the Defining and Scoping phase:
- What are you looking to solve?
- i.e. Improve customer’s understanding of the product and therefore increase their perceived value of the product.
- How will an LMS help?
- i.e. By training customers on product features and how to use them, they’ll be able to see value faster.
- Who is the audience?
- What is the end goal?
2. Planning
The Planning step involves creating a time frame, forming the learning content, and assessing any other requirements needed to maximize your eLearning program’s efficiency. This step also includes creating a team that can handle all tasks related to the LMS.
Here are a few important questions to ask yourself and your team as you are in the Planning phase of your LMS implementation:
- What is the time frame?
- i.e. Do you have a specific launch date you have to hit? Are there multiple dates/phases to consider?
- What will your training courses cover?
- Define an outline of courses/curriculums to stay in line with your goal(s)
- What kind of content do you want to use?
- i.e. Video, PDF, Quiz, Text, Slides, Embedded Interactive, etc.
3. Launching
The Launching phase is where most of the hands-on work takes place. Launching includes the technical work of setting up metrics to measure success, walking through the user experience, and ensuring that everything is working properly.
Metrics are used to evaluate the success of your LMS launch. How will your team measure the effectiveness of your eLearning platform? Will you use the number of enrollments, quiz scores, lesson views, course completions, etc.? It’s important in the launch phase to identify a few key areas that will indicate to you how your program is being used.
In this phase, it is also the time to walk through the user experience and make sure that all administrators of your training know how it works from the learner perspective. This is also your opportunity to make sure that all links and modules are correct.
Here are some questions you should be able to answer by the end of this walkthrough:
- How do learners log in?
- What is a user’s experience registering/purchasing a course?
- What courses should they see? Should it differ by user?
- Are courses free/priced?
- Do you have course workflows (sequences/prerequisites)?
Once your LMS is launched and you have several active users, evaluate the program and assess whether your metrics are measuring up to the goals you set. If you have not met your goals, one of the best ways to find out why is through user feedback. Listen to what your users liked and disliked about their experience with your online training program, and make changes accordingly. At the end of the day, people will not use training that is difficult to follow or seems poorly planned.
In closing, the key takeaway is to place a heavy emphasis on planning and attention to detail, which will allow you to accomplish your LMS goals efficiently. The practices recommended here are part of a proven approach to the successful implementation of any LMS.