8 Important Functions To Look For In An SMB Learning Management System
If you are a small to medium-sized business interested in finding the best Learning Management System, there are a few critical characteristics you need to consider. The LMS you choose needs to be both functional and intuitive. It should also have features that help both business owners and their employees to learn effectively. Here are 8 important functions of a great SMB Learning Management System.
1. Progress Tracking
You want your employees to know how far they have come and how much they still need to do to achieve their goals. Finding an SMB Learning Management System that shows clear progress will help to keep your employees on track. Setting completion deadlines will help them pace their online training. You should use an SMB Learning Management System that will support these types of progress metrics. Your SMB Learning Management System must also show employees what they have completed, have left to do, and areas they need to improve upon. Ideally, it should have built-in progress bars or indicators so that your employees can get a general overview. This fuels their motivation and draws their attention to crucial online training tasks.
2. Metrics Reporting
You need to keep track of how your employees are doing. A robust SMB Learning Management System should be able to shed light on every aspect of your online training program. From individual progress and performance to online training certification completion rates. You will want to know how well they did, if any of the online training courses have a very low passing rate, and which employees are excelling. These LMS metrics will help you to train and teach your employees more efficiently, which will result in better online training outcomes.
3. Simple User Interface
The last thing you want is an SMB Learning Management System that doesn’t make sense to your employees or the eLearning team who will be developing and deploying your online training courses. One of the best ways to find out if the SMB Learning Management System you are considering has a good user interface is to test it out. Try a few different LMS platforms to find the one that has the most intuitive layout. You should also consider how the LMS you choose allows you to manage online training courses and track employee progress. Looking at the whole picture will offer insight into the best LMS for your small to medium-sized business. In addition, invite your eLearning team to test-drive the LMS to ensure that it aligns with their skill sets. More advanced SMB Learning Management Systems may allow for greater creative control, but does your team have the experience or expertise to utilize the user interface?
4. Clear Goals And Benchmarking
Another feature of a helpful SMB Learning Management System is that it sets out clear goals for your employees to meet. This is especially important if your corporate eLearning program includes mandatory online training certifications. You will want your employees to know just what they need to accomplish and when it is due. That way they can plan out how they will complete the online training to meet these goals. In some cases, the SMB Learning Management System may even include an online training calendar that features upcoming deadlines and important live events.
5. Notification Capabilities
We all get busy, and with hectic schedules things tend to slip people’s minds. While online training might be at the forefront of your mind, your employees may be less organized. A good SMB Learning Management System will be able to notify both you and your employees when deadlines are approaching. That way everyone stays on track and important training is completed in a reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, the SMB Learning Management System will automatically send email notifications when certificates are up for renewal or if an employee has failed to complete the necessary online training modules or activities.
6. Accessibility
An SMB Learning Management System is the best way to get all of your online training in one place. Employees shouldn’t have to open multiple documents and keep track of scattered online training. An SMB Learning Management System allows your staff to access all of their online training in one easy-to-use place. As such, it must be able to store large amounts of data securely. Furthermore, employees need to be able to access the online training content on any device. That includes smartphones and tablets. Or even download the online training content when Wi-Fi isn't an option.
7. Data Storage
If you’re a small to medium-sized business, you probably don’t have the capacity to store on-demand data to make it accessible to all of your employees. An SMB Learning Management System will host the online training courses that you create on the system. This makes it easy for you to store a lot of data in one place. You might not think your online training courses take up a lot of data right now. However, as your company grows and expands so will your data needs. Having an SMB Learning Management System that supports your data storage needs saves you money and storage space.
8. User Support
Unless you are well-versed in IT, you will probably require some level of assistance. Any good SMB Learning Management System will have user support to offer assistance when you really need it. While the LMS should run very smoothly, you might need help with the more intricate facets. IT support will help fix these problems quickly and efficiently. At the very least, the tool should have an active online community and resources, such as FAQs and online training tutorials.
While there are other LMS features that your SMB may want to consider, these are a few of the most important. They allow you to maximize your resources and provide valuable online training opportunities, even if you're a small to medium-sized business with a tight eLearning budget.
Are you ready to invest in an SMB Learning Management System and boost the engagement of your remote employees? Download our Free eBook: The Ultimate Guide To Find The Ideal LMS For Small And Medium Businesses (SMBs) to learn about the top 5 things to consider when selecting your new SMB Learning Management System, as well as tips on how to avoid the most common pitfalls when you're integrating an LMS for your small business.
