There is a lot of effort required to implement a Learning Management System (LMS), such as analysing requirements, engaging a vendor and getting the LMS ‘online’. The potential for failure during the early stages of a LMS project is obvious. An often unrecognised risk to LMS projects is the sustain phase of the LMS implementation.

Here are eight (8) signs that can indicate your LMS implementation is at risk:

1. There are no established KPI measurements: Key Performance Indicators should be agreed and established during  LMS implementation so that success against criteria can be measured and reported to the executive on a quarterly basis. KPIs can include some of the monitoring, reporting and activities listed below.
2. There are no regular monitoring of LMS use: Run a weekly report of how many people have accessed the LMS, and compare weekly figures. Run regular communication campaigns and use LMS access figures to get a sense of what kinds of comms activities drive the greatest traffic to the LMS.
3. There are no regular reporting and actioning of e-learning non-completions or failures: Run weekly reports, and use the ‘chain of command’ to encourage staff to complete e-learning. See my blog post Fail to Follow Up E-Learning Non-completions at your Peril.
4. There are no regular review of e-learning courses: Content will become redundant or obsolete. Be sure the e-learn owner (often the Subject Matter Expert) conducts 3-6 monthly reviews of the content. Be sure to update content in a timely fashion, otherwise it can look to the learner that you don’t care.
5. There are no regular review of meta-data: Meta-data includes course descriptions, links to associated courses, resources etc. Meta-data is vulnerable to becoming out of date, so be sure to conduct an annual review (at least).
6. The LMS hasn’t been upgraded for over 2 years: This can be a big issue in relation to platform stability. It also means your users aren’t benefiting from new LMS features and functions.
7. Technical limitations recognised at implementation haven’t been followed up: What might have been an identified issue at implementation may resolve in the fullness of time without the knowledge of the LMS administrator. Be sure to keep abreast of organisation-wide IT initiatives.
8. There has been no further discussion on LMS strategy, such as mobile: Sometimes the effort of implementing a LMS is so large that fatigue sets in and any capitalising of effort and focus is lost. Bring together a ‘learning council’ that meets regularly to discuss learning and technology requirements and future direction.

The Bottom Line

Implementing a Learning Management System is a commitment ‘for life’. It requires ongoing maintenance. It requires the LMS team to be business savvy and forward focused. It requires the LMS administrators to do menial activities, such as regular monitoring, reporting and testing platform updates. Be sure to leverage your LMS as an ongoing strategic driver of organisational learning.

NOTE: Due to the rapid progression of technology and web-based platforms, and the rapid change of internal business and learning focus, it is my current view that a LMS has a 3 year shelf life before it requires a significant upgrade or change to a different LMS.

Get any group of learning professionals in a room, and one of the first topics of discussion will be Learning Management Systems (LMS). I have rarely heard a learning professional say “Our LMS does everything we need.” More often than not I hear complaints.

Here are twelve (12) common complaints about Learning Management Systems.

1. Our LMS doesn’t fit our existing administration workflows: A key reason to implement a LMS is to support efficient training administration. So, if this isn’t working for you, then it is a real problem. When selecting a LMS, be sure to map your existing administration and end user workflows, and use these maps to communicate your LMS implementation requirements.
2. Our LMS doesn’t provide the reports we need: Data can be sliced and diced lots of ways, but the LMS may only have a set number of ‘out-of-the-box’ report templates. Spend some time analysing your report requirements before speaking with LMS providers.
3. Our LMS can’t be accessed with Mac computers: How annoying!
4. Our LMS doesn’t support non Microsoft applications, such as Google Calendar: Very annoying!
5. Our LMS looks static and ugly: Not good enough these days! Providers should be well on their way to developing dynamic web-based LMS interfaces for both end users and LMS administrators.
6. Our LMS is confusing for new users to navigate: Again, not good enough. Usability is an established science these days. Be sure to test the LMS with a cohort of users prior to purchase.
7. Our LMS doesn’t talk seamlessly with our people database (HRIS): This is a common issue. Make sure you have a detailed plan on how data will interface between the LMS and your existing HRIS, and speak with other customers with similar people systems to check how well integration has worked for them.
8. Our LMS doesn’t invitingly display course titles and demos: Like e-retail sites, a good LMS will display the catalogue of courses invitingly. Well…I haven’t seen this yet…
9. Our LMS costs us a bomb every time we customise a feature: It’s so important to get requirements matched as closely as possible before engaging a LMS provider, as any changes to the generic LMS will cost you. Remember, customisation means a change to the ‘wiring’ of the LMS, often requiring coding. Configuration refers to a simpler change.
10. Our LMS does not release new versions frequently: This is an issue. If insufficient funds are being spent in developing new LMS versions, then issues of stability, operating environment compatibility and down right ‘ugliness’ will become an issue.
11. Our LMS does not have a Smartphone/tablet app: Apps enable the pages of a web-based LMS to be resized and rationalised for smaller, finger-touch screens. If you are working towards a mobile strategy, then it’s pretty much a ‘must have’.
12. Our LMS doesn’t meet our new IT security requirements: IT security is not a trivial matter. Be sure the LMS providers you speak with treat this topic with seriousness.

The Bottom Line

Learning Management Systems are a significant investment of time, resources and change management. Be sure to get good advice. Get clear about:

• Your functional requirements: Work with a specialist to get clear about your system requirements. Be as detailed as possible. Include your report requirements.
• Your processes: As well as getting clear on the detail, you need to be clear on the ‘concept’ of a LMS and what it will do for your organisation. Work with a specialist to identify your current and desired learning management processes. Don’t just watch LMS demonstrations – play with them yourself. Immerse in a number of ’sandpit’ LMS environments to understand usability and workflows.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance providing independent expert support in your LMS decision-making process.

Question from a client:

We are an industrial business with about 400 staff. We know we need to move into e-learning for compliance training reasons, but this is all new to us. What are our options?

Many e-learning & Learning Management System (LMS) providers say you should purchase a LMS before developing e-learning courseware. But this is expensive and, when you are new to learning management systems, it can challenging to get to the detail of your requirements and the options available. You want to avoid choosing the wrong system for your needs.

Often the need to get content out to staff is more urgent than implementing a LMS. After all, implementing a LMS is a large undertaking and will take time. In these situations, you are looking to:

• Get some kind of system in place to track your first e-learning
• Monitor the effect of the system on existing business and training processes, so that you can be better informed when you go out to market to purchase a LMS.

What are your options?

There are probably 3 broad options you can take in this situation:

1. Use an e-learning authoring tool that provides very basic completion tracking. Some tools provide an automatic email function, enabling learners to send an email when they have passed an assessment. Some authoring tools have a simple tracking system that provides a single report of completions. To work out which tools do what is not easy - tracking is often an authoring tool function that is not listed as a major feature. This option still requires significant manual administration.
   Kineo provides a useful list of rapid authoring tools from which you can delve further to get specific on your requirements.
2. Rent a LMS. Some LMS providers will sell you user licences for a fixed period of time so that you can run a 3 or 6 month ’proof-of-concept’ with the e-learning course that is your priority. Some “rental” situations give you access to the administration of the LMS while others simply do the admin for you, providing you with a link to distribute the course, and a report of user completions and non-completions at the end of the trial. During your proof-of-concept, be sure to monitor your LMS administration experiences, as well as the experiences of your end users. Run an evaluation to help uncover your LMS requirements prior purchase.
3. Purchase a LMS. In this situation, your agreement with the LMS provider is more permanent than renting for a short period. You need to implement and embed the LMS to ensure you get value for your purchase. Choose to internally host the LMS, or have the provider host it for you. Either way, you need to be very specific about your LMS requirements from both an operational and strategic perspective. This takes time and insight. A LMS consultant who does not have any affiliation with a specific LMS can be helpful in getting your priorities clear.

For more information, why not take a look at our LMS series on YouTube.