Have you decided that it is time to start using a Learning Management System (LMS) to organize and monitor your company’s training activities?

If you have made that decision, congratulations. You have made a wise choice about taking your company training to the next level. But may we ask you a question . . .

Why did you decide that you needed an LMS?

Please stop and think about that question. Perhaps you decided that you need an LMS for one of the following reasons?

• You were having a difficult time keeping track of which of your employees were registered for your training program and participating. (This is a common motivation for starting to use an LMS.)
• You were unable to keep track of which of your employees had completed your training programs.
• Quizzes and tests are embedded in your training materials, but you had no record of how well your employees were performing on them.
• You had identified metrics that you would use to measure the results of your training. But without clear records of who was taking and completing your training, you had no way to understand whether your training was resulting in improved performance. (If you don’t know who to measure or what they learned, how can metrics be of any use?)

Keep Your Main Motivation in Mind . . .

Once you pinpoint your main motivation for turning to an LMS, write it down and don’t forget it. Keep it top of mind as you select and work with an LMS provider as you ask the rest of the questions we will cover in today’s post. It will serve as a yardstick to judge how well your use of an LMS will meet your most pressing training needs.

Question One: Will Your LMS Provider Deliver the Support You Need?

A good LMS delivers remarkable benefits. It will track your courses, monitor who is taking and completing them, serve as a communications hub between your company and your learners, and do much more.

But an LMS is more than an app or software that you install and then walk away from. If you don’t have an experienced learning management systems provider who can set up and fine-tune your LMS to meet your needs, you will never enjoy all the benefits of using it. So be sure to engage with a training company, like Tortal Training, that has the experience and staff to be with you every step of the way.

Question Two: How Will You Determine What You Need Your LMS to Do for You?

As we discussed earlier in this post, there was a reason that motivated you to make the decision to start using an LMS for monitoring and maximizing your training. And as we suggested, it is critically important to keep that reason in mind.

But there is something else to consider . . .

You might know everything that an LMS can do for you

Yes, you know that you need one. But chances are you will only come to understand everything an LMS can do for you after you have worked with a training expert to design and shape the LMS you will use. Did you know, for example, that an LMS can monitor the training that your employees are taking on their mobile phones? Or that after training is over, it can deliver reminders and new training concepts by sending text messages? Or that at least one LMS (the one developed by Tortal Training) allows you to update and adapt older training materials yourself with a self-authoring tool?

That is one reason to work with an experienced LMS development company. If you don’t, you will probably be missing some key benefits that you didn’t know existed.

Question Three: How Much Control Does Your New LMS Allow You Over Content?

You might think that an LMS serves as little more than a front page that your employees can visit when they want to pick a training course and sign up for it.

In reality, an LMS is much more powerful than that. It allows your company to decide who can enroll in which courses (perhaps your salespeople will only be allowed to take your most advanced selling course after they have completed earlier courses), who has permission to modify and write course content, and even who has permission to simply view your course content.

Because your LMS is much more than a shopping list of courses, be sure to ask your LMS provider about how you can monitor permissions.

Question Four: Who Is Going to Know How to Use Your LMS?

Your LMS should be supported by administrators who have been trained to support both your LMS and the employees who use it. So . . . who will those administrators be? You might say, “Somebody in HR.” But stop and think, are there people in your HR department who have the time and bandwidth to answer questions like these on a daily basis?

• “I was taking my course yesterday and got up to Unit Six, but now I can’t find the course and start again from there.”
• “I am trying to enroll in Inventory Management Training, but the LMS seems to have no record of me as a user.”
• “No one here in our training center in Cleveland can log in today . . . why?”

Once your LMS is up and running, chances are it will be running smoothly and relatively trouble-free. But issues do come up and unless you have administrators who can step in, you could end up with trainees who are under-supported . . . and frustrated and locked out.

Question Five: How Powerful Are the Reporting Features of Your LMS?

You need it to provide instant data on how many people are enrolled in each of your training courses, how far along they are with their training courses, how they have done on tests and quizzes, and more. An LMS that makes it difficult to access reports, or that doesn’t provide up-to-date information in the format you need, will not be doing the job for you.

Question Six: How Will Your LMS Grow?

You might decide that you will set up your LMS to monitor and manage participation in five different training courses. Those are your plans for the moment, but stop and think. If you decide to add five more courses over the next year, what should you do today to be sure that your LMS will be able to expand in the months and years ahead to meet your future needs? And to meet them smoothly, and without costing a lot in future fees?

If you build and set up your LMS in the right way today, growing it in the future will be both easier and less expensive. That means working with a highly experienced LMS company like Tortal Training.

Have More Questions? Contact a Tortal Learning Developer Today

Tortal is a leading LMS developer and enabler for a very simple reason . . .

LMS development and implementation is central to what we do . . . it is part of our training DNA!

When the time is right for you to start enjoying the benefits of using an LMS, Tortal is the right training development company to call.