Understand the importance of an LMS
A learning management system (LMS) is a software that helps you create personalized learning paths for your employees. With the LMS, you can assign courses to different employees and track their progress. You can also set goals for each employee to help them grow.
The purpose of an LMS is to help both employers and employees learn how to do their best work together. One of the benefits of using an LMS is that it allows for low-cost training opportunities. The software gives you the ability to create personalized learning paths for your employees, which means they don't have to take the time to figure out what they need on their own. It's up to you as the employer or manager, then, to decide what skills you want your team members to have and then select those skills accordingly in order for their progress report to reflect this development.
Define your needs
Before you get started, take the time to identify what your company needs. What content does your company need? What specific features do you want? Do you need a mobile app? Having clear answers to these questions will help you know what features are important for your LMS system.
Consider what you want to achieve with your LMS
The first step to creating an LMS is to consider what you want to achieve with it. Do you want to train your employees? Do you want to provide them with an orientation? Do you need a platform for training your customers? By identifying the goals of your LMS, you’ll be able to identify the right software and features for your business.
Identify your target audience
Next, you will want to start identifying your target audience. You want to make sure that the system will help those employees who need it most and that the program is relevant for your business. If your business needs more customer service representatives, you may want to put together a course on how to give better customer service. If your company wants to implement new software, you may want to create courses teaching employees about the new system and how they can incorporate it into their work day.
Do some research on LMS systems
Before you get started on your LMS, you want to do some research to make sure you find the right system. There are a number of different types of LMS systems out there, from free open-source platforms to paid enterprise ones. Some systems will work for a small business while others will only work for a large company with lots of employees. You should also look into what kinds of features these systems offer and how easy they are to use.
Create a design brief for your new system
Before you can create an LMS for your business, you'll need to decide on a few things. The first step is to decide what type of LMS you want. There are three types of LMS:
- A LMS designed for independent learners
- An LMS that can be used as a training platform for employees
- A blended system that includes elements of both types
Once you've got a good idea of what type of system is best for your company, it's time to come up with a design brief. This will help you figure out the features and capabilities of your new system. You'll want to include the following information in your brief:
- Company goals for this level of training
- The target audience
- Budget
- Timeline
- User roles and expected activities
It's important to set clear expectations about what you want from your new system before the development process starts. It will save time and money in the long run if you know exactly what features and capabilities are needed from this new system.
Add more features to your system
One of the best things you can do is add customized features to your system. Some features to consider adding are a "training questions" type of quiz, a pop-up with the answer to the question on the quiz, and a progress bar that shows how far into the training someone is. You can also use badges or certificates as a way for learners to show their completion status. The types of modifications and feature add-ons will depend on the system you choose as well. During the research phase, you will want to have a very well defined roadmap to make sure the technology platform you've chosen can grow with your organization.
Get feedback from your employees.
Lastly, get feedback from you employees. For instance, if they're struggling with a particular subject, you can build a learning path around that content. Or, if they're excelling in a certain area, you can build a course that focuses on skills or knowledge that target those strengths.
