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A Strategic Approach to learning management system implementation

Partnering with a learning management system consultant can ensure your LMS selection and implementation process is a success. L&D and HR professionals lean on LMS tools to create a culture of learning and maximize employee development. In this effort, it’s important to select the right LMS platform for your organization’s needs. It can be a difficult and an overwhelming process to implement a new LMS.

As LMS implementation specialists, we partner with organizations to assess and outline your training and technology needs. We will develop an LMS Requirements Document, a critical tool to ensure successful implementation of new technology.

Next, we find the right LMS to fit your organization.  We will manage the entire system implementation to ensure the project is on-time and on-budget. Finally, we collaborate with your HR, training, and communications teams to ensure organization, integration, and employee adoption of your e-learning project.

What a Learning Management System Provides Businesses

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Organizations that are committed to growth will find a comprehensive learning management system not just a “nice-to-have” but a “must-have” for employee training and development efforts. A learning management system consultant can help achieve the following LMS benefits.

  • Central location – An LMS organizes and maintains e-learning content in one location.
  • Accessibility – Employees can access online course materials 24/7, at their convenience via laptop, tablet or mobile device.
  • Reporting – An LMS tracks learners progress, milestones, evaluates training effectiveness, and if compliance training requirements are met.
  • Engaging content – The latest technologies help to create dynamic content, incorporating new training tools and experiences, such as AI, AR/VR, gamification, simulations, and immersive training, increases learning, retention and employee adoption.
  • Boost productivity – It’s not enough to check the box that employee training was completed. Rather, it’s critical to have effective, engaging training that will ultimately impact employees’ productivity and success in their role in the organization.
  • Cost & time efficiency – A learning management system delivers a ROI, saves costs over traditional classroom training, provides consistent content, and saves time as part of an individualized approach. 
  • Improves communication – The communication role of the LMS provides information to managers about employees’ training participation, completions, and comprehension. Employees can be notified of new courses, training requirements and status of their personal development progress.  

Benefits of Partnering with a Learning Management System Consultant

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It’s a challenging process to coordinate an LMS implementation successfully. A learning management system consultant can assess your organization’s training needs, evaluate current status of employee learning and development efforts, and help outline goals for the organization. 

As subject matter experts in LMS business consulting, we manage the entire LMS implementation process to meet your organization’s goals. We understand the intricacies of aligning an LMS with learning and development initiatives, company culture, and the need for employee growth.

There are literally hundreds of LMS platforms available today.  How do you choose the right one to fit your organization’s needs? A learning management system consultant can develop and manage the RFP process, coordinate vendor demos, and help identify the best LMS solution for your organization.

We will partner with your internal HR, training, and technology teams to facilitate the LMS implementation. Each project team and company resources are unique. As such, RTG Solutions Group LMS consultants will work closely with your team to achieve the identified goals. We will ensure completion of LMS implementation steps and an efficient project management process.

Learning Management System Implementation Process

There is a lot that goes into identifying and implementing an LMS system in an organization. It serves an integral role in your learning and development efforts. 

As with all of our project management initiatives, we follow a lean approach, utilizing the PDCA model. We outline the Plan – Do – Check – Act process model as we do with our instructional design approach. The PDCA model helps us outline and efficiently manage the project. 

We recognize that each organization is unique. This includes your employee training and development needs and resources. As part of our LMS consulting, we can assist you on a single part of the LMS implementation process, or the entire project.

One of our areas of consulting expertise is streamlining processes in an organization. Our approach to your LMS implementation will be efficient and well managed.  Following is our method when managing and entire project.

Project Management

Implementing an LMS is a comprehensive endeavor. Some organizations implement a new LMS system from the ground up. Other businesses expand and maximize the use of an existing system. In both scenarios, managing the LMS implementation project involves attention to details, timelines, costs and team responsibilities.

A clear LMS project plan will avoid scope creep, ensure deadlines are met, and costs are kept in check. Developing an LMS Requirements Document as part of technology implementation is essential. The goal is that the LMS meets your employee training and development needs. The success of the LMS implementation will maximize cultural integration and employee adoption of the system. 

Training and Technology Needs Assessment

What types of training is your organization currently doing? Is there compliance training or specific skills training that are required for employees’ roles? Are you looking to improve current employee and leadership development opportunities? Where are the gaps between where you are and where you want to go?

These are a few of the questions that need to be addressed in a training needs assessment as part of the LMS implementation. In addition, it’s important to outline your current technology infrastructure, and parameters and requirements for the new LMS technology. The needs assessment takes a comprehensive look at where you are currently, where you want to go, and what needs to be done to get you there.

Develop Requirements Document

Before proceeding with selection of an LMS vendor and RFP process, it’s important to create a requirements document. The process involves key team members in the project and others outside the main group who can lend insight.  Documenting the process and identifying the current state of employee training and development is essential to a successful LMS implementation. After documenting the current state, the team can then develop the roadmap for the ideal future state of an LMS in the organization. 

Questions the team should discuss include: What technical and functional requirements are needed? What processes are involved in implementation and employee access to the LMS? What technical aspects are needed?

Developing a requirements document is essential for the projects success. This is completed prior to engaging distributing RFPs and finalizing your vendor selection. As a result the entire process is streamlined before starting the LMS implementation. 

Identify LMS Vendors

Yes, there are hundreds of  learning management system vendors available to choose from. The sheer volume can be overwhelming. At RTG Solutions Group, we are vendor-neutral and are not aligned with any LMS vendors. Therefore, our LMS consulting team can independently approach the project based on finding the best fit for your organization’s needs and budget. The needs assessment and requirements document will guide us to identify vendors who can achieve your objectives.

Develop RFP and Evaluate Vendor Proposals

We outline the RFP based on the work completed in the needs assessment and requirements document. We’ll evaluate vendor proposals and ensure those who are considered meet the requirements of the LMS implementation project. 

Choosing a Learning Management System Provider

It’s important to select the right LMS provider who will meet your needs. We will assist in identifying those who best match your needs, set-up product demos, and recap information for the project team to review and make a final selection. 

LMS Implementation

In this stage, we’ll set up selected features in the LMS platform, as part of identified needs. We’ll migrate data and content and test functionality. Equally important to finalizing the LMS implementation is to ensure that a process is in place to train managers and employees.

Change to how training and employee development is managed, accessed, and functions impacts everyone. We will assist in managing the change, communicating throughout the organization to maximize adoption of the training and LMS technology.

Conclusion

An LMS implementation in your organization is a significant project that impacts the entire organization. It can be taxing to most cross-functional team to accomplish. The LMS technology should meet the needs of the HR, L&D and Training teams to deliver accessible, quality, and engaging content throughout an organization.

A learning management system consultant can guide you and your team through the intricacies of implementing an LMS in your organization. Contact us to learn more how our LMS business consulting team can help achieve your learning and development goals.

“A vision cannot be realized without the ability to execute.”

Khris K. Bhattan
President, RTG Solutions Group
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