How to Choose the Right Learning Management System: 11 Things to Consider

Learning management systems (LMS) and apps are easy to choose when you know what to look for. Here's what you need to know!

Learning and training in the corporate world is a fruitful method to improve employee efficiency. Hence, organizations search for a reliable solution to enhance skills or increase business knowledge. However, investing in the wrong LMS platform will lead to employee dissatisfaction and wastage of money.

Before you select a learning management app, make sure to compare all the potential candidates using the following factors.

1. Be Sure of Your Objectives

First of all, you need to set objectives or goals for procuring a learning management system. Without knowing what you want to achieve through the LMS, you may not be able to choose the perfect one.

You need to ask yourself about the information or skills you want the learners to adapt by participating in the learning or training course. Make sure your goals are definite, feasible, time-bound, and measurable.

2. Know Your Audience Demographics

After knowing your objective, move your focus towards the demographics of the participants. The success of an LMS largely depends on the audience it aims to train. Therefore, you need to have a clear idea about the learners.

For that, collect some data by answering the following questions:

1. What’s the age range of the participants?
2. What’s their current level of knowledge and skill?
3. What will be the total number of participants?
4. How technically capable are they?

3. Review Existing Strategy

If you already have a learning and development strategy in place, reviewing that before getting an LMS app is a good idea. Thus, you’ll know which learning material you already have and whether you need to make changes for better training.

During the assessment, don’t forget to measure the performance of the trained staff to understand the effectiveness of the current strategy. All of these will help you create a fresh strategy and get an LMS that suits it.

4. Ask for Feedback From the Instructors

To find out the benefits and drawbacks of the existing training strategy, you need to talk with the instructors and facilitators of your organization. Their honest opinion about the features of the new LMS and any additional training material will help you choose the right learning management platform.

Since they have expertise in handling the training part of your team, you should value their opinion. Instructors' involvement will also ensure that they can utilize the LMS in the best possible way.

5. List Your Requirements

Now that you have basic information about your current strategy and platform, it’s time to list down all your requirements. Then try to find out the platforms that have the functionalities to meet them.

Related: To-Do List Apps That Sync Across All Your Devices

Include even the smallest of points so that you don't pick a tool that can’t fulfill the purpose of the training. For instance, if your team belongs to different time zones, you should get an LMS that offers self-paced courses accessible anytime.

6. Consider Organizational Technical Limitations

Before you start selecting an LMS, you need to consider the limitations. See if the tool is compatible with the technology or infrastructure of your organization. For example, a learner may not have 24/7 internet access. In that case, your LMS should be available offline.

If the team members you want to train are newbies, you should choose an LMS that’s easy to use and doesn’t have a steep learning curve.

7. Perform Thorough Market Research

You just can’t check out two or three LMS platforms and choose one from them. It requires you to judge most of the available apps and dig deeper into each of them. While shortlisting these apps, features should be your top priority. However, you need to consider the budget as well.

Besides browsing through the vendor website, you should also read the reviews on third-party websites. Asking friends is another way you can learn about the pros and cons of a platform.

8. Compare Pricing and Maintenance Cost

Since choosing an LMS is a lengthy and costly investment, pricing and maintenance cost is something you can’t ignore. Every platform determines the price mainly based on features and reputation. So, you might need to spend some extra bucks to enjoy added benefits.

As some LMS apps have hidden maintenance costs, choose a tool that has a well-defined pricing model. Also, read the terms and conditions section carefully to know about such expenses.

Don't compare two LMS platforms solely based on the pricing and licensing policy. Instead, make a maximum budget cap to shortlist the tools.

9. Choose a Platform With Reporting and Analytics

Being an admin, you need to know the performance of participants in the learning and training courses. If you use a learning management platform that offers analysis reports on their performance, you don't need additional background monitoring tools.

Usually, these apps offer reports on users, courses, organizations, or any other custom metrics in the form of compelling visualizations. Such reports will provide data on learning tendency, adoption pattern, time and speed, etc.

Identification and comparison of non-linear and linear behavior are also useful features.

10. Choose a Mobile Compatible Platform

People are becoming increasingly dependent on smartphones and tablets. Hence, it’ll be a foolish decision to choose an LMS that doesn’t support these devices.

If you want every team member to take the skill-enhancing courses, you need to make sure they can access it without any device constraint.

Also, check if the app performs with equal efficiency when accessed from mobile devices. Only a user-friendly user interface (UI) design can make the learning experience relevant and engaging.

11. Request for a Demo

Getting a demo is a practical way to understand if it can be useful to accomplish your target. Before finalizing any learning management platform, ask the vendor for a live demonstration without any hesitation.

You can also use it for a trial period before subscribing to the tool. Thus, you’ll know if its features will suit your requirements. Trying out the basic features isn’t enough for this long-term investment. Check if it’s capable enough to meet the critical queries of your team.

Related: The Best Learning Management Systems for Training Employees

Upskill for a Better Career

With numerous LMS platforms in the market, choosing the one that fits your organizational requirements can be a painful experience. However, you can keep the above-mentioned points in mind before opting for a learning management app.

With the appropriate LMS in place, improving the skillset and productivity of your teammates will become easy. You may also check out the online learning platforms that let you produce your own learning content.

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