You and Your LMS: 5 Ways to do More with Less

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1 You and Your LMS: 5 Ways to do More with Less January 2012

2 Introduction We ve all experienced the ups and downs of recent economic times and have heard the phrase do more with less more than we care to, usually in terms of funding and headcount. When it comes to applying this mantra to your learning management system (LMS) though, think about it in a new way: get more out of your system, and pay less for it. Depending on your stage in the lifecycle of learning management software, think about the following questions: If you are searching for an LMS, does your organization need all of the functionality being sold by the vendor? Do you have a clear idea of what features are really needed to address your business objectives? If you have implemented an LMS, do you have internal resources with the skills to manage the system, or do you continue to rely on external resources for operational tasks? If you have been using an LMS for several years, are all pieces of functionality, courses, or other learning related programs being consumed by the end user? Do you have metrics to show what is being used versus what is underutilized? The tips below provide five ways that you can better utilize your funding and resources to get the most out of your LMS during various points in the lifecycle. The best part is that none of these suggestions require you to reduce project scope or limit business objectives; each of the following tips just makes you enforce and target your objectives more precisely. Tip 1: Refrain from bells and whistles Today s LMS environment is hectic; it s hard to separate features and functionality that can be truly useful in your organization from the next shiny industry invention being forced upon you. Remember, the airwaves are always going to be clogged with talk of the next big thing, but sticking to the functionality that meets your stated objectives is what will return maximum results. A phased approach, even if over the course of several years, will better serve your organization and end users than installing new technology no one uses. Roll out only the functionality that meets your stated goals, make sure it is successful, and then introduce additional features as business needs warrant. Furthermore, most systems on the market will be configurable to meet most of your needs most of the time. Set realistic expectations for all involved up front; they should be prepared to make at least small concessions on naming conventions, look and feel, and even business processes for the purpose of establishing enterprise-wide standards and to reduce or eliminate the need for customization. Educate stakeholders at the beginning of an implementation so they understand what components of the system are configurable versus what changes would require customization. Not only will customizations cost your group more up front, but if you decide to upgrade they will likely need to be replicated in the new environment at a price. Page 2

3 Tip 2: Negotiate long term or bulk contracts Numerous organizations have released reports on learning, talent, and performance management software. You can compare and contrast those who rank higher in ability to execute or completeness of vision to determine who you think is leading in the category most important to you and your needs. Once you find the clustering that most closely matches your needs, you will find they all have comparable functionality selling points. Similarly to buying a new car, a focal point of software purchase is the finance options, so be sure to investigate multiple year pricing; a customer s loyalty is quite important to vendors in this economic era. Having a solid client for three to five years--rather than just one or two--means a reduction in time, energy, and total acquisition cost for the vendor. Many major players are willing to pay part of this savings back to the customer in the form of reduced license fees for multi-year contracts. The same holds true for purchasing licenses in bulk (e.g., purchasing licenses through one global contract rather than having each country within an organization pursue their own agreement). Tip 3: Build skills internally Developing internal resources will allow you to reduce reliance on outside vendors. Sounds obvious, right? So why is it more often than not that the opposite occurs? Here are some frequent scenarios: 1) employees allocated to the implementation are not those who will own the system after it has launched, 2) permanent resources to support the application have not been identified much less hired, 3) identified implementation resources miss vendor training sessions and configuration workshops because they are pulled away for other projects, and 4) employees have not been aware of their intended role in managing the LMS, so they do not participate in the implementation at a level they otherwise would have. Establishing an operations plan early and positioning employees appropriately at the start will allow for knowledge transfer to occur during the implementation period and ensure a higher level of confidence and expertise when it is time for Go Live. While this may not eliminate the need for outside consultants, it should reduce it. At a minimum, the goal should be to ensure that internal resources are able to maintain the LMS from an operational standpoint so funding for external support can be reserved for dealing with more complex issues and enhancements. Tip 4: Establish content development standards As almost any individual tasked with launching an LMS can attest, the initial concern is whether or not there is enough content. Yet almost immediately after launch, it seems as if colleagues come out of the woodwork with web-based content that they ve created, purchased, or outsourced for development and only a small percentage of it integrates seamlessly with your LMS. Stop the madness before it starts! Establish a series of guidelines around all content that will be uploaded into the system, including the preferred standard(s) (e.g., SCORM 2004, SCORM 1.2, or AICC), the names and versions of approved authoring tools whose content has already been tested and integrated, preferred vendors who understand and have successfully followed your internal processes for content Page 3

4 development, and the process for getting approval to use an authoring tool or vendor that is not already on your list. For organizations with rigorous network security practices in place, these guidelines may also include circumstances where externally hosted content may be permitted (if at all). Taking care of this early on will do more than simply standardize your content from an aesthetic perspective; it will help you weed out unnecessary licenses to authoring tools and third-party content and prevent a proliferation of development initiatives that will require separate integration efforts. Tip 5: Only buy what you need Write statements of work (SOWs) for exactly what you need. The more specific you are with the professional services staff for each component of your implementation, upgrade, or customization, the less money you will spend on making those changes. While this will initially take more work on your end to determine what work should be performed and to ensure stakeholder buy-in for those specific tasks, you will find that your consulting dollars go further, you are more easily able to tie each SOW to specific, measurable results, and you are in a better position to request additional funding should new requirements surface midstream. The only buy what you need philosophy should not end with implementation. By establishing standard metrics to rate user interaction with purchased content, you will be able to better monitor contracts with content providers. Armed with this information from your LMS, you will be able to regularly purge the system and your budget of underused courses. If your vendor prices their product components separately, usage of each of these components should also be monitored and adjusted if certain functionality is underutilized. Conclusion There s no silver bullet for optimizing from your learning management structure, but each organization can take steps to reduce expenditures. By making targeted investments in your internal structure, you can decrease the amount of money and manpower that will be required in the long term and increase internal skills and process efficiencies at the same time. Even in an era of do more with less, you can get more and pay less for it. Page 4

5 About the Educe Group The Educe Group is a consulting services firm that implements and manages the technologies that enable an organization s people to learn, collaborate, achieve, and be rewarded in the workplace. Government agencies and industry-leading corporations rely on the Educe Group s dedication to maximizing the value of their talent management technology investments. From technology strategy and vendor selection, to software implementation, managed solutions, and web-based content development, the Educe Group has earned a reputation for developing longstanding client relationships based on candid advice and consistent delivery. The Educe Group was founded in 2003, is headquartered in Bethesda, MD and has consultants across the United States. For more information about the Educe Group, please visit Page 5