Understanding LMS Management Challenges
A Learning Management System provides the ability to create, host and deliver effective, engaging online training and certification programs to internal staff, channel partners, customers or students.
However, managing an LMS can be daunting, especially if you are new to the process.
Understanding common LMS challenges and developing effective strategies to overcome them can help optimise your online training programs.
Here, we will discuss typical LMS implementation challenges and provide insights on how to tackle them.
1. Role Delegation
For an LMS to function, there are crucial roles to be filled by experienced and competent people. There are general administrative duties like registering users and granting levels of access. Then there are instructor duties, which include creating and organising courses.
There should be discussions on who gets to take on which tasks, with defined task requirements and distinct boundaries for what each role covers.
From these discussions, no confusion about who is responsible for each element of running the LMS should take place. With an organisational structure decided on, there will also be accountability that pushes everyone to do their jobs correctly.
2. User Adoption and Engagement
Getting individuals to start using an LMS is a big hurdle to overcome. User onboarding is a multi-faceted challenge, from the leaders and managers who might not be the most tech-savvy to the learners with potentially little interest in engaging with a seemingly complex learning methodology. Therefore, it is crucial to account for the differing needs of each end-user.
An internal marketing-style campaign that presents the benefits of using an LMS is a great way to raise awareness and educate the rest of the organisation. Providing incentives for completing courses is another effective way of enticing learners. It also helps promote eLearning engagement with external audiences.
There is also the practical problem of having a system to add users to the LMS. Familiarity with LMS features can simplify the process.
3. Time and Resource Management
The excitement that comes from implementing an LMS can lead to underestimating the amount of time and effort needed to operate it smoothly. Course creation alone can take up significant chunks of working hours, especially if the courses are customised to fit the requirements specific to an organisation and its departments. This does not end when courses are published. Over time, they will require updating, new material will need to be introduced and older ones retired – this all requires management and resources.
Creating a schedule with reasonable delivery dates is good. Respecting these set deadlines is even more important. Every element that goes into completing tasks needs to be accounted for. It can be all too easy to overlook processes such as getting approval from upper management and gaining enough resources from IT.
4. IT Resource Management
Managing an LMS internally can be very demanding for a local IT department. LMS platforms are large and complex tools which require extensive knowledge. It places specific demands on IT departments that are often unfamiliar with such platforms.
Integration with in-house tools such as your Human Resources Information System (HRIS), server maintenance, technical support, and cybersecurity are all issues that need to be addressed by IT. Just ensuring an LMS hosted on a private server is running and accessible on a range of devices can be taxing.
There needs to be an honest assessment of IT resources to allocate efficiently without compromising on the effectiveness of the LMS. An alternative solution would be looking into IT support from the LMS vendor, which can also include hosting.
5. Content Creation and Publishing
Organisations that prefer to create their training materials should first learn how to use the course creation tools available and adopt eLearning techniques to take full advantage of the technology. Alternatively, organisations can choose to outsource this element.
Gone are the days of delivering a PowerPoint-style online course. Learners are far more media savvy and have come to expect an engaging, interactive and often media-heavy experience. This includes incorporating images, videos and audio, but might also require animations, 3D material games and interactive elements. Captivating training programs can see up to an 18% boost in employee engagement – so the benefits are clear, but the expertise required can be extensive.
Publishing content is the next step that requires familiarity with the LMS publishing tools. Using reference materials is not unusual in modern online learning environments, so third-party content integration with the LMS is another concern.