Education and learning are essential to building a company that’s the best version of itself. As reported in WSJ, companies with strong learning cultures are 2.6x more likely to exceed financial targets, 7.2x more likely to retain workers, and 4.1x more likely to adapt well to turbulent times. How can you unlock these possibilities for your company?
Learning management systems (LMS) providers facilitate training and education across corporate landscapes, working directly with companies to ensure all stakeholders are learning effectively.
But before you can get started, you have to choose an LMS partner.
Below, we’ll break down some of the critical components of a learning management system for external learning as you compare prospective LMS platforms.
Scalability and Flexibility
Perhaps the most important feature to seek out when comparing LMS providers is the extent to which each can accommodate a large and growing number of users, along with content and online training modules that grow in number, size, and complexity over time. Also note that, in most cases, this is all directly tied to training costs.
One common approach to scalability is utilizing the cloud to develop, deliver, host, and otherwise support an educational program. The extra space allows for near-infinite customization options to meet your needs without compromising.
As McKinsey points out in a piece on the transformed learning function of the future, effective learning needs to balance stability and dynamism to remain effective over time. That’s at the root of consistently strengthening and improving performance at scale.
Headless LMS provides the ultimate flexibility, as front-end and back-end functions are decoupled. Organizations can build whatever kinds of user experiences they want without being limited by specific integrations, delivery options, and support.
User-Friendly Interface
Users need to be able to access courses and other content easily, irrespective of their ability or location. So, as a baseline, your LMS should help you meet ADA standards. And, as a best practice, your LMS should make content easy to navigate with an intuitive design that even users with limited technological literacy can still use effectively.
Search functions, personalized dashboards, and mobile accessibility can all help learners access information and context. Not to mention, seamless data management and monitoring functions make a platform just as user-friendly on the administrative side.
Customizable Learning Paths
Another key feature to seek out in LMS providers is the flexibility their platforms afford to create learning materials tailored to different learning styles and goals.
For example, the range of learning experiences you need to consider may include:
- Partner training
- Customer training
- Customer onboarding
- Skill development courses
You want to be able to track progress across all of these and adapt the content based on both the expected outcomes and the particular needs of the learners. People learn best in different ways, and you should be able to account for that.
You’ll also want an LMS partner who’s ready to create new learning paths based on future trends in customer education and related programs.
Content Management
Relatedly, you’ll want to make sure your target LMS supports all the content you’re currently using or plan on developing and deploying in the future. That means support for course materials such as video, audio, image, and text resources, along with multimedia presentations, interactive worksheets, quizzes, and more.
Course content should also be easy to upload, navigate, and manage. In fact, the best LMS vendors support native content authoring—creating content directly within the platform.
Flexibility and openness to a wide range of content for secondary and tertiary purposes is also a plus. A 2023 NYT story detailed how, worldwide, companies are providing training on tenets of democracy to stabilize stakeholders amidst global turmoil. Even courses not directly tied to operations can have positive impacts.
Communication and Collaboration Tools
Interactive and social learning is extremely valuable in all educational contexts; an ideal LMS platform should have options for discussion forums, chat, peer editing and interactions, and more. As educators create courses, using these features should be intuitive rather than cumbersome—and, ideally, incentivized.
Beyond building communication into course creation, a powerful LMS will also integrate these features across other platforms used in a given context (i.e., messaging platforms) to encourage and support dynamic, blended learning.
Assessment and Certification
Assessment is also critical to learning, irrespective of context. An individual’s grasp of core concepts proves that a program is working. So, your LMS should feature tools for creating, distributing, and managing quizzes, tests, and assignments.
As a best practice, specific learning outcomes can be tied to certificates that create opportunities for empowerment and advancement. For example, Thought Industries’ LMS solutions utilize Bongo to streamline and optimize assessments.
This is also closely related to…
Analytics and Reporting
One of the essential parts of any LMS buying strategy is looking for a partner who will help you collect, monitor, report on, and operationalize your training program data.
Tracking learner progress and engagement enables performance management through data-driven adjustments. Understanding key metrics like completion rate and time spent in modules alongside assessment scores allows you to grade instructors and the program as a whole to ensure everything works as planned. Customizable reports and dashboards are a plus in this regard; they allow you to tie learning metrics to overall business and operational needs, such as product adoption and retention.
Integration Capabilities
Another important element of an effective online learning program is integration and compatibility with other systems and programs. Ideally, your LMS should talk to CRM and HR systems and as much of the tech stack as possible.
APIs and third-party integrations are one approach, but a unified ecosystem is ideal.
Simply put, at minimum, your LMS partner should check off all the boxes on your LMS integration checklist and have room for future growth.
Security and Compliance
Your LMS should be committed to helping you meet your security objectives, including any regulatory compliance requirements you’re subject to. On one level, this might mean integrating security-specific content across training materials.
On another level, it might mean ensuring that the LMS provider is compliant:
- If learners are based in a protected location, like the EU, programs that collect their data must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- If you operate in or adjacent to a protected industry, you may need to follow laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Providing training courses about learners’ responsibilities and monitoring for any potential security and compliance risks are indicators of a strong LMS partner.
Support and Maintenance
Finally, any great learning management system will include various support options that are available as often (ideally 24/7) and as easily as possible.
Learners, educators, and all other stakeholders should be able to reach LMS representatives by phone, email, live chat, or other options, at least during normal business hours. Training resources and information about the learning platform itself should also be available to managers, with updates and enhancements scheduled regularly.
Members of the LMS team can even oversee learning management overall, at least in part or at launch. You want a provider who’s there to help.
Support is also one of the key factors in LMS pricing and contract negotiation. Before you agree to work with a given partner, make sure they’ll help you engage and support learners at startup and throughout the program’s lifespan.
Find Your External Learning Partner Today
Finding the right LMS partner for external learning means looking for a provider that’s flexible and scalable. You need a partner that provides good UI, customization, efficient management, communication, assessment, and analytical capabilities. You should also seek out premium integration, security, and support from your LMS.
Thought Industries’ LMS platform has all of this and more—that’s why we’re consistently rated a top option and were recognized as the #1 learning platform in the world by Craig Weiss in 2023.Consider these components of learning management systems for external learning as you evaluate your options. Or, schedule a demo to see what we can do for you.
