?

Best Practices for A Successful LMS Implementation

The successful implementation of any enterprise system requires solid

business support and deliberate planning. This is especially true for systems

that impact regulatory compliance, such as a Learning Management

System (LMS).

Based on our experience across highly regulated industries, we recommend

these 8 best practices for success:

Ensure Strategic AlignmentAn LMS implementation is most successful when it is aligned with the organization’s strategy. Your LMS should contribute to the long-term success of the organization, not just address short-term needs.

To ensure strategic alignment, you should be able to answer:

• Why are we buying an LMS now?

• How will the chosen LMS deliver ROI?

• What are the potential human or �nancial consequences of not acquiring an LMS?

If you can’t answer these questions, then you need to revisit your business case.

8

1

Best PRACTICES

Get an Executive SponsorIf you don’t have an executive sponsor, get one! Ideally you should have identi�ed your executive sponsor in your business case. However, it’s never too late for the support of a senior voice. An executive sponsor can gather teams from different departments (such as L&D, IT and Legal), get budget approval and empower you to implement change.

The sponsor doesn’t have to be an HR or Learning Executive. It is often best to have a sponsor from Finance or Legal. These departments are already focused on compliance, making them good partners for an LMS implementation initiative.

Create a TeamEnsure that resources are available. An enterprise LMS has multiple functionalities and isn’t designed to ‘plug and play’. It requires an ongoing investment from your people. We suggest you:

• Hire or identify your key administrator, as the project lead. They may need to be full or part-time.

• Consider an LMS Manager to lead from a strategic perspective.

• Establish IT’s level of involvement. On premise deployments requires active IT input. SaaS deployments may include input from IT on requirements for password security, data access, etc.

• Select the right structure for your organization – such as a single system admin or a central system admin team with a network of regional or departmental administrators.

• For a network of global administrators, create a forum or LMS council to collaborate on processes, best practices and continuous improvement.

Define Business RequirementsUnclear objectives, vague requirements and poorly de�ned success metrics are often contributing factors in failed LMS implementations. You must:

• De�ne: what do you want to achieve with the LMS?

• Don’t take existing processes (especially paper-based) and move them to the LMS.

• Use out-of-the-box features of the LMS as much as possible

• Change your processes �rst and wait to change the system until 3+ months of use

• Prioritize and document requirements: determine which are a “MUST” and which are “nice to have”

Continually track these requirements throughout the LMS implementation.

2

3

4

Make an Implementation PlanEnsure that you have a robust plan that contains all the key implementation steps:

1. Kick Off 5. Use Case Testing & Feedback

2. Requirements Review & Gathering 6. Con�guration Finalization

3. Attend Foundation Training 7. Go Live Preparation

4. Con�guration of the LMS 8. LMS Deployment

• Be realistic about your schedule - you need to allow enough time.

• An LMS implementation project can take between 3 – 6 months, depending on the goals, available resources and the overall organization.

• A large enterprise-level LMS can take a year or more to implement, depending on requirements.

5

6

7

Create a Training PlanDo not underestimate the value of time spent on formal training and informal practice. Post-training, system administrators should be able to engage in detailed conversations with the vendor and even challenge them.

Companies with a training plan report a greater ROI. Enable success by:

• Identifying designated backup administrators to receive the same training as the primary administrator(s).

• Creating an end user training plan. Resources could include “How To” modules.

• Establishing an admin support network, such as a shared drive with user guides or an administrator’s wiki.

• Proactively train internal IT Support to reset passwords and create accounts.

Manage for ChangeMany successful implementations fail when organizations do not prepare people for change. A new LMS may be exciting for the project team, but some staff may be intimidated. We recommend you:

• Utilize internal communications to prepare teams for upcoming changes.

• Focus on branding and PR – engage staff in a “Name the LMS” competition or other idea to promote excitement.

• Communicate launch materials early to make your go-live as smooth as possible.

• Reach out to any worker’s council or unions early in the process for their support.

www.NetDimensions.com Sales@NetDimensions.com

NetDimensions, NetDimensions Talent Suite, NetDimensions Learning, NetDimensions eLearning, NetDimensions Exams, NetDimensions Performance, NetDimensions Analytics, NetDimensions Talent Slate, MyTools+, and MyTeam+ are trademarks or service marks of NetDimensions Limited.

All other trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective owners.

Continually Leverage the LMSMaintain a buzz around the LMS after implementation is complete. Most people will log in once.You need them to return and learn.

Strategies can include:

• Sharing statistics on the departments with the most logins or highest scores for a sense ofcompetition.

• Adding “fun” courses to the LMS to entice users, as many content providers offer courses onphotography or languages, etc.

• Using communication features of the LMS, (homepage updates, news articles), to give users a newexperience when they log in.

• Adding an LMS link, login box or news feed to other company sites, like the intranet, or HR system.

• Partnering with your LMS vendor to ensure that you are leveraging available or upcoming features.

• Joining a community of other users to share knowledge and best practices.

8

Did you like this collateral?

Then you may want to check out our Client Success Stories

View Our Case Studies