Is Your LMS Hard to Love?

Love your LMS

Love and hate; two very strong words. Love and hate create an interesting premise for building a software solution. As the story goes, the original founders of Litmos were looking for a software sector that needed disruption and innovation. They looked at the data and found that learning management systems were the 3rd most hated enterprise software category. So Litmos set out to create the only LMS you’ll ever LOVE! #LoveYourLMS

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, let’s look at the things you should love about your LMS.

Ease of Use

As one of the first SaaS-based learning management systems, Litmos was able to take advantage of internet technologies and browser design principles that revolutionized the web surfing experience in the mid 2000’s. Remember, before web 2.0, LMSs were still based on old client/server, on-premise, hardware/software solutions. They weren’t easy to use, which made them very hard to love. Seeing longtime LMS administrators experience Litmos for the first time, showed me how easy it was to fall in love…with an LMS.

Online Course Builder

Feelings about SCORM-based courses lean more towards hate then love these days. However, at one point in time having a standard course package for computer-based training (CBT), was something to love. Today the Internet has changed many things; now that we can track the viewing and interactions of just about any media type we don’t need our own industry standard. By simply following the internet technology standards for text, audio, video, etc., you can use the LMS’s course builder to create modular courses or consider using pre-built training courses.

Instructor-Led Training (ILT)

The early days of computer-based training and eLearning were exciting. The idea that self-paced training courses could be created so easily made it easy to hate the classroom. ver time, we all realized that it wasn’t the method or mode of delivery that was the problem, it was bad design. Now instructor-led training remains a strong part of blended learning solutions and will not be disappearing any time soon. However, the complexities of organizing and planning the logistics of ILT still exist. No need to hate the fact that an LMS automates many of the processes associated with the production of ILT.

Assessments and Quizzes

Multiple choice tests have taken a lot of abuse over the years, and for many different reasons. Despite whatever hate you may hold towards basic online assessments, they are necessary and useful. Being able to quickly and easily create different types of assessments is most definitely something to love and the options are improving regularly. You can now create assessments that allow users to upload files of their own work, or a video of how they might respond in a particular situation. These advanced testing features are without a doubt something to love about your LMS.

Reports and Dashboards

Do you love data? Data is your friend. Your BFF. Your old LMS hoarded the data. That’s why the two of you broke up, it only let administrators access the data for reporting purposes. It wasn’t that long ago that we hated the limited access to data. Everyone should be able to see their current progress in a simple and elegant design. And now, everyone can. Being able to visually represent a learner’s progress over time may seem trivial today, but training departments didn’t always have this luxury. Even if you’re not a numbers/data person, you will love seeing it represented in beautiful reports and dashboards. You can finally love data. Your users will love it and so will your management.

Open API and a Marketplace of Application Integrations

There was a time when tracking your training department via a database or spreadsheet, to was something to love.  Today’s fast-paced business environment, of multiple specialized applications, requires the ability to communicate. They need to be integrated. We hate doing anything manually these days, which is why it’s easy to love an LMS that integrates with other business apps like Salesforce, Dropbox, ADP, BambooHR, Mailchimp, PayPal, GoToTraining, WordPress, WebEx, and many more. If your business has built its own software solutions you, will love Litmos, which  offers you an open API to create your own integrations.

Mobile Learning Content and Access

Can you believe you’ve only been dating your iPhone since 2007? The death of the Palm Pilot was unfortunate, but you moved on. Now you have a better mobile life and accessing learning content is part of what makes your new mobile learning life fantastic! You can send learning content to hundreds, or even thousands, of employees working in the field, instead of forcing them into a classroom location. Your field employees will love that you respect their time by sending smaller, shorter, media elements specifically focused on what they need to know. They can access it anywhere, anytime, on the device of their choice. This makes an LMS very easy to love.

Build a Business Case for LMS

Do you need to build a business case for a new LMS you can finally LOVE instead of hate? Ten years ago, no one believed me when I would say that I finally found an LMS I can love. Today thousands of customers and millions of users have fallen in love with Litmos. And you will, too!

Request a demo or just start a free trial and consider it a first date.

This white paper from Brandon Hall Group will get you started: Building the Business Case for Learning Technology Systems.