Acquiring a Learning Management System (LMS) is a smart move, given that this digital age proved that it’s not going away soon. Instead, it gets better, with lots of innovative ideas springing up from left and right. Your LMS will help you in many ways, but you must make sure that you get the best one that answers your needs.

An LMS is a cost-effective investment if it is carefully implemented and carefully managed. You should do research and understand how it works before jumping into it. If not, it might end up more of a disaster than of convenience. Establish your objectives before getting to the nitty-gritty of selecting which LMS is best for your organization. This way, you have a concrete idea of what you’re looking for to help you hit your goals.

What Features Should Your LMS Have
There is a very complex world inside a learning management system. Seeing or hearing about an LMS for the very first time may be overwhelming, making that “must-haves” or even that “good-to-haves” list a great idea. To help you with the features of an LMS, we came up with an overview of the most essential ones.

LMS AS THE ORGANIZATIONAL PLATFORM
The LMS can be used as a portal for the company and its employees. This is one of the best ways to use the LMS, making all general announcements and information available to the whole organization.

• It can function as the company’s information library, not limiting the LMS to training purposes.
• Use the LMS for electronic bulletin boards. One can be company-wide, and some can be on a departmental level. It can be customized into whatever you need it to be.
• You can also utilize the built-in calendar of the LMS to inform everyone of the upcoming events within your company.This way, everyone will feel included. Also, it will be a lot easier to disseminate announcements.
• The look and feel of the LMS can also be customized in different ways. Your LMS can be designed to have one theme for everyone to match the company’s brand, or themes can vary depending on their departments, or they can customize their own themes (user level).

LMS FOR A REMARKABLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
It’s not called the ‘Learning Management System’ for nothing. The LMS’s main feature is to deliver effective courses to the learners online.

• You should be able to upload SCORM packages and other file types (such as images, videos, pdf, e-books, and other resource materials) within a course.
• You can design the course depending on its learning objectives and effectivity.
• Each course can have its own progress tracker for the learner and the administrator to see how far the learner has gone in that specific course.
• Encourage social or collaborative learning by inserting forums, chat boxes, and virtual or online classrooms to engage your learners, encourage them to learn with and from their colleagues, and really, to make the course the best it can be.
• Add a course evaluation for your learners to rate the course and for you to hear their insights on how you can improve the course or the upcoming ones.

LMS ADMINISTRATION AND LEARNER SUPPORT
LMS users can be regulated by the administrator/s tasked by the company. Let’s focus on the functions very helpful in administering the experience of every user.

• Upload and manage training courses and build an extensive content library for your learners. You can set who are able to access certain courses depending on your objectives (per employee status, department, or it can be set as mandatory for everyone).
• Make resource materials and/or manuals available to your learners as their reference. If some are confidential and are meant for specific departments only, you can make it available only for those authorized to see it.
• The tracking is made easier through reports. The LMS can generate reports for you from the simplest ones up to the complex ones.
• Upload customized certificates so users can have them downloaded or saved on their devices after finishing a course.
• Support can also be provided to the learners in many ways including chat boxes, forums, and emailing.
• Manage enrollment of the learners by having them enrolled per groups or make them enroll themselves manually.
• Manage classroom bookings and track attendance through the LMS and go paperless. It’s also much easier and faster.
• Assign roles to different users from learners, teachers, and managers among others.
• You can also assign courses and tasks to learners or group of learners who needs to take and complete them.
• The administrator can also notify or send alerts to the user of upcoming courses to be taken by them, of booking schedules for classroom training or workshops. and/or for them to be reminded of finishing a course they are taking.
• Plan and set learning paths for learners through the LMS to motivate them and see that the trainings they are taking are paying off and are taking them to the next level.

E-COMMERCE WITH THE HELP OF AN LMS
Aside for being useful within the company, the LMS can also be a platform to generate sales through your off-the-shelf e-learning materials, certification programs, and mandated trainings among many others. You can expand your content library and titles can be sold by marketing it through the LMS.

This way, your investment will return so much sooner. Set the payment options, make the material available, and control your clients’ access depending on their purchase and your agreement (subscription or one-time purchase).

These features are only the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot more complexities within the tool that is better explored than said.
We offer a free trial on our FramediaLMS. If you are interested to explore the power of an LMS, send us an email at info@framedia-inc.com and we’ll give you a trial account. We can also collaborate in planning, transitioning, and ultimately reaching your goals through the LMS.

The learning management system or LMS is a very powerful tool that can really take your company to greater heights. With proper planning, getting a compatible LMS from a reliable partner, and full utilization of the tool, knowledge transfer has never been this easy.