Getting the highest return on your training team’s time and resources is always a challenge.
If you’re working with siloed software and manual records to administer your training activities, your team will be saddled with hundreds of time-consuming, routine tasks to manage and deliver your training catalog.
That level of challenge can be frustrating and overwhelming, not to mention costly.
That’s where the right learning management system’s (LMS) automation features can streamline or eliminate many of these routine tasks.
Imagine the value your team could add to the bottom line by freeing them of these repetitive tasks so they can devote themselves to higher-value work.
The following post describes seven ways the right LMS can help liberate your team of repetitive tasks through automation, so you can elevate the performance of your training organization.
1. Automate course enrollment and management
Like clockwork, your team faces waves of new trainees to enroll in your LMS. Whether you enter each trainee one by one or batch them for an upload using a CSV file, there’s an even quicker way — automation.
Connect whatever database you’re using to your LMS. (We discuss integrations below.) Afterward, any new person added to the database will be effortlessly entered in your LMS.
2. Nudge your trainees with automatic notifications
Busy trainees need to be reminded about course start dates, deadlines, and any number of issues. Instead of manually pulling together notifications from your templates to remind the trainee (only after you’ve reminded yourself to carry out the task), your LMS can save you time and stress by automating all these notifications.
This reduction of time and stress will be particularly valuable when you’re offering compliance courses. Think of the large number of varied notifications you send at different times during compliance training: upcoming expiries of certifications, course opening and closing dates, and updates to trainee managers on all these dates, to name only a few.
Your LMS can automate all that!
3. Trainees can learn at their own pace, automatically
Your busy trainees are always looking to add convenience to their lives. That’s why self-paced learning is so appealing: It enables trainees to deep dive into course content when study time fits into their lives.
Adding to your team’s convenience is the set-up of prerequisites for training activities. This set-up enables your LMS to automatically enroll each trainee in a customized learning path that best matches their learning needs.
These learning paths can include programmed interactive content, discussion forums, and a mix of media, such as webinars, podcasts, texts, and assessments. All these present themselves to the trainee at the right moment, automatically.
4. Stay on top of your trainees’ performance
The more your training helps trainees achieve their goals, the greater the chances of fulfilling your goals as a training organization.
So tracking your trainees’ activity and performance through dashboards and multiple reports is essential. The right LMS can keep you up-to-date effortlessly.
Real-time dashboards instantly deliver data like attendance, performance on tests, and completion rates. As a result, you can support your trainees in a timely way.
Furthermore, the LMS can produce reports in standardized and custom formats, including spreadsheets and data visualizations. These reports will help you make faster, more informed decisions on your trainees’ progress and the value of your course content.
5. Take the pulse of engagement levels with analytics tools
Your LMS records a vast trove of helpful data. Its powerful analytics tool will uncover hidden patterns in your data to help you gain insight and make better decisions.
For example, quizzing your trainees before and after a course enables you to gauge the efficacy of your training. Also, online surveys of your trainees can provide qualitative and quantitative feedback that can guide your team as you adapt or develop an even more engaging course catalog.
6. Take advantage of seamless integrations
To maximize the automation your LMS is capable of, ensure that your solution can integrate seamlessly with other business systems, like your HRIS and CRM.
With the right LMS, you’ll benefit from a secure API (Application Programming Interface) that allows your solution to communicate easily with your other business systems.
As a result, you minimize your team’s need to duplicate data entry or other manual tasks.
7. Select the right LMS
To take advantage of all the automation we’ve discussed, it’s essential to select the right LMS. So when evaluating your LMS options, keep the following steps in mind. (To learn more, read “5 Tips for an Efficient, Hassle-Free Implementation of Your LMS”
Assess your training needs. With your stakeholders, discuss and define the must-have and nice-to-have features of your LMS. List your requirements in a document that will act as your north star guiding you through the purchase journey.
Test-drive a short list of LMSs. Invite your LMS power users to solution demos so they can test scenarios your team will most commonly encounter.
Ensure that the LMS ticks your key checkboxes. Select the solution that meets your organization’s budget and current needs, and will scale to meet future needs. Remember, the LMS should integrate seamlessly with your current business systems.
Vet the references. Contact the references offered by your preferred provider and read the peer reviews.
Train your staff. Invest in training. Like the gym equipment you bought that now serves to hang your clothes, an LMS can only deliver its immense benefits if your team learns how to use it effectively.
Evaluate performance and adapt. Inspire a spirit of continuous improvement in your team. Monitor how your trainees are responding to your course content. Check on feedback from your staff. Review your LMS reports regularly. Make the inevitable adjustments.
With all the time and labour you’ll save from the LMS’ automation, you’ll find yourself freer to fine-tune your organization’s performance and deliver even more effective training.
Want to learn more about how we can make the administration of your training a whole lot easier? Contact us today!
