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It's a must-have LMS Implementation guide (with downloadable checklist) -

Mar 30, 2022

E-learning and online learning are taking off as people get ready to the many years of remote working and distance learning spaces. This means that businesses are investing in digital education devices and platforms that have never before.

JPMorgan Chase is planning to spend $600 million to upskill its workforce. Amazon is investing over $700 million to provide an upskilling program for its employees. In addition, PwC is spending $3 billion to upskill all employees over the next three or four years.

If you're looking into an innovative, flexible learning management system (LMS) which can create exciting learning experiences, you'll require an LMS implementation plan. This will help you create, launch, and maintain a successful system.

 In this article we'll teach you all you need to know to develop a simplified LMS planning for implementation, like:

  • A quick review of what a management system
  • The best software for your company (with the guide that you can download! )
  • Benefits of an LMS Plan of implementation
  • Before, during, and post-launch actions to prepare for your LMS implementation (with the launch-related checklist! )

 What's a Learning Management System (LMS)?

They are effective instruments when properly used. An LMS is an e-learning tool that helps trainers create, upload, manage, distribute, and track their online training initiatives all in one spot. LMS can be employed for customer, employee or channel partner training and for continuous learning as well as lead generation.

 The best LMS for your business

 In your search to find LMS partners, ask yourself these questions:

  • Will this tool be able to handle the technical demands of our company?
  • Does it have enough flexibility to satisfy our requirements?
  • What will the key to customer success be?
  • Can it be scaled with our growth?
  • Does it provide users with the experience students want?

 Benefits of an LMS Implementation project plan

Picking the right LMS is an accomplishment in and of itself. It takes time, dedication as well as a variety of vendor conversations to identify a system that is ideal for your company's needs. When you've got your LMS selected There's no doubt that it's important to get ROI as quickly as possible by implementing your thorough LMS implementation project plan.

 Here are a few advantages of creating a plan that gets your system running quickly:

  • Saves times. If you have a well-planned implementation plan, you'll have your new system active more quickly than if you just wing the purchase. You'll be able to save time and , most likely, lots of hassles.
  • This makes for an easy execution. In mapping out your steps for a solid implementation, you're already on the road to success. By having a clear plan, you'll be able to account for all the elements necessary to make as smooth an implementation as possible for both your users.
  • The return is generated faster. IBM uncovered a $30 yield for every $1 invested on e-learning. However small or large, businesses are looking to swiftly get the most value from their LMS purchase. One of the most efficient ways to do this is to use a an approach to implementation that is well thought out and creates immediate value for customers.

Pro Tip: One of the benefits of our top-tier planis that you be assigned a individualized Customer Success Manager (CSM). As soon as you have signed your Plus contract and sign it, your CSM is there to support your business goals as well as act as your primary guide when you use through the Plus platform. It will also work with you to develop an elaborate implementation plan, develop a realistic timeline that includes important milestones, and then complete the Launch Preparedness Review in order to ensure that you're ready for success.

 16 steps for an easier LMS implementation

The process of getting a brand new LMS launched and ready to offer immediate benefits is no easy deed. But it doesn't have to seem overwhelming.

With a detailed LMS deployment plan for roll-out, you'll have everything you need to guide you through the crucial phases:

  • Pre-Launch
  • In the launch
  • Post-Launch

 Pre-Launch Implementation Steps

A seamless LMS implementation starts once you've decided on your preferred platform and are in the preliminary launch stage. Below are our suggested steps in getting your LMS implementation on the right track to success.

 1. Find a way to align your stakeholders

The alignment of with your key stakeholders is the primary step for a reason. Your stakeholders will determine the success or failure of the success of your LMS implementation. If you are trying to align your stakeholders it is crucial to determine:

  • Implementation users (your Launch team)
  • Internal stakeholders (anyone in your organization that the LMS is designed to offer value to)
  • Other stakeholders (any other external party that might influence your plan for example, the LMS Support staff, Web instructors, developers or designers, creators of content, and more)

from an internal perspective, it's also important to ask managers about any onboarding hiccups they have and get a solid understanding of their training and development goals.

After you've identified your key stakeholders now is the time to form your team that will help you create the system that you've always wanted. It's time to make sure that everyone understands their role. The RACI matrix can be a useful approach to assign roles defining who is responsible for, accountable, and consulted and informed across every stage of the planning process.

 2. Set a timeline (and follow it! )

After you've identified the key players You're now ready to create the timeline for your project that's beneficial for everyone involved. The best way to accomplish this is to work backwards towards the date you want to launch. Keep that date in the back of your mind as you think about the major milestones that you'll have to complete to finish your project on time and assign the milestones and deadlines. Gantt charts can be a visually appealing approach to show your timeline so everyone can view every milestone prior to your launch date.

Pro-tip: Make sure the timelines work for the schedule of everyone involved and ensure make sure your initiative isn't competing with other major initiatives which may take their attention off.

 3. Consider investing in a need for training analysis

A training needs analysis helps you to understand what your LMS needs to do - and the gaps that it requires to fill. By conducting a analysis of your training needs will help you map out the changes your students will need to make to transition from their current reality toward their future goals.

The first step is to assess your audience's specific needs based on skill expectations in certain groups by conducting a training needs analysis. For this, separate your internal groups by the categories below and identify the specific abilities or knowledge that individuals require to be successful for that particular group.

  • Job Role
  • Department
  • Organizational Level

In the next step, you must identify the gaps between the abilities your employees currently have and the ones they must develop in order for them to be where they want or need to be. This knowledge of gaps can help you develop a content roadmap to guide your LMS introduction later.

 4. Put your content in the same row

Now, you've created your team, set the date for your meeting, and are aware of the areas of training deficiencies you're LMS should be fixing. Now, you're ready for the content itself - which can be integrated in several ways.

In the beginning, you are able to upload your current learning materials directly into your LMS platform in order to get it moving more quickly. Here at, we offer the Bulk Importer feature that allows users to upload all your courses' audio, video, and PDF lessons by dragging and drop. This will make the migration process a lot less scary! With a Plus subscription the Customer Success Manager (CSM) will be able to assist you with custom migration as well.

Or, you can develop the course's content entirely completely from beginning from scratch. If you're considering this option, we suggest starting by creating a plan of content, and then integrate the fun features that your brand-new LMS offers - such as survey, quizzes and discussion boards. Be aware that this procedure is time-consuming, so make sure to carve out sufficient commitment to time within your LMS Implementation plan and timetable.

 5. Train your users on the software

An LMS can be an effective learning tool when individuals are aware of how to use it. So, it's important to ensure the users are able to connect to and utilize the platform before they let them loose.

Start by briefing new users on how to sign in and use through the system in order to access their training materials. It is also a good idea to ensure that managers are certain they are aware of the program and what they are expected to do as it relates to managing it. They can also aid in developing their team members.

Pro-tip: A simple guide to training and an easy-to-access FAQs can help you save many hours of answering basic questions like "What do I need to know about my login?" or "Which training should I do first?"

 6. Do not forget to think about user experience

User experience is essential for attracting the attention of your students and enticing them to try your brand new LMS. It's crucial to integrate user experience throughout the pre-launch period so that at the time to launch, you'll know that your system is simple to navigate from start to finish.

If you're ready to evaluate your users' experience, you can add the beta users and provide them training content. Be sure that they receive an email welcoming them and it's not going to spam. Log in with them as they to verify that everything works exactly as you expect and ensure to ensure that they have been assigned the right training material.

 7. Test, test, and test again

Few things are more frustrating than working hard to launch a system, and then finding out it's not performing as you wanted it to. That's why we believe in the power of testing before a launch.

Make sure to check the compatibility of your system when you're in testing mode. Test a variety of web browsers like Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

 8. Double-check the readiness of your launch

In the final stage, you've invested the effort determination, commitment and the time to create your LMS off the ground successfully you're probably eager to make it available to all the people. However, prior to pressing the "Go" button, it never hurts to make sure you double and triple check the system's readiness for launch.

Download Launch preparedness checklist for making sure you've got everything in place before you launch your new system.

 Implementation Steps During Your Launch

After your LMS has been officially launched, there are several ways you can keep your system in good condition, so that it performs to the height of its capabilities.

 9. Make a list of the content you have

With your LMS deployment already under way Now is the best time to do an audit of your content. What additional content or courses are you looking for? Which courses are proving popular? well, and which ones are students struggling with?

In addition, you could take steps to elevate your courses' engagement through the layering of assessments, quizzes and certificates that students can share broadly.

 10. Organize your curriculum

While you hammer out your content approach, which is always a process that is ongoing, you can also take time to ensure the structure of your content is on par with the needs of your audience.

When doing this Remember to examine the categories and sections of your course along with the navigation. These ensure your user experience is as interesting as it is informative.

 11. Review of individual courses

When you have looked at the whole picture you can now focus on completing your revisions by course.

Are your courses interacting students with them and providing them to succeed in the manner they want? Are there prerequisites to the courses that your audience might find beneficial in setting them up for success? Is the course's conclusion a satisfying experience? them wanting for more?

These are critical guidelines to think about when you are taking your course higher and make sure your LMS always offers worth.

Pro Tip: On , you can enable course reviews directly inside your course curriculum to easily collect feedback from your students. You can also create the form of a survey that asks specific questions concerning your curriculum's contents.

 12. Make student support channels active

Not all of your attendees will want to go at the course on their own. They'll be asking questions or wanting to work with other students taking the same course. This is the reason why having the channels for student support throughout the curriculum is crucial to keep students interested and enthusiastic.

 These channels can be:

Find out more about how to improve the experience of students this page.

 13. Elevate your site branding

Customization and branding for courses can be a great way to engage the students you teach to your organization through every stage of the learning process. With the appropriate LMS tool, you can customize your course using your own branded themes such as logos, colors and fonts, as well with custom interfaces, navigation as well as headers and footers that will resonate with your students. Learn more about 's branding options here.

 14. Be in contact with your students and teachers.

Engaging students well following your launch is an art form which requires a bit of resiliency and a lot of support that is automated. For students in particular that aren't communicating with them, the better - that's why emails for students as well as drip campaigns are significant benefits for any LMS.

Drip-based campaigns are a popular strategy for marketing, which involves sending a staggering series of emails to students who have drifted away from the courses. The logic here, to get someone back into their education online after they've dropped off.

Instructors also gain from frequent communications, particularly via messages. Instructors can subscribe to as many communication and messages as they'd like. Whatever happens, whether a brand leader or new student sign up for their course or there's a new discussion thread - instructors will be informed in all time.

 Post-Launch Implementation Steps

In the post-launch phase of your LMS implementation project plan is a celebration! It means you've completed your pre-planning and launched your new system - however, the process isn't done yet.

 Implementation steps after launch will help you keep at the top of your game so you can make the necessary improvements that create stellar online education experiences.

 15. Check the system's usage

Digging into your system's analytics can tell you all kinds of stories, such as:

  • Who's using your system?
  • How often are they making use of it?
  • Which courses are most and least popular
  • How your students and developing within your individual classes
  • The place where you can enhance your web page

There's more to discover through analytics and data, however at the root of all that is the ability to also tell you how successful your LMS implementation was and ways to improve the subsequent versions of the system. Learn more about the reporting features of's on this page.

 16. Ask for feedback

Though this might be the most important step of your LMS implementation project plan but it's certainly one of the most crucial for the long-term performance of your system as well as the online learning programs. Getting direct feedback from the users of your system will help you understand the specifics of what's working, and what's not, and where it's possible to make changes.

Whichever method you use make sure you ask. This way, you will know exactly how people perceive your system and can define the value it provides them.

 Conclusion

As of now, I'm sure you have a good understanding of what it takes for a successful LMS project which will add value to your business. With a detailed plan, the proper team, and the best-fit system, you'll be able within a matter of minutes to implement a system that gets your users and company in the position it needs to become.