Take an Educated Approach to Developing a Learning Management System Strategy Build an LMS strategy on corporate objectives and Learning & Development goals by considering the four pillars: content, people, process, and technology. McLean & Company is a research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools and advice that have a clear and measurable impact on your business. © 1997 - 2016 McLean & Company. McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group SAMPLE Learn about becoming a member

Our understanding of the problem Human resources professionals, training and development specialists, and organizational development specialists responsible for learning mechanism design and delivery. IT and application managers that are tasked with supporting the business through the creation of a learning management system (LMS) strategy. Make the business case for assessing the appropriateness of an LMS solution. Audit the inventory of learning and estimate the current learning costs. Create a business model to identify project barriers and enablers, as well as HR and IT objectives. Evaluate solution alternatives in regards to people, process, technology, and content. Organizations looking to develop an LMS strategy to achieve organizational goals associated with learning and development. Create a common LMS understanding between HR, IT, and business stakeholders. Offer guidance on how to translate learning and development needs into LMS technology requirements. SAMPLE

Executive summary SAMPLE 1. Right-size your LMS solution. HR professionals and Application Managers are tasked with leveraging a learning management solution to foster a learning culture at their organization. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the need for more effective and flexible learning and development has become more significant. In the 2016 McLean & Company Trends Survey, organizations ranked leadership/management and employee development as their top priorities. 1. Right-size your LMS solution. Avoid underinvesting or overbuying from the start. LMSs come in all shapes and sizes: don’t buy functions you don’t need. 2. Identify your LMS use case from the start to focus your strategy and filter your needs. 3. A disjointed and departmentalized approach to learning will inevitably fail. Ensure you have a holistic LMS strategy through the necessary convergence of people, process, technology, and content. Organizations often have difficulty with increasing internal course participation, measuring training effectiveness, and increasing training accessibility. Processes are often manual, resulting in wasted time, resources, and a lack of traceability and visibility between departments. A strong learning and development strategy that leverages a learning management solution will increase L&D efficiencies, develop in-house talent, thus providing a competitive advantage to organizations in today’s talent war. Take a step back and create a business model that considers the learning needs of HR, IT, and the broader business. Strive for a holistic strategy and avoid compartmentalized efforts. Understand your use case. Identify your organization’s goals and L&D objectives to choose the LMS use case that is most aligned with your learning needs. Identify your solution alternatives across people, processes, technology, and content. Create a comprehensive roadmap, prioritizing initiatives and identifying dependencies. Devise a plan for implementation. Effectively communicate changes to and put mechanisms in place to ensure effective LMS governance. SAMPLE

Guided Implementation McLean & Company offers various levels of support to best suit your needs Guided Implementation “Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.” DIY Toolkit “Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.” Workshop “We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.” Consulting “Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.” Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options SAMPLE

Follow McLean & Company’s approach to develop your LMS strategy Create the Project Vision Structure the Project Conduct a Current State Assessment Evaluate Solution Alternatives Design the LMS Roadmap Build an LMS Implementation Plan Identify goals and objectives for LMS project. Complete LMS business model. Align corporate, L&D, and LMS objectives. Outputs Define project scope. Define roles & responsibilities. Identify risks, and create mitigation strategies. Outputs Engage different stakeholders in soliciting requirements based on business needs. Outputs Create content strategy. Sketch ideal process. Map desired application ecosystem. Outputs LMS Technology Strategy Identify and prioritize roadmap initiatives. Identify enabling projects. Outputs LMS Initiatives Roadmap Create governance and communications plans. Sell LMS strategy to the business. Outputs LMS Implementation Plan LMS Strategy Vision LMS Strategic Alignment LMS High-Level Requirements Consolidate content, people, process, and technology requirements. Outputs Strategic Direction Prepare LMS strategy presentation to gain stakeholder commitment. Outputs Stakeholder Presentation SAMPLE

Sample Slides SAMPLE

Understand the three different LMS use cases Where your LMS efforts will be focused varies from organization to organization. Your strategy efforts will be largely dictated by your specific learning goals and objectives. 1 2 3 Compliance Performance Support Knowledge Management Description: Compliance training is critical when there are mandatory certifications or training curriculums that need to be completed in order for employees to perform their jobs. Description: Performance support is job specific and provides training to enhance competencies and develop skills. Description: Knowledge management is a means of sharing, distributing, and curating shared knowledge or new information to the broader organization. Definition LMS Compliance Benefits: Helps simplify the audit process Facilitates the delivery of consistent content Reduces the risk of compliance fines Decreases administrative efforts to track and manage compliance training LMS Performance Benefits: Engages employees Promotes a continuous learning environment Builds critical skills that will impact the bottom line LMS Knowledge Management Benefits: Creates a central location for information management Shares information in a timely manner Creates a sense of community within the organization Benefits Health and safety training Regulatory certifications Technical learning programs Professional qualifications Management and leadership development New policies and procedures Annual company meetings New product information Examples SAMPLE

Externally Commissioned Generic outsourced libraries Understand the different ways you can create content and the different sources to curate content from Right-size your content strategy to your LMS strategy to achieve a cost-effective solution. The Learning Content Pyramid In-House Content Creation Externally Commissioned Created Internally User-generated content Curated content sets Generic outsourced libraries Freely available Source: Donald H. Taylor, “The learning content pyramid” Volume & Cost Contextual Relevance Ownership of content creation does not necessarily need to lie in HR or at the management level within departments. Leveraging knowledgeable talent within the organization is a cost-effective and creative alternative that will yield quality content while engaging your top employees in learning. Third-Party Content Curation Third-party content doesn’t always have to be less for more. There is plenty of affordable alternatives that will achieve economies of scale in your content strategy. Explore your options. SAMPLE

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