Making the decision to invest in a learning management system (LMS) is an exciting time for any training department. As you are doing your research, you have likely noticed that companies either love, or loathe their LMS. Clearly, you want to choose one that your company will love. How choose the right LMS and learn from the mistakes that other companies have made?

What Do You Want?

The first part of selecting an LMS is to be certain that you know what you want the LMS to do for you. Usually when you start looking at LMS software, it’s because you have identified a need that you are hoping the LMS will help you solve. Make a list of these features that are critical to the success of your LMS and ensure that they stay at the forefront. The greatest “bells and whistles” on the market will be useless if they don’t help you accomplish the features on your list.

Are You Reading The Reviews?

Pay attention to the reviews or opinions of groups who simply hate their LMS. Their experience, however negative it may be, will have value in helping you narrow down your selection. You may love the software they hate, but understanding what they are unhappy with and why will hopefully give you an edge on not repeating their mistake.

LMS Interface

An LMS is a powerful piece of software that can do a lot of things for you. Regardless of how strong it is, the interface needs to be simple for all of your users. Whatever action you log into the LMS to complete, it needs to be intuitive and easy to figure out. There’s no point in an LMS that looks great on the front end for your users, but the training department has to consult with an IT specialist to figure out how to load their material. The end result will be a group of your users who hate your LMS.As you search for your LMS, look for an interface that is fresh and intuitive from whatever perspective you are viewing it. You’ll want to look at it through the view of a learner, a training coordinator, and an administrative user. Successful use of the LMS will find each of these groups able to accomplish their tasks without stress or frustration.

Advantages of Using Vendor Supported LMS

It’s hard to pass up the convenience of using a vendor supported LMS for a number of reasons. One thing that many companies often overlook is the factor of experience. Ideally, an organization buys an LMS and uses it for a long time. If your company is purchasing your first LMS, you understandably don’t have the level of expertise that comes along with building software that is used by hundreds of different organizations. A vendor product is the result of extensive testing and collaboration with many different experts. Furthermore, they learn from their mistakes and modify their product in a way that allows it to work for companies and government agencies of all types. Those skills only come with experience.

Look For a Free Trial and Try The LMS

Here at Litmos, we are proud of our LMS. It is currently used by over a million people all over the world. We’ve put together a refreshing interface that is intuitive for anyone with basic computer knowledge. Behind that simple design is very robust software that can meet the needs of nearly any demanding training program. We’d love for you to try it for yourself. Go ahead and take advantage of our free trial and see if our LMS is a good match for you.

Selecting Your LMS

The best LMS will be the one that meets your needs. No amount of awesome features will compensate for a piece of software that doesn’t work the way you want. Knowing your expectations for the LMS up front and then finding the software solution that accomplishes your objectives will help ensure that you love your LMS.