What is an LMS, and do you need one?

LMS stands for learning management system. It is sometimes called a learning system or a learning platform. It is a system where a company gathers its courses, assigns them to employees, and tracks who has completed them.

But does your company need one? This article explains what an LMS does, when it makes sense, and what to look for.

An LMS solves three tasks in particular:

• It gathers the content. Courses, videos, and materials live in one place instead of in folders, emails, and presentations.
• It controls who gets what. Learning is assigned by role, department, or location, preferably with a deadline.
• It documents. You can see who has started, who has finished, and who is missing.

Many LMSs can also issue certificates, send reminders, and give managers an overview of their team.

Not every company needs an LMS from day one. But most reach a point where emails and spreadsheets no longer cut it. Typical signs are:

• You hire regularly, and onboarding looks different every time.
• You need to document training, for example on workplace safety, data, or security.
• You are introducing new systems or workflows that many people need to learn.
• Knowledge sits with a few people, and it is a problem when they are away.
• You have employees across multiple locations or without a fixed desk.

If you recognize two or more of these points, an LMS is probably a good investment.

The terms are often used interchangeably. A classic LMS starts from what the company assigns. An LXP (learning experience platform) starts from the individual user and suggests content based on interests. Learning platform is the broadest term and covers both.

In practice, the line is blurry. What matters is not the acronym, but whether the system fits the way you work with learning.

Many companies have tried an LMS no one used. The causes repeat themselves:

• Creating content is too hard. If only specialists can build courses, new ones never get made.
• The catalog is too big. Employees have to find the relevant content themselves and give up.
• The employee's page is cluttered. If the next step is not obvious, no one clicks on.
• Setup takes too long. Some systems are built for large training departments and require many months of work.

Use these questions when evaluating solutions:

1. Can our own people build a course without outside help?
2. Can we assign courses to groups, departments, and locations, and set deadlines?
3. Is it simple for the employee to see what needs to be done now?
4. Can managers follow their team's progress themselves?
5. Can we document completion, for example with certificates?
6. Does it work on mobile, and can employees sign in with the login they already have?
7. Is local support available, and how long does it take to get started?

Skillflow is a Danish learning platform that solves the same tasks as an LMS, but is built around a few concepts. Courses are built page by page in Skill Designer, bundled into programs, and assigned to groups, departments, locations, or individual users. Progress can be followed at every level, and the employee sees one place with what is relevant right now.

Read more about E-learning in Skillflow, or see How to choose the right learning platform.