What Should You Expect From Your LMS Training?

Investing in a new learning management system (LMS) can completely revolutionize how your organization operates. But before you and your colleagues start using the new software, everyone needs to understand how to use it:

• What features does the system have, and how can you take advantage of them?
• Which functionality will replace existing administrative protocol?
• Which functionality is most relevant to your unique objectives?
• How will a user’s professional role affect how he or she uses the software?
• How will you troubleshoot any problems you experience down the line?

Given Rievent’s focus on continuing professional education (CE), our understanding of LMS training largely reflects the needs and goals of our clients in the CE space. That being said, we think the following list of expectations is completely realistic for a variety of businesses and professional institutions that want to ensure they get the most from any training sessions.

So set those expectations high! Your new LMS will impact how people at your organization do their work each day, and the training you receive shouldn’t leave a single question unanswered. Here’s what to expect from your LMS training:

Live, interactive sessions

When you receive training for your new LMS, expect a to take part in a live, online instructional session with other project stakeholders. Pre-recorded training videos are nice and might be helpful for troubleshooting or for a quick “refresher” session now and then. They’re also appropriate for business applications that only impact a limited number of people at your organization (accounting software, for example).

But an LMS isn’t a “low-impact” application, and you certainly shouldn’t have to train yourself after you hit a snag and have questions. You need to develop a solid understanding of how the system helps you do your job. That’s why a live, interactive training session (or sessions) is absolutely crucial.

Generally speaking, LMS training should occur shortly after you’ve finalized an agreement with a software provider. The training will use your actual account with actual information from your education programs, not a demo account with placeholder information or imaginary courses. The training should also be available for all users and stakeholders, not just those involved in the LMS selection process.

At Rievent, we follow a “structured, but informal” protocol for all of our online training sessions. There is an agenda and list of features to cover – always geared toward the education provider’s unique requirements – but attendees are encouraged to ask questions and interact with the trainer throughout the session. In many ways, training is user-led, and we can diverge from the slated agenda when needed.

If you request it, your LMS provider should also be able to provide a recording of the session. Rievent typically delivers recordings in 720 HD format about a week after training takes place. In the meantime, we edit out “dead spots” or pauses in the recording and optimize the frames with captions, zooming, and panning, where needed.

Basically, training shouldn’t be a “one-shot” exercise. It should be a resource that you and your colleagues can access again and again.

Follow-up and retraining sessions

Sometimes, you and your staff need a refresher or follow-up LMS training session to brush up on existing knowledge. Follow-up training is especially helpful after a staff change or in cases when you’ve purchased additional functionality. Or maybe you just integrated your LMS with some other mission-critical software application. Users need to know how the update will impact their work.

Be sure to ask your LMS provider about follow-up training sessions:

• Does the provider offer annual (or periodic) retraining as part of your agreement?
• How frequently can you request a follow-up session?
• What will the sessions cover?
• What are the costs?

The bottom line is that some kind of retraining should be available. Ideally, you’ve invested in an excellent LMS that’s only going to get better with time. When features and functionality improve, they also change. Users need to know how to take advantage of those changes.

Here’s how we handle retraining at Rievent: Clients have the option to request retraining in a specific topic once per calendar year. By “topic,” we’re referring to specific aspects of the Rievent Platform on either the provider or learner side. We find that these sessions are most often necessary after staff changes, but clients can take advantage of them for any reason. Additional customized training sessions are also available upon request.

Support resources

A recorded training session is extremely valuable. So are retraining or follow-up sessions. But you know what? You should only need those resources on rare occasions because your LMS provider should also offer on-demand support materials.

Everything that you learn during training should be readily available in online support documentation. Whether documentation appears as how-to guides, support topics, or even FAQs, there should be some kind of troubleshooting or Q&A resource in place for those times when you have a question about the system but aren’t sure what to do.

You should also expect your provider to offer (human) customer support so that you can follow up on anything you missed or forgot about following a training session. At Rievent, we offer support through a ticketing system, but most clients are able to find answers to their questions by searching our Support Portal. The Support Portal is a comprehensive resource that contains answers to literally every question imaginable about the Rievent Platform, complete with screenshots and how-to guides.

And if it turns out your question isn’t answered in the documentation, we’ll add it in right away!

Ultimately, understanding how to get the most from your LMS should be simple. All users should feel empowered by your initial training session and possess a complete understanding of how they’ll use the system. Documentation should cover everything else, and follow-up sessions should be available for those times when new staff or new functionality make things just a little bit complicated.

Did we just set your expectations a little bit higher? We hope so. Navigating your new LMS shouldn’t be a guessing game. It should be a productive, satisfying experience, and valuable training can help you get there.