Avoiding the Top 5 Reasons for LMS Implementation Failure

Planning for Success

September 18th, 2009

David WilkinsExecutive Director of Product Marketing at Learn.com

Claire SchooleySenior Analyst, Forrester Research

About Dave

2

Dave WilkinsExecutive Director, Product Marketing

• National speaker at 40+ conferences• More than 15 years in the learning space• Author of 10+ published articles• Visionary behind Firefly and Knowledge

Exchange

Email: david.wilkins@learn.comTwitter: @dwilkinsnhFacebook, AIM, LinkedIn: dwilkinsnhBlog: http://dwilkinsnh.wordpress.com

About Claire

3

Claire SchooleySenior Analyst, Forrester Research

• A nine-year Forrester analyst • Advisor on elearning strategy and technology• Twenty-five years in education and technology• Worldwide speaker and consultant

Email: cschooley@forrester.comTwitter: SchoolcwFacebook, AIM, LinkedIn: Claire SchooleyBlog: blogs.forrester.com/business_process/claire-schooley/ttp://

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Now would be a great time to start asking questions via chat to make sure we address them in the session

We’ll also provide an opportunity at the end of each section for you to ask questions

Why this topic, why now?

Failure is still an issue

“Failure” may not be as visible Less full-on, complete meltdowns Many more ROI or “Failure to Meet Objectives” sort of failures

Two audiences Never implemented an LMS before Implemented and are now switching vendors

Learning Management Solutions are still incredibly important and relevant to an organization’s learning strategy

Some market data

“Over 30% of workers surveyed in a recent SHRM survey of North American Workers cited lack of career development as the most important factor when considering moving on to a new employer.”

“Lack of retention can cost 150% of salary for middle level employees and almost 400% for specialized employees.”

According the HBR, only 10% of employees will seek out training and development on their own. 90% will not.

Training investments is the single biggest predictor of future stock price. Nearly 50% of the variation in relative stock market performance can be predicted by training expenditures.

Organizations that invest in 5+ days worth of training show an average increase in revenue of $72,000 per employee.

Issue #1: Failing to plan with all constituentsROI, Business Impact, Metrics

Know your required functionality and features compiled from all lines of business

Examine what you are doing now and identify challenges

Write a carefully thought out business plan that makes the case for a LMS and identifies some metrics to measure success

QUESTIONS ABOUT PLANNING

Issue #2: Project team lack competenciesProject Management, Technical Skills, Eye for Design

Make sure you have a team with an executive champion that has established a company vision for learning

QUESTIONS ABOUT TEAM SKILLS

Issue #3: Integrations are an after thoughtSSO, HRIS, Historical Data Loads

The LMS must become the learning system of record

QUESTIONS ABOUT INTEGRATIONS

Issue #4: Stay away from customizationConfigure. . . Configure . . . configure

Customizations are costly and make upgrading difficult and expensive

Configure business processes whether LMS is deployed as installed or hosted software

Expect pushback and plan for change management

HRIT Learning executive quote: “Tell organizations to configure their systems whenever they can. It eliminates headaches and makes for a much smoother operation.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT CONFIGURATION

Issue #5: Walk before you runStart small, but plan big

Start with a department implementation in an area where you think you will be successful

Let successful users spread the word and act as mentors.

Prepare for the implementation Have a sandbox Implement change management Talk about successes; get internal PR involved

Add on new modules as you are ready and need expressed

Make sure you do evaluate your success with surveys, questionnaires, sales results, compliance up-to-date

QUESTIONS ABOUT SCALING FINAL Q AND A

Connection with us

Dave WilkinsExecutive Director, Product Marketing

Email: david.wilkins@learn.comTwitter: @dwilkinsnhFacebook, AIM, LinkedIn: dwilkinsnhBlog: http://dwilkinsnh.wordpress.com

Claire SchooleySenior Analyst, Forrester Research

Email: cschooley@forrester.comTwitter: SchoolcwFacebook, AIM, LinkedIn: Claire SchooleyBlog: blogs.forrester.com/business_process/claire-schooley/ttp://