Several business functions had to start working on the cloud overnight, all thanks to the International emergency that has confined everyone to their homes. 

While many business functions were also disrupted, there were also those that were delayed owing to the absence of the right tools in place. 

If you are reading this article, chances are, employee training was one such function in your case. 

Whether you are a corporate training administrator or simply someone trying to do something productive with their time, if you have just started accumulating the tools you need to deploy online training, there are some pressing decisions to be made.

One such decision is choosing the right learning management system (LMS).

Choosing the wrong LMS can turn out to be a pricey disaster. For starters, LMS, even the affordable ones, are generally a large investment. 

Moreover, the LMS plays a critical role in the development and deployment of your course content. Choosing a complex LMS can cause serious delays in the delivery of your course material.

Finally, the LMS is a significant part of the learner's experience. Choosing a difficult to use LMS will have a negative influence over retention and engagement numbers.

Now that we have established that choosing an LMS is a decision that is best taken diligently, let's look at what you must look for in your next LMS:

User-Friendliness

If you have read this far, you must have already understood the importance of user-friendliness. An intuitive user experience in an LMS allows learning administrators to use its features to their full capability, allowing them to create immersive learning experiences that leave a lasting impression.

At the same time, for learners, user-friendliness in an LMS allows them to focus on their course curriculum, instead of having to learn the ropes of the LMS beforehand. 

This is crucial for businesses and course proprietors alike. For businesses, a complex LMS can mean spending paid manhours learning how the LMS functions. At the same time, for a course proprietor, a complex user experience can mean a poor customer experience, which can negatively affect their future enrollment numbers.

A good example of a LMS with an intuitive user interface is Absorb LMS. The LMS is supported by the same team that has developed the platform and they will be happy to help you customise the experience of the user interface and dashboards. 

Essential Features

Modern learning management systems come loaded with a variety of features that allow course administrators and creators to make their course curriculum more engaging.

From the ability to break long-form lessons into bite sized micro-learning modules to gamification features and features that enable social learning, modern LMS are designed keeping the needs of a modern learner in mind.

With that said, the flexibility and utility of these features may vary between different learning management systems. Moreover, there might be cases where you make use of one particular feature or ability of an LMS, more than the others. For such cases, there are specialised learning management systems.

A great example of the same is the Mindflash LMS that specialises in helping learning administrators create immersive video courses.

Tracking And Reporting Abilities

Tracking learner progress and generating reports that facilitate growth and improvement are some of the most advantageous features of learning management systems. 

From being able to track individual students' progress to understanding how each student interacts with each lesson, modern LMS are capable of generating insightful reports that help you understand how to help your learners/students better.

However, not all LMS are made alike and similar, not all of them are equally capable at offering in-depth reports. For this reason, understanding the tracking and reporting capabilities of a prospective LMS becomes one of the most pressing considerations while making a purchase.

Conclusion

These were our three top metrics to consider while checking if a particular LMS is the right fit for your needs. What other considerations do you make while making such a decision? Share with us in the comment section below!