S1 E18 LMS Adoption
Episode Audio
Bethany Kline shares what she’s been learning about adopting an LMS.
Connect with Bethany on LinkedIn.
Transcript:
The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain typos or spelling errors.
Amy Petricek
Welcome to the share with you learned Podcast. I'm Amy patristic, a learning enthusiast and the host of the show. The share what you learn podcast is designed for learning professionals to share something they're learning in the field of instructional design. Today, I'm talking to Bethany Klein about LMS adoption. Welcome to the show, Bethany.
Bethany Kline
Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
Amy Petricek
It is such a treat to have you. Can you tell us a little bit about Bethany, who she is. And I know you we hang out a bit outside of this. And so I'm excited for others to get to know you as well. So who's better than me?
Bethany Kline
For sure. So of course, my name is Stephanie Klein, I'm the senior instructional designer at convoy, which is a digital freight network. So we're startup in the Seattle area. And we're building technology to improve and make the freight industry and the trucking industry more efficient. And my pronouns are she her.
Amy Petricek
So we're talking LMS adoption. And one of the reasons I really wanted to chat with you about this is this is something you've recently done in your world is adopt a new LMS. And there is a lot of components to LMS adoption, I think, sometimes people are just like, Oh, it's just like a new place to house your content. But it goes deep to like change management and education and all the things. So let's maybe like start at the ground level, what are some reasons a team would need to adopt an LMS?
Bethany Kline
Yeah, it's a really good question. And he makes some good points around, like defining what the need is, and like what you actually want to do with this system, because it takes a lot of effort to get folks to start to use it. So in my case, we had definitely needed to adopt an LMS to really streamline and track and manage all of the training content that we had, when I first started in my role I had been sent, you know, just you know, when you're getting on boarded into company, people send you lots of documents, we're a Google shop, so like lots of Docs and Sheets and Slides and the Google Drive, and there was just so much content. And it was kind of the scenario where a lot of the training, like it was just really disparate sources. At one point, I think I saw two or three different slide decks created by different people on the topic of how to have effective one on ones. So it's like, okay, we need to stop reinventing the wheel, we need to get everything in one place and have somewhere be easily accessible, and that we can track who took it because like, I had no idea how many people have gone to this one presentation about having an effective one on ones. So at a very basic level, you'd want to adopt an LMS. If you have a large need to track and manage training, if that's not something that your organization needs to do immediately, then, you know, taking on the work of implementing an LMS might not be the best
Amy Petricek
right away. Just personally, I'm trying to think of like, what's a scenario where you wouldn't need to track that, but it's probably just a lot smaller company.
Bethany Kline
Yeah, or just more informal environments, or where, I guess the context that I'm coming from is I've worked at two startups. So I'm definitely used to the more scrappy, like, we just need to get this done. And like, maybe we don't need to track it. That
Amy Petricek
makes a lot of sense. I do love the call out around tracking, though, because that is one of the gifts like a huge gift of the LMS that it allows you to see completion rates, participation rates, all of the things which is super helpful for us as learning and development
Bethany Kline
professionals. Definitely lots of features about
Amy Petricek
those features. What are some things people who may be who are looking at adopting LMS is what are some things that are worth considering as features, because each LMS is going to have different offerings in terms of what they offer? There'll be some continuity, but also some changes. What are some things that you would say, definitely be on the lookout for these things? I think these are worthwhile. I think it all starts
Bethany Kline
with, you really need to take into account where your learners are like where your customers are at right now. What's their current context? And what do they need? Or what do you think they need, because sometimes you'll be doing that part two. And in our scenario, we had one team was using an LMS. But other teams weren't. And one really important thing that I saw is like a lot of training existed in Google slide decks. And I'm not saying that Google slide decks are the only way to author content. But that was something that our current audience was used to. So one specific feature that we knew we needed was an integration with Google Slides. So a very specific feature set, but I knew that people were used to this one format. And even if we were going to introduce other formats, other types of courses, it would be important to have that continuity. So that's like a very specific example. But I think the key there is looking at the current context of where your learners and customers are, what they're used to what they need, and try to bridge the gap or bridge if you're going somewhere else, or you want to offer other types of learning. So it's like a very specific example. And then to move to make sure that the system could integrate with our other suite, or other all the tools in our digital ecosystem. So we wanted to make sure that it could integrate with our Single Sign On provider so that when folks were logging in for their workday, like it was in the same dashboard as all of the other tools that they were using. So that was really important in terms of feature set. And then also say kind of more of a cautionary tale. When I was first looking at all of the different offerings, I went really deep into looking through a few different LSP is or learning experience platforms. And while like, it was so shiny and new, and I still would love to work on an expert sometime in the future, I just recognized that we didn't really need all of those bells and whistles, we didn't need to like democratize learning, or have social learning at that point, we just needed to organize everything that we had, and we had to get standardized first. So I think two, I would definitely caution you against looking through all of like, the premium features, and really defining first what you actually need, and then starting there, okay, that's
Amy Petricek
what I was gonna say, I feel like almost in summation from our conversation thus far is almost doing like an analysis of your current content and an analysis of immediate needs going forward having maybe a broader vision than that. But that analysis piece is really important, because kind of like you were just saying, they're all out there to make money, and they're all going to try and sell you their product. So having a really clear definition on what your team's needs are in the current moment. And going forward is really important. Yeah, exactly. So as we think about adopting an LMS, what are some things we can do proactively, as we think about our learners and thinking, you know, that example you gave of people predominately experienced facilitation through Google Slides, transitioning a learner from that experience over to an LMS? Is a change management component. So what are some things we can be doing proactively to think of our learners as we're looking at adopting an LMS?
Bethany Kline
Yeah, I think the point that I had mentioned before about just understanding their current state is also really important for this. So when thinking about a user that needs to adopt a new system, it's like you mentioned before, it's a lot of change management. It's not necessarily instructional design skills that will help you here. But I think the two things that really stuck out to me are making sure that there was content that met a need or like help solve a problem for the users. And one of the big things that I made sure we had available when we did not only our first pilot testing, but also when we launched is making sure to have really relevant content, especially for folks that were onboarding, we were onboarding a lot of employees. So making sure that we had a lot of content to meet their needs. And that drove adoption, it was also helpful, if you're a new employee, you see the LMS. Right away, you see how it's used, it kind of becomes part of your repertoire, versus our existing employee base, they didn't need to be on boarded, right. So there are different problems or different needs that they had. So I think the first thing that's really important is making sure that the LMS meets a need for them. And like, they don't really care about the tracking of training, right? They're like, Oh, yeah, I did that course, that's fine. But they hopefully are going to be drawn to it because they have, there's something interesting for them, or there's something that they can learn that can help solve a problem, or help them get to a different stage in their career, maybe for career development. And so for our existing employees, we made sure that the our system could integrate with other third party vendors or other marketplaces for content. And we have some LinkedIn learning courses available in our LMS for people, so we can point them there for those kind of broader topics. So I think that was really helpful. So that yeah, the first piece is having relevant pieces of content or things that help your learner solve a problem. And then the second is really just the user experience and being easy to navigate, I kind of bundled those all together. So I already mentioned making sure that the LMS, they would be able to find it in the same dashboard, where they found their other tools that they use every day. And then when they click into it, the format is easy to navigate. They know how to find courses that they're enrolled in, they know how to find new courses, and making sure that the experience is really easy. This is just
Amy Petricek
a question. I'm thinking, as you're saying all of that. So was creating learning pathways within the LMS really important as a part of that adoption. I'm thinking specifically, as you've been talking about, like this onboarding ramp for new hires. That's where my brain was going
Bethany Kline
be specifically focused on that that learning path because we had such a high volume. But yeah, I think having through the frame, having a learning path that was helpful to learners was a big angle that we took, because we knew that we wanted people to be driven or want at least want to use the system, you can send you know, as many email notifications as many slack notifications as you want. But it's not going to be helpful unless there's actually content that supports a problem or a need that they have
Amy Petricek
comes back to good instructional design is meeting true needs instead of just creating content to
Bethany Kline
have content, kind of like it's all connected all of this learning stuff.
Amy Petricek
I love how it's coming full circle. So what tools or resources might be helpful to consider when adopting an LMS. I'm thinking this is where my brain is going. But like maybe it's demos from different companies or chats with reps, or maybe it's even talking to other businesses utilizing that LMS. I'm not I'm not sure I'm just kind of spitballing here. So what would be useful
Bethany Kline
my approach and maybe this is just my own personal learning approach. But when the way that I thought about it is I wanted to gather kind of a lot of broad information first and then get more targeted with who I was asking questions to. So this is a very specific resource, but if you're a member of ATD national There's a TD at work edition called, I think it's called selecting and implementing an LMS. And it's like a 20 page PDF, the last two pages talks about the actual adoption piece. And one of the big things that I was lucky that I was already doing, but wanted to make sure that I kept doing is having a strong team involved in implementation configuration, and also getting adoption. So it wasn't just me, I had stakeholders from across the business that were engaged in the process of selecting the LMS and vetting it. And then through implementation. So I think a really key part of this is like a resources just using your team or having a team of folks to help go through the process with and then the second thing I'll say is, there's some good websites, like if you go to find an lms.com, I think there's a great search tool that lets you compare a bunch of learning management systems, and you can see all of the features and how they compare. So I think that's like, if you're at the top of the funnel, that's a great resource to do a comparison. And then like you mentioned, once you start getting into the demos and chatting with rap, I think what's really important is getting references from other clients, or if you know of other peers that are working with that system, it's really good to get an insider view of how they have used the system, and what are the pluses and minuses,
Amy Petricek
I learned something new, I learned there's a website called Find an lms.com. My mind is blown, I should have known there was such a resource, but I am just wowed and amazed that such a thing exists. So just for kicks and giggles after this, I'm definitely going to go check that website out. But I love also the part you talked about in terms of bringing stakeholders in. Can you talk a little bit about that? And maybe who were important voices to be a part of that? How do you identify those voices, I don't know, my brain was just going a lot of places. And I'd love to hear your thoughts
Bethany Kline
I knew it was really important is that my organization, we have a fairly large company. And I knew that, you know, even though I would be been I was going to be the LMS admin, I'd still need help from different folks to essentially manage content. So I specifically worked with folks that were managing content for their department, and like either onboarding, or just content for their department. So I identified that small group of people. And then I think another thing that's definitely worth calling out in this is there were some folks that had worked with an LMS before and some that had it. So part of my role was to guide them and show them what the system could do. And I think another interesting thing that I've always taken away when I've worked with non lnd, folks, is a lot of folks that haven't worked with an LMS will expect it to do similar things that other SAS tools might do. But an LMS might not like I think when folks think LMS, they think, Oh, you're gonna author within the LMS. And that and of course, we know that's not always true, right? So it's having those conversations to share with them, like what were the kind of industry expectations, what we should be looking for. So that was definitely part of it. And then making sure that during the demos, they felt comfortable like that they'd be able to navigate the system without a lot of hand holding. Not that that I mean, it's not important to have, you know, get SOP docs, and training for those different types of sub admin roles. But at the end of the day, for the folks that were managing content, they needed to feel confident in creating courses and enrolling folks and all that good stuff.
Amy Petricek
So you're thinking not only of what tool is most helpful, and how can I support my learners, but also the content creators? How can I support them as well?
Bethany Kline
Yes, and like some of the specific needs, like one of the folks representing the sales team, they had some very specific needs and learning and that, you know, and I haven't worked a lot in sales before, but I know that they do a lot of pitches and demos during their training and onboarding. So we need to make sure that the system was able to have those types of learning objects or like having tasks that people could record themselves and get graded or created feedback or have rubrics. So even though that they didn't tell me the specific features that they wanted, I was able to kind of connect the dots and say, Okay, this is a specific feature set that we need based on my understanding of your needs.
Amy Petricek
I wish I could do I don't know give you a high five or a million round of applause. I don't know. Yeah, there we go. Virtual High five. You can see it, we just did a virtual high five, because after you're talking about us, like I knew LMS adoption was a big thing. But now the more you're getting in the weeds with it all and like high five, you did all of that. Bravo, Bethany.
Bethany Kline
Yeah. And I guess you know, when I originally thought about this adoption is kind of like the last part, but you have to get all the other stuff right for you to have successful adoption. That's what
Amy Petricek
I'm hearing. And you did that. Well, let's go ahead and transition into the Rapid Round. Bethany right. Learning is and you get to fill in the rest. Learning is fascinating. When you're mustering up the courage to learn something new, what song be put on
Bethany Kline
anything from Lady Gaga? Really? Yeah, I love her so much.
Amy Petricek
I'm learning so much about you right now I love you're asked to do a brand new task with a skill set you do not yet have Where do you turn?
Bethany Kline
So two places either will depending on what it is either LinkedIn learning or a podcast?
Amy Petricek
Any favorite LinkedIn learning courses or podcasts out there? And no, this is not a shameless plug to say, gas but like just I love learning. So do you have any any specifically that you'd call out? So no
Bethany Kline
specific to learning courses, but I do really like that I can use it as much as I can is like on the job kind of like if I need to know something specific, like when I was learning rice 360 For the first time there was a course. And I could just kind of navigate around like, I didn't need the whole course I could just navigate because the course was formatted in a way that I could find what I needed. And then for podcasts, I need to remember what it's called shoot, I haven't in my brain. It's a Canadian guy hosted and it's all about mental models, the knowledge project, it's called the knowledge project. It just came to me. And yeah, it's like, the whole premise is that the host interviews people from different disciplines, but with the idea, like, we're not going to go deep in marketing, we're going to go deep on like, what important models or like frameworks and marketing can help you in other parts of your life. I actually don't know if there's a marketing episode, that was just a general example. And there are a lot of episodes about finance too, which isn't really my forte. I have
Amy Petricek
not heard of that one. But I'm highly intrigued now, and I love a good podcast. So we'll definitely check that one out on top of find an LMS comm Bethany without learning fill in the blank,
Bethany Kline
that learning, there's no excitement, it seems
Amy Petricek
pretty consistent with your other answer, right? Learning is fascinating. And there's no excitement then if I don't have that.
Bethany Kline
Yeah, there you go as kind of like a plan at all.
Amy Petricek
Definitely, what is a good way for my listeners to connect with you post show, maybe if they're wanting to adopt an LMS? Or maybe if this is just sparking some thoughts that they want to connect with you on? What's a good way to do that?
Bethany Kline
Yeah. So the best way to connect with me is on LinkedIn.
Amy Petricek
Thanks so much, Bethany for sharing all about LMS adoption with us today. I also want to give a shout out to you, my listeners for learning with us. Until next time, stay open, receptive and kind.