Your 10 best steps for a successful LMS implementation plan in 2024

Planning your learning management system implementation makes preparation, learner engagement, and workplace learning easier. While the task takes time and effort, having a clear direction creates all the difference between wasted struggle and paid-off energy.

In this article, we’ll explore the best steps and practices for your LMS implementation plan. Know the right strategies to deliver a great workplace learning experience.

What is LMS implementation?

LMS implementation is the process of planning and integrating your organizational platform for employee development and upskilling. Here, you set goals, incorporate tech stacks, and customize programs for team growth.

This is when you effectively launch a new LMS for your employees to access learning content and a place for you to track knowledge progress.

Why is LMS implementation important?

Introducing a learning management system into your organization improves the growth and morale of the team. Let’s discuss the reasons. 

• Efficient onboarding - LMS implementation streamlines, automates, and structures onboarding for your new hires. They learn more from the efficient process, developing them into their roles.
• Easy access to eLearning - A learning management system puts your learning courses, documents, instructional manuals, and tests in one place. Adding the tool to your organization makes knowledge easily accessible to your learners.
• Increase in collaboration - Implementing an LMS avails your team of the program's forum, messaging, and discussion functions. This enhances skill collaboration and communication among learners.
• Accurate skill assessment - LMS platforms accurately assess your learners’ knowledge from real-time data. Using the system for your organization helps you develop employees based on their performance.
• Better human relations - LMS implementation tells your team you’re invested in their career growth. This builds their trust and improves relations with the organization.

All these can be achieved through a well-made and carefully executed LMS implementation plan. Here are the best steps to follow.

LMS implementation plan step #1 - Determine learning needs and align them with the business objectives

Assessing your learners’ limitations, challenges, and knowledge gaps should be at the top of your LMS implementation plan. Doing this helps you find employee needs that workplace learning has to solve.

Ask them about the difficulties of their roles and their struggles. These problems build your shortlist for possible learning outcomes, and more importantly, keep planning relevant to the issues of the organization.

Choosing your learning outcomes should be driven by the objectives of the business. This makes sure that upskilling not only grows individuals but also the whole organization.

An example is prioritizing learners’ operational upskilling when a business objective is to streamline procedures. In this way, your learners develop together with the company. This approach will also help in choosing the right LMS later on.

LMS implementation plan step #2 - Get your stakeholders onboard

Earning the support of your organization’s stakeholders is a crucial step to the success of your LMS implementation plan. Present to them the benefits and improvements the platform will bring. Highlight the goals it achieves and the problems it answers.

In this step, remember that your workforce is part of your stakeholders and the most important group to the project’s success. Communicate how the LMS functions help their growth and upskilling. Emphasize that the program makes their work better.

This is also an opportunity for you to raise the project’s relevancy. Adjust your plans based on stakeholders’ expectations, hopes, and priorities. Getting them onboard gives you the right resources, best adoption rates, and highest return on investment.

LMS implementation plan step #3 - Put a great team together and create a timeline

Third in the steps to implement an LMS, your project takes shape when you create an integration team and arrange a timeline together.

Bring in key members who can help carry your LMS implementation plan to success. Define each of their roles and specify their responsibilities for accountability. This will include your project manager, IT specialists, learning & development leaders, and subject-matter experts.

Once that’s settled, plot a project timeline with specific phases and deadlines. Keep your calendar practical by accounting for how long each task would take. A well-made timetable makes sure the plan is efficient and on track.

LMS implementation plan step #4 - Choose the right LMS for your organization

The right LMS satisfies all the needs, objectives, and expectations you’ve identified in the organization. Decide which of your options offers the tools and features that will answer the goals of this implementation.

Consider the functions you’d want to prioritize. You may look for an LMS with comprehensive reporting and data or a system that integrates most applications. Meanwhile, you might prefer a program with an easy user interface over one that gives full customization.

SC Training (formerly EdApp) offers all you could ask for to deliver top-notch workplace learning. Its admin experience gives you full control and flexibility to unlock your team’s potential - equipping you with complete creation, automation, and management tools.

Track your team’s performance and progression using the platform’s reporting and analytics, which give you insights to improve learning development. Get more engagement with the application’s learner experience and deliver eLearning in a format that works for your team.

LMS implementation plan step #5 - Set your LMS up for use and management

This phase focuses on inputting your organizational structure to the software. Start with adding all your data from your human capital management, human resource management, and customer relationship management tools.

Work on integrating your existing applications into the platform, which places effort on the application programming interface. After that, set up the accounts of your supervisors, managers, and learners, and make sure to assign them to the right roles.

From there, establish your single sign-on system, customize the LMS to your brand, and outsource tools if needed. SC Training’s user management makes organizing learners easy, while its user groups let you deliver the right learning to the right people.

The software’s course management also lightens the work of assigning learners to the right place, letting you control access and permissions with a few clicks.

LMS implementation plan step #6 - Prepare your learning content

If your organization is moving from an old LMS to a new one, analyze the learning courses you already have and decide whether you’ll import those lessons, create new content, or combine these methods for the new system.

Meanwhile, if your business is using an LMS for the first time, check for documents, presentations, manuals, and procedures that you can use as a foundation to create your first set of learning content.

Whatever your case, make sure your chosen system can create the content your learners need and the courses that achieve your organization’s goals. SC Training lets you build upskilling materials effortlessly. Their creator tool helps you deliver learning fast with easy customization and many templates in your hands.

Skip the effort and build a whole course with a single click using Create with AI. Bring your existing learning materials and documents to your lessons with SC Training’s SCORM importer, or store them in the platform’s briefcase for easy access.

LMS implementation plan step #7 - Run pilot tests and a soft launch

After setting everything up, it’s time to test the system. Run multiple trials with a diverse set of learners and get their insights on the functionality and experience of the platform. Collect feedback on the integrations, interface, and learning strategy.

Doing pilot tests helps you identify points of confusion, challenges, and issues for your learners. This gives you a chance to smooth out problems and make adjustments.

Once you complete your tests, it’s a good idea to soft-launch your platform. This gives you an idea of how the application runs on a larger scale. Perform surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews with your learners to get valuable assessments.

LMS implementation plan step #8 - Build everyone's excitement for the new system

Your learning management system is almost ready, so it's time to engage your learners and build excitement for the new platform. Send blasts, create conversations, and organize sessions to let everyone know about the fresh application.

Arrange orientations, tutorials, and Q&As to highlight the new perks your learners will enjoy with the LMS. Get them interested in the challenges they’ll no longer have to worry about.

This step might seem like extra work, but it’s beneficial in your LMS implementation plan. Adoption rates will be high and learning curves will be low come launch because you took the time to ease your learners into the system rather than a sudden shift.

LMS implementation plan step #9 - Launch the platform to your organization

This is what your LMS implementation project plan was building for. Once you launch, focus on helping your learners enjoy the new platform. Offer step-by-step guides and in-app guidance, as confusion and clarifications with the system will still come.

Get everyone to maximize the program’s benefits, functions, and features during this period. With SC Training’s blended learning, you can assess learners digitally and in-person during the adoption period and beyond. Use the platform’s practical assessment to make sure everyone in your organization is doing their tasks correctly.

LMS implementation plan step #10 - Collect feedback and gather insights

Surveying your learners for their comments and suggestions on the new LMS helps you improve the platform and keep it relevant. The needs of the business, the organization, and the learners continuously change, so the program has to move with them.

After launching, regularly check completion, passing, and retention rates. Track the key metrics and milestones you’ve set. Gathering system data and insights lets you check if the application achieves the implementation’s needs, goals, and objectives.

SC Training’s course review allows you to track learners’ real-time feedback, so you’ll know what works in your workplace learning, and change what doesn’t.

Get the best platform on the market for your LMS implementation plan. Sign up for SC Training today!