Can A Learning Management System (LMS) Really Help People Grow Stronger?
In the previous article, we asked Who Needs A Learning Management System (LMS)?
The short answer: everyone. At least everyone who wants to be not only ready for the future but relevant in the future.
Imagine you are a hiring manager who needs to choose between two equally qualified candidates: one who regularly invests in learning new skills and knowledge, and another who only completes training when assigned. Who would you choose?
In today’s world, the choice seems strange. How can two candidates have the same qualifications if one is actively learning while the other is passive? If you’ve ever met someone who has achieved a certain level of skill but has failed to keep progressing, it’s easy to see how others can catch up and rapidly leave that passive learner in the dust. We’ve reached the point where “old dogs” are defined by the unwillingness to learn “new tricks” and not by age.
Learning information is becoming increasingly easy with no shortage of content in books, articles, podcasts and videos. It’s hard to get through a day without “running into” information that pervades almost every moment of our waking lives.
So, with learning information inevitable, the question isn’t, Why do I need to learn? The more important question is, How can I MANAGE learning for myself and my organization?
A Learning Management System (LMS) can help answer that question when it goes beyond tracking compliance activities to enable and encourage learning that develops new tricks (skills) for producing new results.
To improve results requires designing for results rather than simply overwhelming people with even more information. Reading something and passing a test almost never predicts real-world application much less real-world success.
Designing for results starts with designing for behavior that is likely to produce those results. To find those behaviors, look to those within your organization who are already producing them in your culture / environment.
Imagine that you could rapidly create and test courses that feature and encourage the behavior of your top talent? By having multiple versions and testing differences in completion, implementation and results, your organization can learn faster, improve resilience and better engage both the featured talent and their peers.
This sounds really hard.
And expensive? Not everyone can be a designer.
In the past, learning how to create courses and populate them into a legacy LMS had a huge and often frustrating learning curve.
But what if it was easy to create courses? What if anyone could learn to create courses using a series of templates that guide them all the way through?
Some designers will produce better courses than others. Just like giving everyone a video camera won’t instantly transform them into Steven Spielbergs, the tools in the hands of people who aren’t trained in design will produce less predictable quality (you can “crowdsource” quality control too).
And some of those courses could be game changers that would have never been possible otherwise.
People want to learn and will pay to do so both with their money and their time. When you have an accessible, easy-to-use Learning Management System that guides people to learn how to help others learn, you can empower those people to transform the future readiness of your organization.
Failing to invest in future readiness is not just a risk factor for tomorrow. It’s a reflection on now. And learning is transitioning from being a “nice to have” to a form of minimum hygiene. Like bathing, few people will congratulate you for doing it but many will wonder where that bad smell is coming from if you don’t.
What goes for individuals goes for organizations too. If the team isn’t learning, visibly changing and learning new tricks, more and more people will wonder why your smelly old dog is letting itself go.
So, why do YOU need a Learning Management System? To ensure you and your team are "Future Ready!"
