“We love the LXP features and how easy it is to use, but how are we going to get our staff to engage and use the platform?”
I always get asked this question by decision makers before they decide to go ahead with our eLearning platform.
There is no magic answer to this question, but here are some quick tips to get company and staff buy-in to launching a new learning platform.
What is your L&D Brand?
What are your people saying about your Learning and Development brand?
What do I mean by this?
Your L&D brand is simply what people say about your companies current learning offering, whether that be face to face, digital or a mixture of the two. A great quote by Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon states “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room”. That is exactly right.
You may already know or have an inclination of what the answer to this question would be, but it’s always a good place to start to get some feedback on your current L&D offering.
To get the answers you really want, the best way is to do this anonymously is by carrying out a quick temperature check or staff satisfaction survey. An online feedback tool such as Feedo would be a great place to start and incorporates some additional resources too that you could add to your L&D offering.
Set learning goals
Once you have figured out if you’re on the right track with your L&D brand, the next step is to set out what you want to achieve and you should do this in three steps:
1) Start with a clear end goal
2) Perform a training needs analysis
3) How will the learning be delivered on your platform?
By setting clear learning goals at an early stage, it will give you the tools to measure success through your learning platform launch and will also guide you in the direction of what you can do next.
Know your system
Before launching, you need to get your head around how to work your platform and learn about all the features. You may not use them all from day one, but getting a good understanding of what you will be able to do in the fullness of time could steer you on making L&D decisions for the future.
Take some time to watch any tutorial videos or even have some virtual training from your platform provider. Who will the responsibility of facilitating the platform fall under? Will you have an internal platform team? Launching a company wise tool is not a one-man task so get them involved and get them up to speed too!
Welcome content
What elearning content are you planning to launch with? It’s exciting that you’re about to launch a new platform, but unless you have an action for your learners to take, they will log on and log back off just as quick. Even if your online learning catalogue isn’t full ready, you need to present some kind of learning from the off and make sure its good quality content.
Remember first impressions always count, this is vital with your online content too.
Soft Launch
You need to run a trial with some test users. You may wish to define a learning platform focus group and literally test every functionality you can including:
• User experience
• Navigation
• Content or course flow
• Assignments
• Communication
• Reporting
It’s important to iron out any creases before going into full launch mode.
Communication
Keep everyone updated with your launch plan and what you are working on. This will help your future users feel involved and sets their expectations of what they can expect the new platform to support them with.
Communication should be constant and not stop after the launch has taken place. You could include some post communication points such as opinion polls and how to guides so users can really get the best experience.
Launch success
On the completion of launching, do something exciting to celebrate and to get your people involved. For example, you could incorporate a social element into your platform, get people chatting and uploading vlogs about what they do for the company and a fact no one would know about them, or you could even look to hold a competition or have a launch party, the options are endless!
In summary, here is your check list to a successful learning platform campaign:
• Know your L&D brand and own it!
• Set your learning goals
• Know your system and become an expert
• Set up your internal learning platform team
• Be ready with some exciting content for launch
• Test, test, and test
• Communication is key – before, during and after launch
• Celebrate successes and think creatively
As an eLearning company, Skillshub is committed to creating efficient and impactful learning experiences. Contact us to find out more.
Jenny
Jenny Verman – Head of Digital Learning
