Did you know there are more than 700 learning management systems on the market? That’s a lot of options to choose from. While there are some consistencies among them, each LMS has different strengths and weaknesses. Last year, my association, the Oncology Nursing Society, decided that we wanted an LMS that would be a better fit.

When ONS opened the door to this conversation, we found many unexpected opportunities to streamline our work with members, nonmember customers, and employees. It also showed us how we could better connect ONS departments and our sister organizations.

Often, when people think of an LMS, they have a specific idea of what it is and what it will do.  The reality is that with the rapid evolution of technology, some LMS providers have become robust and multi-faceted services. We approached this conversation with the intent of being unrestrictive in making our wish list. We didn’t limit the conversation to the staff members we thought were key stakeholders. Instead, we involved the entire organization.

We held a focus group with every department—from the learning and development team to customer relations and human resources. By carefully crafting a set of open-ended questions, we generated discussion and creative thinking. We also conducted individual interviews with every member of the executive team, as well as with the executive directors at two sister organizations. 

We learned that nearly everyone interacted with or was affected by the LMS in some manner. The diverse perspectives revealed how a different LMS might improve processes across the organization. This process generated a treasure trove of feedback and ideas that we couldn’t have anticipated.

Conducting a Needs Assessment

The next step was to organize the feedback as part of a needs assessment. We grouped the ideas for desirable system features into three categories—must have, would love to have, and would like to have—and used the lists to create a rubric. We listed all the features and gave them a multiplier depending on their category:

• Things we must have received a multiplier of three.
• Things we would love to have received a multiplier of two.
• Things we would like to have received a multiplier of one.

Next, we set the standards for scoring each feature on the following scale:

• 5 – has the functionality, and we like its look/operation
• 4 – has the functionality, but is clunky
• 3 – has the functionality, but maybe there is a large caveat
• 2 – doesn’t have the functionality at first look, but there might be a workaround
• 1 – doesn’t have the functionality and don’t think it will meet our needs

Once we had defined the requirements and standards, we could begin grading the LMSes we were considering. By leveraging existing work and analyzing award-winning LMS providers, we narrowed our options to 81 prospects.

Using the information found on the providers’ websites, we graded each according to our rubric. We assigned a score to each system feature and then applied the multiplier. Adding up the feature scores gave us a total score for the LMS. A rubric might look like this:

Using this method, we narrowed our search down to 16 LMS providers and sent them each a request for proposal.

Reviewing Proposals and Next Steps

Of the 16 LMS providers that received the RFP, 12 responded, and based on the proposals, we selected the top six to provide demonstrations. Meanwhile, our certification sister organization and then our IT team did deeper-dive demonstrations to evaluate fit for their specific needs, including item-writing capabilities, integration methods, and security infrastructure. After the three rounds of demonstrations, we selected a clear front-runner.

Even though this was a long and involved process, it allowed us to select the best LMS to fit our needs. Because everyone in the organization was included, it also naturally garnered organizational buy-in because everyone’s ideas and concerns were heard and accounted for. And now, as we move into the LMS migration, this buy-in is helping us navigate the process and ensure everyone is onboarded to the new system.