We’re doing a workshop on Managing the Implementation of an LMS on Wednesday, November 18, 1-4 pm Eastern.

Here’s why.

Selecting an LMS is the easy part of having one.

Selecting an LMS may or may not be pleasant — depending on your particular experience — but it’s the sort of process that everyone can at least relate to.

You figure out what you need, narrow down a list to a few, test-drive those, and select the best.

Implementing an LMS can be a much more complex endeavor.

Implementation is a devilish mixture of technical and human issues.

Here are some things that have to happen.

Making these things happen involves technical knowledge, orchestrating two organizations (the user’s and the vendor’s), and project management.

Upfront

• Realistic expectations and candid conversations between user and vendor (the rosy selling process is over now).
• A user implementation team that has the right people (both senior-enough and crossfunctional-enough representation).
• A project management system good enough to handle technical decisions and multi-stakeholder approvals (more than just who-does-what-by-when).

Business Processes

• Clarity about processes and rules (like who approves enrollments, who gets what report, and a zillion other things).
• A philosophy on changes (do we change our processes to fit the system or customize the system).

Technical Stuff

• System integration (connecting to other big systems).
• System configuration (the decisions and setup about how the system runs).
• User interface and customization (what do people click on to do what, and what does it look like).
• Data migration (moving data from an older LMS or other system).
• Content upload (populating the LMS with courses).

Getting Ready for Administration

• Assigning the administrator role to someone(s).
• Getting trained by the vendor on the system.
• Setting up a custom-support system.

Getting Ready for Governance

• Who’s going to make policy decisions (about what goes in the LMS, who can do what in it, and a zillion other things).
• Who’s going to check that the LMS is doing what it’s supposed to be doing (look at reports, monitor complaints, and so forth).

Testing

• Testing all aspects of the system before going live.

Introducing the System to the Organization

• Rolling out in a smart way (probably staggered).
• Internal marketing.
  

Check out our workshop on Managing the Implementation of an LMS.

I wrote earlier that Brandon Hall Research is moving away from the Hollywood produce-and-publish model of research.

We want to be more two-way and closer to those who want our research.

Here is the result: the Brandon Hall Research Center.

Here’s how it works:

• Member organizations join.
• They have access to all of our past and current research.

Also, depending on their level of membership, they can:

• Suggest and vote for topics for us to research.
• Ask us questions.
• Attend members-only events.

Check it out.

In Hollywood someone comes up with an idea for a movie, they pitch it, make the movie, release it, and hope that people come to see it.

We’ve approached research the same way.

But things are much more two-way these days.

I was at the University of Michigan football game last Saturday. Before halftime they listed three songs on the scoreboard. Call this number and vote for which song you want the band perform in the third quarter. (”Twist and Shout” won.)

This is the new way today. Back and forth. Call and response. Ask and answer.

At Brandon Hall Research we are going to move to a more two-way approach to research.

We are going to do the research that people tell us they want.

Stay tuned for details.

It’s tempting to say, “I can see how OTHER things could be done in a virtual world, but NOT teambuilding.”

But as virtual worlds become more and more immersive (3-D, high-def, bigger computer monitors, better sound, more realistic avatars) and more navigable (easier and finer controls, more participants with gaming or virtual-world experience), you can see how this is going to be possible.

Especially for global-virtual teams, people are going to say, “Are we going to spend $100,000 to bring this team together for face-to-face teambuilding, or should we try to do something virtually?”

I’m going to be describing a five-step process for selecting the best LMS for your organization and some keys for success.

Register here.

In no particular order, and off the top of my head:

1. Science and Human Behavior — B. F. Skinner
2. In Search of Excellence — Tom Peters
3. Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart — Geary Rummler and Alan Brache
4. The Team Handbook — Peter R. Scholtes, Brian L. Joiner, Barbara J. Streibel
5. Personalized System of Instruction: 41 Seminal Papers — J. Gilmour Sherman
6. PSI: the Keller Plan Handbook — Fred Keller
7. Educational Psychology: The Science of Instruction and Learning — Richard C. Anderson & Gerald W. Faust
8. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization — Peter M. Senge
9. Parents Are Teachers — Wesley C. Becker
10. The Religions of Man — Huston Smith
11. Behavior Management — Lawrence M. Miller
12. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research — John W. Cresswell
13. Flawless Consulting — Peter Block
14. The ASTD Handbook
15. Any of the books by P. G. Wodehouse

The entry deadline is September 18, 2009.

These slides give an overview.

• To be in the Low-Cost report an LMS has to be below the average price of the 92 LMSs in our LMS KnowledgeBase — in either Installed or Hosted pricing — for 500, 10,000, 25,000, and 100,000 learners.
• My colleague Richard Nantel has blogged recently about the prices of all 92 LMSs in 2009 here and here.

I took a look at the pricing of JUST the 34 low-cost LMSs for 2009.

• (Note: All 34 low-cost LMSs offer hosted versions, with eight offering Hosted only and 26 offering Installed versions also.)

Here is the summary:

Pricing for 34 Low-Cost Learning Management Systems

Installed, 3-year license:

Hosted, 3-year license:

Additional Brandon Hall Research information about LMSs.

Information about upcoming Brandon Hall Research webinars.