How to manage your training calendar with an LMS

Before we get into training calendar templates, let’s talk about the most important aspect when considering the question: ‘How to manage your training calendar with an LMS?’ That aspect is flexibility.

Problems with in-person training

One of the biggest headaches around training is scheduling resources. You need to think about classrooms, trainers, and reorganizing work schedules to sync with training sessions. And that’s just if your training is taking place at one location.

When training involves employees at several locations, travel is another problematic layer. This is especially true when the training involves workers from all over the world. Not only is there a transportation issue, but there is also lodging (hotels, motels, etc.) and meals to think about. And for those employees who need to travel, the amount of work missed increases considerably. 

Training using an LMS

Courses on an LMS are accessible at any time. So different time zones are not an issue. Also, there is no need to travel. Training can be done at any location, no internet necessary.

Trainees use their digital devices, so there is a reduced need for classrooms and trainers, if at all. Discussions can be done virtually via an LMS forum feature. If you prefer visuals, you can use apps such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Slack Huddle.

This means that for your enterprise, your training calendar will most likely be a little unusual. Here’s why: while it will still have to reflect a timespan, it will not have to be date-oriented. If this is not exactly clear, no problem. We are going to talk more about this now.

Creating a perpetual training calendar

Let’s look at the example in the above image. Course 1 has 3 lessons. At the training rate of 1 lesson/week, it requires 3 weeks of study. Course 2 with 2 lessons requires only 2 weeks while Course 3 is the longest with 4 lessons which will require 4 weeks. 

You will notice that there are no start and end dates. Since the course material is always available on your LMS, a training cycle can begin at any time. All that is needed is to map out the length of time needed for each course and decide if you want a gap between courses. In the example above, there is no gap. Each course begins after the previous one ends.

In our example, the entire training cycle takes 9 weeks. So, if it begins on Monday, June 5, it would need to be completed by the end of the first week in August. However, it could just as well begin on Monday, September 18, and be completed by the end of the second week in November.

SC Training (formerly EdApp) Calendar Feature

A high-quality LMS such as SC Training (formerly EdApp) has a calendar feature that helps you schedule your training. You specify when each lesson of each course can be accessed. In this way, you can stagger your training to match any training calendar.

There are a lot of other training calendar templates out there, so feel free to check them out.

Scheduling tips

With the documented need for constant reskilling and upskilling, organizations are trying to create a culture of learning. In other words, getting their employees into the habit of learning on a regular basis.

When thinking about how to manage your training calendar with an LMS, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Keep the course load do-able

In our example above, we asked our workers to complete a lesson a week. This could be a good pace for your enterprise but ultimately, it's up to you how you pace your workers. To increase your training engagement and success, keep the learning load manageable for them. Unless you absolutely positively have to overload your trainees, a lighter load would be more manageable.

Build in time for Assignments

Having an assignment at the end of each course enables trainees to summarize their learning in an engaging way. The SC Training (formerly EdApp) Assignments feature supports text, photos, and short videos. Assignments should be a lesson in themselves. So, for example, in our 4-week Course above, 3 weeks would be lessons and the 4th would be the summary assignment.

Ease the transition with Group Training

If you are doing a lot of your training on an ‘in person’ basis, it may be a bit much for your people to transition over to ‘on mobile on demand’ all at once. Plus, your people will need to become familiar with how to navigate your LMS. The group training feature is a great solution for both.

Basically, you hold a live session in a classroom or meeting room. You project your LMS lesson on a large screen or whiteboard and go through it with your trainees. Not only can they actually begin their training, but they can also see how to move through and interact with the LMS. 

For more helpful tips on structuring your training program to increase results, check out this SC Training (formerly EdApp) webinar.

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