Empowering Effective External Learning

With more companies working with professionals outside their organization, it’s vitally important that the quality training offered to internal employees is also extended to external collaborators. Read more on how an LMS can help organizations effectively manage the learner experience of external partners.

Training External Collaborators For Success

When collaborating with external users, it is important that companies provide these outside professionals with the training they need to be productive and effective in their collaboration. All too often, an organization’s lack of training can lead to frustration and lost time for both the business and external worker. One tool that can help prevent these inefficiencies and streamline the external learner process is a learning management system or platform.

“External collaboration can be critical to business success. Even while we recognize the value of people working together, it can be difficult to achieve this on a constant basis.”

– Planview.com 

Top Challenges of External User Management

There are several barriers that companies can encounter when it comes to managing external users. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common ones, and how an LMS can help companies with these challenges.

• Determining the most effective collaboration training: When dealing with people from outside your company, it’s critical to provide them with the appropriate training they need to successfully perform their roles. A learning solution can assist by providing training courses made specifically for the external user’s compliance and skill requirements.
• Developing training that is accessible when and where it’s needed: Because everyone has a different learning style, it’s critical to provide training in a variety of formats. An LMS can aid by providing various delivery options for learners, like through desktop apps, mobile apps or in collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams.
• Having a communication system that allows external users to ask questions and receive assistance: If there are no clear means for external collaborators to communicate with you, it may be difficult to effectively work with these partners. An agile learning platform can provide a portal where users can easily submit queries and receive assistance via chatbots or live communication channels.

• Ensuring that all required training is delivered to the right people and done on time: Everyone must get adequate training so that they can not only be productive, but also stay compliant and aligned with industry policies. Learning platforms often have training tracking capabilities so managers have a clear view of what training is mandatory for external users and can keep track of completion rates.
• Offering substantial opportunities for users to learn outside of mandated training: Though security awareness and compliance trainings are often the most critical courses to be completed, external users might not have as much of a chance to discover other areas of training that can ultimately make them more agile in their roles. A learning platform that can integrate with external certifications and learning courses can offer external users a larger variety of training opportunities to benefit their professional skilling goals, and ultimately, your collaboration together.

Enhance the External Learner Experience with LMS365 | Scenarios

When it comes to expanding the external learner experience, there are many situations where a learning management platform can be of great assistance. And when looking at the unique LMS365 learning solution—the only learning platform natively built into the Microsoft 365 suite—external training management is further streamlined and automated.

Here are just a few scenarios where a learning solution, such as LMS365, can support companies in their external learner management:

You are a training coordinator in a manufacturing company working with a number of external collaborators located on the job site.

• Create custom courses that can be automatically assigned and delivered directly to external users without involving IT
• Make training courses that are available through tablet or mobile device, so it is easy to access on the job
• Track completion of mandatory training and send certifications when completed so they have the proper credentials on-site

You are a utilities provider looking to offer various training to a number of sub-contractors that need appropriate training for their upcoming projects.

• Create a SharePoint page accessible to sub-contractors that has information on the project sites, appropriate tools, and links to all training types available in LMS365
• Offer training at all levels: either mandatory (compliance and security), training as a service (reskilling), or training as a bonus (upskilling)

You are a non-profit organization looking to pre-board new volunteers.

• Use course creation tools through Microsoft 365 and LMS365
• External learners can self-register for volunteer course and or it can be assigned to them as part of their pre-boarding program
• New volunteers can complete the necessary training before beginning their new role, so they have the elementary knowledge and experience needed

In each of these scenarios, LMS365 provides a simple and efficient way to manage external users, delivering training that is accessible when and where it’s needed. By enhancing the external learner experience, a learning platform can help businesses to be more productive and successful with their training and collaborations.

Bring Quality Learning and Training to External Collaborators with LMS365

An LMS can be of great value in expanding the external learner experience, especially when working with a variety of partners. As the only Microsoft-based learning management platform, LMS365 offers a simple, easy-to-use interface for designing and delivering training courses for external learners.

Companies use LMS365 to create tailored learning portals for certain groups of external users, track their progress on required courses, and provide training in a variety of modes. The system is ideal for use with a wide range of learning methods, including online, classroom, webinar, and blended learning structures.

In addition, tracking and reporting with LMS365 provides detailed insights into user progress, allowing companies to fine-tune and improve their training programs as required. LMS365 is the ideal choice for organizations looking to offer internal and external users deliver quality training in the flow of their Microsoft digital workspace.

To learn more, book a 1:1 demo of the LMS365 learning platform.