Having a strong and well-developed training programme in your project management office (PMO) will improve you business outcomes. The modern solution to offering training courses are called learning management systems (LMSs).
The Software-as-a-Service is reasonably new, so how do you choose the best LMS for your PMO? To assist you in the decision, we’re going to cover:
- The features of an LMS you should be looking for
- Whether to choose open-source or cloud-based solutions
- Three of the most popular LMS options for your PMO
What should I be looking for in a LMS for my PMO?
Generally, an LMS will offer a range of features that will help you take the training your PMO offers online. Exactly what you need from your online training system will vary from office to office.
The general features you can expect to find across every platform that you look at are:
- Reporting on training completion, results, and trends
- Schedules and calendars for colleagues and at team level
- A range of content options such as video, audio, and text-based
- Testing, quizzes, and certification plus usually some gamification
These will support your PMO in engaging project manager and team members, getting a better RoI, and ultimately getting projects delivered on schedule that delight stakeholders.
Should my PMOs LMS be cloud-based or open source?
How you host your training platform will have a lot of implications for your PMO. The main considerations will be cost and scalability. We break down the pros and cons of both options.
Open-source LMS
Using open-source software for your LMS will have immediate cost benefits. The software can be cheap or even free. It will, however, take more time to upload your content on to the platform and there will be little in the way of support or documentation.
You will have full control of your data by hosing your PMO’s training schemes on your internal servers. Your office also takes on the responsibility of maintenance and security of the data.
Cloud-based LMS
Hosting your PMO’s training in a cloud environment, through and SaaS company, means you pay a monthly or annual fee to host your training. Online systems are usually well maintained and regularly updated and require no prior installation.
Using cloud solutions makes is easier to expand the training and admin accounts you need. There are usually more features available with online, cloud-based LMSs.
Which LMS should I use for my PMO training?
With all the benefits of cloud-based LMSs, our three picks are all SaaS companies. Here’s a rundown of the pros and cons of some LMSs for your PMO.
Docebo
Pros
- Lots of versatile features that make it easy to configure and use long-term.
- Your subscription gets your PMO unlimited cloud storage, courses, and admin accounts
- Custom reporting available, including pre-planned, scheduled reports
Cons
- Some features not available on mobile apps
- Need to upgrade package to get full suite of options
SAP Litmos
Pros
- Flexible choice between the reporting software and course hosting
- The API has a large catalogue of available integrations
- Easy to directly import your current content and create new courses
Cons
- Administrators need to be ready to learn lots of new skills
- Can be overkill for small businesses
Inquisiq
Pros
- Compatible with desktop, web, Android, and iOS devices
- Has a strong suite of reporting options, great for PMO data production
- Easily blends on-the-job and classroom training elements to courses
Cons
- The myriad features can drown out the useful elements you need
- Has time restrictions on some report features
The take home
Choosing, implementing, and rolling out an LMS will be a project in itself. Your PMO will see benefits, with tracking and reports on the returns of investment in training will be beneficial. It’s important to track who has completed which training in your teams. With that, you need to find the best LMS for your project management office. We’ve given you three options to investigate. Be sure to know exactly what you’re looking for before launching into a partnership with any LMS – cloud-based options can lock you in for a year or more.
