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Working in HR and L&D, you’re in charge of making sure your learning and development programs are well-rounded, easily accessible, and impactful. Harnessing technology is a great way to put more power behind your efforts. Learning Management Systems (LMS) are a handy tool in this quest, but to really get the most out of the system you should consider integrating other tools that boost learning outcomes while making your job easier.
Let’s explore the top LMS integrations that supplement and complement your L&D program stack.
What is an LMS integration?
To truly grasp the LMS integration meaning, think of it as an extension or add-on that connects your LMS with other applications or platforms. A learning management system integration is designed to amplify the capabilities of your LMS, making it easier for your participants to use and for you to deliver and manage your programs.
One main benefit is being able to sync user data, courses, training records, progress, and other information across platforms without the usual time-consuming manual input. This not only saves you time, but also reduces the risk of errors.
By incorporating the right LMS integrations, you can support different learning needs, continuous learning and collaboration, and access valuable analytics and insights you can use to build and improve your learning and development programs. LMS integrations help you create a learning ecosystem that adapts to the needs and goals of your team, your company, and your employees.
Common types of LMS integrations to try
There are a lot of LMS integrations out there that fall into many different categories. What you choose depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Here are some of the most common types of LMS integrations and how they can help you improve your learning and development programs:
- Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS): Integrating your LMS with an HRIS ensures employee data is automatically reflected in your learning platform. This allows for smooth onboarding and tailored training programs that align with each individual’s employee journey.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): By connecting your LMS with CRM tools, you can streamline any customer training and education programs. This integration helps provide personalized learning experiences for your clients.
- Content creation tools: Incorporating content creation platforms helps you craft engaging and interactive learning modules or gamification within your LMS. You can customize content easily to make it highly relevant to your company and your employees’ experiences.
- Design tools: Boost the aesthetic appeal and effectiveness of your learning materials by integrating user-friendly design tools. Now you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create visually compelling training resources that improve learner engagement.
- Communication tools: Get your learners talking by integrating common instant messaging and video conferencing tools for corporate e-learning. These connections help create a more interactive and collaborative learning environment where learners can discuss course content and share insights.
- Project and task management tools: Help both you and your learners stay on track and manage tasks within your LMS by integrating project and task management tools. This helps track learning progress, meet deadlines, and balance learning tasks with the participant’s day-to-day responsibilities—while they work towards long term career goals.
By using LMS integrations in these categories, you’re crafting a learning ecosystem that works for you, your company, and your program participants.
12 powerful LMS integrations to amplify your L&D programs
Integrating the right tools with your LMS is key to building your learning ecosystem and supporting all of your L&D programs. These tools enhance your LMS’s functionality, offering a smooth, engaging experience while making it easier for you and your team to manage your programs.
Here are 12 LMS integrations to consider:
1. Zapier
Zapier is the base for thousands of integrations. It acts as a bridge that connects different tools without the need for complex coding. With this tool’s ability to automate different workflows between apps, it can significantly cut down on administrative time. By integrating Zapier, you can automate program enrolment, issue certificates upon course completion, or send out reminders for upcoming sessions or deadlines, allowing your team to focus on creating valuable content rather than repetitive busywork.
2. BambooHR
Integrating your HRIS, like BambooHR, can greatly enhance the administrative side of your learning and development programs. It helps you track employee progress, manage course enrolment, and assess training impact without needing to jump around to different systems.
3. Thinkific
Thinkific is a platform that empowers you to create and distribute online courses. It has features for course creation, quizzes, and student management. By integrating Thinkific, it’s easier to build your own in-house training content rather than relying solely on 3rd party course catalogs. This LMS integration is perfect for companies that want to expand their course offerings but want to make sure learning is consistent across different formats.
4. Canva
Canva is a powerful design tool that makes it easier for you to create visually engaging learning materials. From presentations to in-depth readings, Canva’s drag and drop interface makes it simple for instructors and administrators to create high-quality content without the need for advanced graphic design skills. Integrating Canva into your LMS allows you to access your designs or create new ones using their library of templates and resources, making sure you can create educational content that’s not only informative but also visually compelling.
5. Zoom
With remote and hybrid work so popular, having a virtual meeting tool is now a necessity. Integrating Zoom into your LMS makes live learning sessions, webinars, and collaborative workshops a breeze. This setup keeps the interactive spirit of education alive, no matter where your learners are located, making it a flexible and accessible option to add to your LMS integrations.
6. Slack
Adding Slack to your LMS is a great way to enhance collaboration among both learners and instructors. You can create discussion channels for courses, make it easier to share learning resources, and build in avenues for direct feedback from your participants to create a more engaged learning environment.
7. SurveyMonkey
Gathering feedback is such a crucial part of any learning and development program. By integrating SurveyMonkey, you can effortlessly distribute surveys to participants right after their sessions or courses. This handy tool helps you gather insights on how effective the courses are, gauge learner satisfaction, and spot areas for improvement. By digging into this data, you'll feel more empowered to make smart decisions and keep improving your L&D strategies over time.
8. Articulate
Articulate, known for its intuitive tools and interface, empowers L&D to create engaging, multimedia courses without needing technical skills in course creation. By integrating this software into your LMS, you can create and bring in your own training content without having to hop between platforms, making it easier on you and your learners.
9. Asana
Asana is a leading project management tool that, when integrated with an LMS, can help streamline the organization of training programs, progress, and timelines. LMS integration solutions like this make it easier to coordinate your L&D initiatives, ensuring that deadlines are met and outcomes match your plans.
10. Salesforce
By integrating Salesforce with your LMS, your team can manage client training and tap into customer relationship management analytics. This opens up a treasure trove of insights that show how training efforts truly impact business performance while helping you measure the ROI of your customer L&D initiatives.
11. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
Integrating Google or Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools into your LMS allows your participants to use tools they’re already familiar with like Docs, Word, Excel, or Slides to collaborate on projects or complete assignments. It prevents your participants from having to learn whole new tools just to be able to complete their training, improving engagement and reducing the learning curve.
12. Together’s development programs software
Together’s development programs software integrates into your LMS and gathers all your program elements into one place. Whether it's live learning like events or a workplace mentoring program, or surveys and educational content, our development programs software works together with your LMS to bring all of your programs to one platform to both streamline the learning experience and the administrative experience.
Gather all your L&D programs in one place through Together’s LMS integration
By incorporating LMS integration solutions, you’re creating a learning ecosystem that can adapt to fit the needs of your company, learners, and your administrators. Each of these tools augment your learning and development strategies in unique ways, ensuring you’re giving your participants the support and options they need to forge their own learning paths.
Together’s development programs software can help you manage all of the different elements of your learning and development programs—including your learning management system integrations—to make your programs more accessible and impactful.
Book a demo to learn how Together’s development programs software and mentorship platform can help!
