The Problem
The Human Resources Team (or Department) is in need of a learning management system (LMS) to supplement their onboarding process. The caveat, they don’t really have a big budget for this (less than $1000).
The Approach
The first step in solving any problem is to nail down the requirements. A lot of times, what the stakeholder has, is a great high level view (read dream) of what they want, but they aren’t able to communicate the nitty details. Business Analysts are experts in asking the right questions in order to tease out the details of that vision.
Okay, requirements nailed. After that, I evaluate the landscape both internally and externally. Regardless of whether or not you’re on a budget, you should take stock of existing technologies that the organization is using to see if they could be leveraged to solve the problem. A great advantage of having a great and lasting relationship with a consultant is that they should have a general idea of what technology you’re already using. This saves time (read money) in trying to discover that for the first time. I love the saying “the right tool for the right job” which means that every tool has a specific purpose. A lot of people take that literally, (screwdriver for screws, hammer for nails) but when it comes to software selection, there’s a little bit more nuance involved. Sometimes the “right tool” may not be traditionally for what it was originally designed for. For an example, check out “A Maintenance Plan” in my post on 5 Overlooked Items When Implementing Software.