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by Mohana Radhakrishnan
An LMS grows because it’s the right place to put most everything related to training. But, like a garden, when things sprout in your LMS, you have to decide whether to pull them or nurture them. If the domains you planted in your LMS have tangled your training, consider this.
Often an organization sets up LMS domains – buckets for groups or roles within a business – in a simple way, by geography or department.
Let’s say a company has one domain for all workers in Philadelphia, and another for its Raleigh, NC, facility. Employees begin adding courses to the LMS. But are there standard naming conventions for the courses, and how are the courses tagged so employees aren’t adding (and registering for) similar classes, or the wrong classes, without realizing?
If, however, you ensure that LMS domains map to the way your business runs, your training will have a laser-like focus. Here’s how: When a branch manager joins a bank, her job is categorized within an LMS domain. The training for her role is automatically assigned. And the LMS prescribes resources for her. This is how “prescriptive learning” works.
To get there, though, you must map out your organization’s structure, domains and course catalog. This requires standard naming conventions and metadata. Metadata tags courses and ensures employees find the right training.
LMS vendors don’t always think through the ramifications of oversimplifying domains. They’re mainly concerned with getting your LMS running.
So if you’re implementing an LMS, set up a governance group at the outset to discuss how LMS domains should reflect your company’s business. If you’ve implemented your LMS, make the domains mirror your company structure.
This might spark political battles. If so, consider an outside organization to carry out the planning and work and mitigate the politics. That kind of help can not only protect your technology investment, but also improve the return on investment.
If your organization is grappling with LMS domain issues or if you’re interested in increasing the efficiency of your learning technology infrastructure, send me an email. | 
