Getting Started with MonkeyLMS: Blank Page to Daily Resource

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Charles Krauthammer admits, “I have a horror of the blank page.” You stare at the page, or screen. And it stares back. All of your knowledge, your expertise, your ideas, suddenly become jumbled and disjointed. 

You’ve created your MonkeyLMS project, and you’re looking at… a blank Our Content page. How do you fill it with the vital information you need to share with your users? What do they need to know?

We prefill every project with a few Lessons to explain how MonkeyLMS works – but we don’t have YOUR knowledge uploaded.

The Our Content page can become overwhelming. Without a clear direction, it might stay blank forever. But you have what you need – in your head, your computers, your files, and more. Get all of the various sources together into one place. Our Content.

Step One: Identify and Classify

A flow chart, beginning with the following: Identify and classify the knowledge you and your staff hold. Each of the following includes an icon to match the text: Processes staff repeat every day. Current industry challenges. Internal operational functions. Big picture areas of expertise. Customers' most common problems. Systems, products, tools, and software used in your business. Industry standard and customized workflows. Training materials.

Identify and classify the knowledge you and your staff hold: from repeated processes, to regular operational functions, common customer issues, tools used, industry standards, and of course, training materials.

Maybe you start with creating a lot of categories, identifying where content will need to be added later. Or, you might start by creating content titles. It’s easy to drag and drop them into categories at a later stage. Whatever method works for you is the best method to use.

Once your knowledge has been documented, you can identify gaps and fill them with the knowledge you and your staff have – maybe in a bottom drawer hidden in a closet, maybe in three subfolders down in a forgotten laptop. Once it’s in MonkeyLMS, it’ll always be available.

Step Two: Ask who knows this? Who SHOULD know this?

A flowchart with a book icon and text: Who already knows this? Who should know it? The flowchart continues with five icons and text: Who are the internal experts that staff consult? Who needs to know this information to do their jobs well? Who needs to know this information before they buy from your business? Who else could benefit from access to this knowledge? Who should not have access to this information?

In some cases you’ll leave all content available for all users, the default setting for content creation. But there may be some content you want to keep for certain groups. Use the Tag Manager to create User Groups and Locations. Then, tag the content you’ve created 

This will create a loop back to Step One. You may discover there are groups that have no content for them, or groups that should have the information but don’t. You’ll be able to turn to your staff to add more content that is useful to them.

Step Three: There’s always more knowledge

A flow chart in a triangle with an icon and text for each point, beginning with the top priority. Important items staff or clients need to know immediately. Information that has been updated or changed. Resolutions for the biggest challenges in each department. Methods to streamline operations. Answers to questions managers and staff are constantly asked. Solutions to mistakes that happen too frequently. Clarity for areas of confusion in each department. Big-picture ideas that haven't been communicated to frontline staff. New information or processes. The ideal training course for new staff members.

The more you use MonkeyLMS, the more content you’ll discover you need to add to it. Over time, you’ll find that MonkeyLMS has become a daily resource for your users. Use MonkeyLMS to quickly share:

  • important, timely information
  • Updates to older content
  • Clarity on confusing or unclear processes
  • And more!

Your MonkeyLMS project might start with a blank page, but before long you’ll have it filled with the knowledge your team needs, every day.

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