Blogs
& Articles
Gain fresh insights on learning and related topics from Sonata’s team.
If Customers Want the ‘Right to Repair’, Make Sure They Get it Right
Equipment manufacturers are nervous about “right to repair” legislation. But whether it passes or not, providing appropriate training and support to customers is a smart business move.
Training Human Workers to be Smart Around Smart Machines
Amidst the buzz around AI and automation, how can manufacturers prepare clients for the reality of working with autonomous technology?
Sonata Notes: 5 Types of Training Every Capital Equipment Manufacturer Needs to Provide
Whether you produce industrial machinery or meditech, there are five key audiences every capital equipment manufacturer needs to train.
Sonata Notes: 3 Audiences Consultants Miss by Not Offering Online Coaching & Training
There will be always clients and audiences within client organizations who will never attend your face-to-face workshops, due to cost or logistical barriers. The good news is that online learning (done right) can help you reach these audiences.
Sonata Notes: Turning Workplace “Generation Gaps” into a Diversity Advantage
With Baby Boomers working into their 70s and “Gen Z” overtaking Millennials as the largest segment of the labor pool, having junior and veteran staff collaborate can boost the productivity of both.
Sonata Notes: 5 Types of Stories Your Audience Can Actually Learn From
Storytelling can be a powerful tool to engage an audience, but only if you're telling the right story. Here are five types of learning and leadership stories, and when to use each.
For NGOs using “mobile money” and cash transfer interventions, mobile financial literacy training can boost return on investment
Recently, the Gates Foundation invested millions to develop an online payment platform specifically addressing the needs of refugees and the poor. Meanwhile, a growing number of NGOs are experimenting with direct cash transfers as an intervention for everything from food security to tuberculosis treatment, emergency response and more.
Sonata Notes: 5 Ways to Help Remote Staff and In-Office Staff Work Better Together
In theory, remote work lets organizations expand their recruiting pool, reduce operating costs, and increase worker happiness. However, in practice, integrating remote workers and in-office staff can be challenging.
Sonata Notes: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Training Clients
Our company has helped many expert consulting firms, in fields ranging from sales to finance to cybersecurity, create more effective training programs for their clientele.
Sonata Notes: 5 Things Marketers Know that the Training Industry Forgets
Both the marketing and training industries involve connecting with audiences, communicating key messages, driving behavior change, and motivating people to action.
Sonata Notes: Who’s Afraid of (Learning From) Failure?
Different people react to failure in different ways, most of them unhelpful. It’s rare for anyone to honestly and rationally reflect on their own mistakes - which is a shame, as analyzing past failures can help us succeed in the future.
Sonata Notes: Want Compliance Training That Works? Let Your Workers Design It.
Compliance training is necessary to shield organizations from liability and regulatory fines. But is there a better way to deliver compliance training than having workers click through slide after slide of legal disclaimers then answer insultingly basic true/false questions?
Sonata Notes: Is Training Ever “One and Done”? Affordable Ways to Extended Learning
Training usually works best when delivered in small increments over a longer period of time, yet the logistics of in-person training tend to bias organizations towards one-time marathon workshops. How can we affordably extend the learning experience beyond a one-time event?
Sonata Notes: Cancel That Flight: How NGOs Can Stop “Training Tourism”
For many NGOs, the standard training model is to fly people across continents and oceans to attend in-person workshops, but is this approach sustainable? And what are the alternatives?
Sonata Notes: How to Encourage More Learning with Less “Training”
By taking a systematic approach to "informal" learning, you can meet the majority of your organization’s learning needs without a massive capital investment in training.
Sonata Notes: Three “Uncoachable” Skills and How You Can (Sort Of) Coach Them
Sports coaches often describe some qualities - like height, lung capacity and passion - as "uncoachable". Does the same hold true for essential workplace skills like intuition, creativity and systems thinking?
Sonata Notes: Games in Training: A Powerful Learning Tool or Just Playing Around?
There’s been a lot of interest lately in using games to motivate learners and reinforce learning by tapping into our competitive instincts. The only trouble is, when trying to “gamify” training programs, many organizations miss the real value of play.
Sonata Notes: Why “Big Data” Requires Small Stories
From predicting the weather to anticipating disease outbreaks, computers enable us to gain useful insights from massive data sets. However, while a skilled analyst can scan a sheet of numbers and spot the important trends, most people do better when data is presented within a simple, logical, compelling narrative.
Sonata Notes: You Can’t Cure Jerks, but You *Can* Stop Workplace Harassment
At this point, there's no denying that workplace sexual harassment and discrimination are serious, pervasive issues. While it’s true that many problems result from the misconduct of a few bad actors, the effect of even a single bully or harasser on your team should not be underestimated.
Sonata Notes: The Secret World of “Shadow IT”
From Google Docs to Slack, cloud-based productivity apps are allowing employees to work from anywhere, get more done and collaborate more effectively in real time. While the convenience of these tools is a welcome improvement over old desktop software, individuals might start using cloud apps without the knowledge or approval of their IT department.
