BLOGS & ARTICLES
Insights on learning best practices and trends.
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.
The Rough Guide to Global Capacity Building: Quick Tips to Improve NGO Training
As a learning and knowledge management consultant, I particularly enjoy working with NGO clients who do important work in challenging environments. From onboarding volunteers in the midst of a crisis to strengthening civil society in fragile states or operating health clinics in remote mountain villages, NGOs face some [...]
Sonata Notes: Are Potential Woman Leaders Discouraged By Your Leadership Training?
The way leadership training is typically designed and delivered in most organizations does not favor women’s success. Fortunately, there are steps organizations can take to make leadership training more gender-inclusive:
Sonata Notes: What Can NGOs Do to Help Refugees Acquire Critical Job Skills?
Despite the hysterics of far-right nationalists, influxes of refugees have the potential to positively impact economies all over the world. Yet many refugees find themselves at a disadvantage when compared to native workers, because they did not have the opportunity to develop crucial job skills in their birth countries.