Course Description

To help participants develop their management reporting skills so as to enhance the quality of decision making in their organisations and their own profile and impact within the organisation. By the end of the seminar, participants will have:

·         reviewed and developed their understanding of the management decision - making process

·         explored the principles of effective report writing and applied these to their own reports

·         reviewed and practiced their presentation skills

·         developed strategies for answering questions and making effective contributions to committee discussion

Course Objective

 This interactive and practical training session, emphasizes the common themes across all forms of reporting (gathering information, determining relevance, structuring the material and making clear recommendations) and the specific skill sets required in each case including the ability to handle tough questions in committee. These skills are critical not only to the quality of decision making in the organisation, but also for the profile, impact and effectiveness of the individual manager who makes such reports.

Who Should attend?

 Managers, executives and consultants who make reports as a basis for others’ decision making

Course Outline

Day 1 - Managing Information and the Decision-making Process

·         Programme introduction and objectives

·         Principles of information management

·         The management decision  process - what do decision-makers need

·         Types of management reporting

·         Features of effective reports

·         The process of writing reports and preparing presentations

·         Clarifying objectives

·         Developing ideas and researching content

·         Types of information - quantitative  and qualitative

·         Determining relevance - what to put in and what to leave out

Day 2 - Report Writing Skills 1

·         Structuring a report

·         Developing logical sequencing

·         Use of appendices, tables, diagrams and figures

·         Report layout

·         Improving readability and fog factor analysis

·         Sentence and paragraph structure

·         Grammar and punctuation

Day 3 - Report Writing Skills (2) / Presentation Skills (1)

·         Getting the best from spell and grammar checks

·         Proofreading

·         Consulting on drafts – track changes

·         Other forms of written communication – letters and e-mails

·         Principles of effective presentations

·         Handling nerves

·         Using notes

·         Relationship between report documentation and the presentation

·         Body language and voice

·         Content and structure

·         Using visual aids and stage management

·         Designing effective and impactful slides with  PowerPoint

Day - 4 Presentation Skills (2)/ Committee Reporting

·         Choosing words with impact – using rhetorical devices

·         Handing questions

·         Making team presentations

·         Participants’ presentations and feedback session (1)

·         Committee reporting – contributing to discussion and analysis

·         Dangers of ‘group-think’

·         De  Bono’s ‘Thinking Hats’ and the decision making process

Day 5 - Presentation Skills (3) / Review

·         Participants’ presentations and feedback session (2)

·         Influencing skills and ‘political’ dimensions

·         Seminar review