Wednesdays, March 3 - April 7 9:00am - 11:00am 

Using Data to Make Powerful Decisions

Advances in computing power have led to a massive explosion in the amount of data available for analysis.  But many businesses don’t take advantage of the opportunities for analyzing their data, and miss out on opportunities to improve their bottom line.  

This series covers an introduction to analytics and  common analytics tools and methods, providing  today’s professionals with an understanding of what it means to lead with data while actively working with visual datasets to develop best practices to tell a story or make an impact.   The program wraps up with the importance of understanding people analytics and forecasting in order to create effective action plans.  

Data Analytics for Leaders MicroCredential Certificate

By completing all sessions and intersession activities delegates will be awarded the Data Analytics for Leaders Microcredential Certificate. 

Workshop Descriptions

Session 1:  Introduction to Data Analytics for Leaders  

We can’t escape the presence of data in the media these days.  Advances in computing power have led to a massive explosion in the amount of data available for analysis.  But many businesses don’t take advantage of the opportunities for analyzing their data, and miss out on opportunities to improve their bottom line.   This first session will introduce leaders to what analytics is, and to common tools and methods used to perform analytics and convey results.  We’ll review examples in Descriptive, Predictive and Prescriptive analytics with an emphasis on concrete examples from business. 

Session 2: Data Literacy for Leaders 

Description:  As a leader responsible for the success of your organization, you need to be able to understand and take full advantage of your data.   But where do you start?  And how do you know which data you can trust? We’ll build on the concepts from Session 1 to address these questions, and chart a path forward to strategic use for yourself and for your team.

Session 3:  Storytelling Through Data Visualization / Communicate for Impact      

Description:  Numbers don’t tell the whole story.  They require context, they require an understanding of your business, and they require critical thinking.  In this session we’ll review best practices for presenting data through visual methods including graphs, infographics, and dashboards.  We’ll weigh the pros and cons of each, and discuss the merits of different types of charts, graphs and visuals to deliver your message.  

Session 4:   People Analytics   

Description:  Researchers are finding more and more evidence that leveraging human capital improves a company’s performance - its stock price, its customer satisfaction, its employee retention, and others.  As a leader responsible for the success of your organization, you need to be able to leverage data to take full advantage of this resource. We’ll discuss examples of how data and analytics can help leaders understand the value of an engaged employee, recognize factors that lead to employee turnover, predict the future productivity of job applicants, and proactively uncover sources of top-caliber talent. 

Session 5:  Forecasting Basics & Pitfalls  

Description:  One especially helpful use of analytics for business is forecasting.  We’ll review several types of forecasting that are regularly employed by businesses, time-series (trend lines, moving averages)  and associative (correlation, regression).   No method is perfect, however, and we’ll discuss the advantages of each as well as the drawbacks.  We’ll also look at some of the common pitfalls that both analysts and decision-makers make, and suggest ways to mitigate for that.

Session 6:  Putting It All Together:  KPIs, Building an Action Plan, and Google Analytics  

Description:  Our final session will consolidate what we’ve covered into a plan for action going forward.  We’ll walk through how to determine what metrics and analyses are the important ones for you to focus on in your business, depending on what your goals are.  Using Google Analytics as an example, we’ll identify the metrics that you’ll want to be keeping your eyes on within your organization, what questions they can (and can’t!) answer, and what analyses you’ll need to be receiving on a regular basis.  We’ll discuss building the internal structure that will deliver these metrics and analyses to you, from reporting programs to the skills needed by your team members.

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About Julie Alig, Ph.D.

Julie Alig is a data geek who’s passionate about telling stories and works with organizations, businesses, non-profits, colleges and universities, and other groups to uncover the stories in their data, using statistics and visualizations. Armed with this knowledge, they make strong, strategic decisions to move forward.  She earned her Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct her dissertation field research in Stuttgart, Germany.  She graduated cum laude from Columbia College in New York City with a Bachelor’s in History and French Literature.  She lives in Manchester with her husband and two children.

NEW DATES - BEGINS March 3, 2021

Every Wednesday March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, & 21. 

Time:  5pm - 7pm - ONLINE

Required text included:

Communicating Mindfully, Dan Huston

Over the last two decades, mindfulness has enjoyed an exponential rise in nearly every facet of society. From healthcare to education, the military to professional sports teams, training in mindfulness is improving people’s physical and psychological health, as well as their performance and life satisfaction. Many business leaders recognize the benefits mindfulness can bring to the workforce, including increased productivity and reduced healthcare costs.

This 8-part series introduces participants to the basics of Communicating Mindfully, a time-tested, internationally respected curriculum that infuses the study of mindfulness with the study of communication and emotional intelligence. Studies have shown participant improvement in all of these areas, suggesting this powerful combination increases a broad array of skills that benefit participants both personally and professionally.  Participants will deepen their understanding and practice of mindful communication through an in-depth look at the ways self-talk, self-concept, and assertive behavior impact communication.

The course is designed around the fact that each moment of our lives is unique and unpredictable. CM  provides participants with the skills they need to accurately assess internal and external factors involved in any given communication experience and make effective choices about how to communicate productively based on that awareness. Through the study of communication theory and mindfulness, participants learn to identify and modify unproductive communication habits, thus increasing their ability to manage stressful situations and improve relationships with others.

Communicating Mindfully for the Workplace Schedule

Meeting 1: Getting Started: Beginner’s Mind, March 3

Meeting 2: Conversation & Listening Skills: Paying Attention, March 10

Meeting 3: Becoming Better Listeners: More Than Meets the Ear, March 17

Meeting 4: Nonverbal Behavior & Physical Sensations, Mar 24

Meeting 5: Self-Talk: Getting to Know Ourselves, March 31

Meeting 6: Self-Concept: Who Do You Think You Are?,  April 7

Meeting 7: Assertive Behavior: Tell It Like It Is,  Apr 14

Meeting 8: An End and a New Beginning, Apr 21

2 Sessions - 3.5 hours each

March 18th and March 25th 2021, 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Excel 102 - The Productivity Bootcamp  

Description:    

Microsoft Excel has become the main program to handle large amounts of data, charts, financial models, math formulas, reports, and just about everything else pertaining to business.  But using it can still be a mystery.

This training will show you everything you need to know about using Excel and getting more productive and efficient with it.  The topics include:

• Sorts
• Filters
• Advanced Filters
• Subtotals
• Formatted Tables
• The Total Row in Formatted Tables
• Using Slicers in Formatted Tables
• The Sumif, Countif, and Averageif Formulas
• The Vlookup Formulas
• If Formulas
• Date Formulas
• Subtotals
• Charts
• Pivot Tables
• Dashboards in Pivot Tables
• Power Pivot and PowerQuery
• Automating tasks with Macros

 About the Instructor

Tom Fragale is a computer professional with over 30 years of experience. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer, a Microsoft Certified Office Master, and a Microsoft Certified Expert in Word and Excel. He has trained over 30,000 business people in on-line webinars, public seminars, and on-site training. His clients include many Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, military bases, and companies large and small across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, banking, pharmaceutical, education, retail, etc.

HR Essentials!  Using Data to Make Powerful Decisions

Researchers are finding more and more evidence that leveraging human capital improves a company’s performance – its revenue, customer satisfaction, employee retention, and ability to attract new employees, among others.   As a leader responsible for the success of your organization, you need to be able to leverage data to take full advantage of this valuable resource.  This 6-week microcredential course will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to begin doing just that.  In non-technical language, this introduction to the emerging field of “People Analytics” will review the basics of the theory, practice and terminology of people-centered analytics in organizations today.

Presented in six (6) two (2) hour sessions, you’ll learn what metrics are the most important to focus on for your organization, and importantly, which analytics are the most appropriate to use when answering the questions facing you and your colleagues.  We’ll address the challenge of data silos and of “messy data,” and review the lifecycle of an analytics project from conception to delivery of results.  Use cases will be drawn from areas including talent acquisition, employee retention, workforce planning, employee engagement, and compensation.  Finally, ethical considerations surrounding the use of employee data will be addressed. 

You’ll come away from this course with the ability to improve your decision-making by optimizing the use of data, analytical methods, and especially your human capital.

Data Analytics for HR Professionals MicroCredential 

Participants must complete all sessions in order to be awarded a certificate of successful completion. Participants are surveyed anonymously in advance of the training so as to give instructors a better sense of the participant’s background and expectations. Participants are also surveyed at the end of the program to determine the program's impact and to allow for feedback in order to continuously improve the program. 

Who Should Attend

This microcredential course is primarily designed for the Director level and above; for functional area leaders; general management; and C-suite executives who want to learn how to drive business results by incorporating human resources data and analysis into decision-making.

Participants should possess strong management and communication skills, as well as a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Excel.  No previous knowledge of or experience with statistics or analytics is required, though statistical tools and methods will be mentioned as appropriate in discussions of HR topics.

Workshop Descriptions

Session 1:  Analytics, and What It Can Contribute to HR; Descriptive, Predictive, etc.

Session 2:  Talent Acquisition

Session 3:  Retention and Turnover

Session 4:  Employee Engagement

Session 5:  Diversity and Inclusion; HR Metrics

Session 6:  Data to Action:  Persuasive Storytelling and Ethical Considerations

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About Julie Alig, Ph.D.

Julie Alig is a data geek who’s passionate about telling stories and works with organizations, businesses, non-profits, colleges and universities, and other groups to uncover the stories in their data, using statistics and visualizations. Armed with this knowledge, they make strong, strategic decisions to move forward.  She earned her Doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago, and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct her dissertation field research in Stuttgart, Germany.  She graduated cum laude from Columbia College in New York City with a Bachelor’s in History and French Literature.  She lives in Manchester with her husband and two children.

ONDEMAND - Self-Paced, start anytime or Instructor Led, pick your start date!  Register here.

In this comprehensive course, you will learn the basics of double-entry bookkeeping, as well as how to analyze and record financial transactions. You will get hands-on experience with handling accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll procedures, sales taxes, and various common banking activities.

Accounting Fundamentals covers all the bases, from writing checks to preparing an income statement and closing out accounts at the end of each fiscal period. Whether you're a sole proprietor looking to manage your business finances or you simply want to gain an understanding of accounting basics for career advancement or for personal use, this course will give you a solid foundation in financial matters.

Syllabus:

Lesson 1 - Account Classifications, Account Titles, T Accounts, and the Accounting Equation

Lesson 2 - General Ledger Accounts and the Balance Sheet

Lesson 3 - Journalizing Transactions and Posting to the General Ledger

Lesson 4 - Journalizing and Posting Cash and Charge Purchases and Payments on Account

Lesson 5 - Journalizing and Posting Cash and Charge Sales and Cash Received on Account

Lesson 6 - Payroll and Various Deductions

Lesson 7 - Banking Services and Reports

Lesson 8 - Posting Journal Totals to the General Ledger and Schedule of Accounts Payable and Schedule of Accounts Receivable

Lesson 9 - End-Of-Year Worksheet

Lesson 10 - End-Of-Year Financial Reports

Lesson 11 - Journalizing and Posting Adjusting Entries

Lesson 12 - Journalizing and Posting Closing Entries and Preparing a Post Closing Trial Balance

Available ONLINE, ONDEMAND - Select your start date!  Register here.

If all you think Acrobat does is create PDF files, you're in for a big surprise! In this course, you will discover how to bring together a wide range of content from dozens of programs that you can reuse and customize in Acrobat X Pro.

Throughout this course, you will work with many features, such as backgrounds, bookmarks, and modified page sizes to help unify your documents. You'll discover how to add more to your documents as you learn about bookmarks and links for navigation. You'll even master some JavaScript! You'll also see how Acrobat X can help streamline the entire collaboration process and simplify how you conduct, control, and manage a document review cycle. In each lesson, you'll work with an important Acrobat X Pro feature or process using source files provided with the course. You'll soon see why Adobe Acrobat X has become the best-selling Adobe software of all time!

Register here anytime.  ONDEMAND & ONLINE.  Self paced or instructor-led, you choose!  

You can become an effective public speaker! In this course, you will discover how to talk confidently and persuasively to both large audiences and small groups. You will also learn how to plan and deliver your presentations skillfully and how to manage one of the most common public speaking barriers—fear.

You'll learn the secrets to presenting a speech, how to handle questions and manage conflict in meetings, and even how to shine in a job interview. You will get tips for training your voice and learn how to use both verbal and nonverbal communication effectively. By the time you finish this course, you'll have an entire set of skills you can use on the job, in social settings, and in any other situation where you need to communicate with ease and authority!