# Data-Driven Decision Making for Managers

> Turn reports and dashboards into better decisions: ask sharper questions, read data critically and avoid common analytical traps.

- **Provider:** Afriskora Training Solutions
- **Category:** Data, AI & Digital Skills
- **Duration:** 3 days
- **Formats:** classroom (cities across Africa), live virtual (Zoom/Teams), in-house for teams
- **Certificate:** Afriskora Certificate of Completion, verifiable online
- **Booking:** request dates and a quote; invoice and EFT payment
- **Web page:** https://afriskora.co.za/courses/data-ai-digital/data-driven-decision-making-for-managers
- **Request dates:** https://afriskora.co.za/request-training?course=data-driven-decision-making-for-managers

## Overview

Managers receive more data than ever but often lack the confidence to question it or act on it. This course builds practical data literacy for people who make decisions rather than build models. Participants learn to frame decision questions, interpret charts and statistics correctly, recognise misleading analysis and run simple analyses in Excel to test their own hypotheses before committing resources.

## Who should attend

- Line managers and team leaders
- Senior professionals who rely on analysts' reports
- Programme and project managers
- Public-sector managers working with performance data

## Learning outcomes

- Frame business questions that data can actually answer
- Read charts, averages, trends and variation correctly
- Recognise sampling bias, false correlations and cherry-picking
- Run quick what-if and trend analyses in Excel
- Present data-backed recommendations that persuade

## Course outline

### Module 1: Thinking with data

- From question to metric to decision
- Data sources, quality and limitations
- Leading and lagging indicators
- Working effectively with analysts

### Module 2: Reading data critically

- Averages, distributions and variation
- Correlation versus causation
- Spotting misleading charts
- Uncertainty, risk and confidence ranges

### Module 3: Deciding and persuading

- Scenario and sensitivity analysis in Excel
- Decision trees and expected value
- Telling a clear story with data
- Decision exercise on a real business case