Courses

Complete any 4 of the courses to earn the certificate.

• ROI And Beyond: Demonstrating the Value of Communication Systems
• Designing & Modeling Communication Systems and Infrastructures
• Sales Promotion Assessment
• How Not to be Lied to by Statistics: Organizing and Interpreting Data
• Planning and Executing the Surveys You Really Need
• Focus Groups: The Psychology and Technology of Profitable Group Discussion
• Observation: Classic Principles, Cutting Edge Techniques

ROI AND BEYOND: DEMONSTRATING THE VALUE OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Overview and Objectives

Today more than ever, professionals in communications, training, and performance consulting are challenged to prove their value.  While many practitioners are beginning to calculate the actual and potential ROI of their projects, this measurement technique is just the beginning.  Communication and learning systems have ongoing strategic value as intangible assets and a competitive advantage to organizations.

You’ll learn

1. When, why, and how to calculate cost/benefits and ROI measures (and when NOT to)
2. How to use proven models and templates to pitch your projects as long-term intangible assets
3. Strategies for protecting and leveraging your intellectual and business properties, creating an income stream for communications and training

Module 1: ROI and other methods of showing value

Module 2: Aligning measurement with other business initiatives and language

DESIGNING AND MODELING COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND INFRASTRUCTURES

Overview and Objectives

Learn how to conduct an information systems analysis, and become the architect of a coherent and vibrant system of rules (policies, procedures, and standards) and tools (technologies and vehicles).

You’ll learn to

1. Analyze and apply research on the factors that create a healthy communication infrastructure
2. Design an information systems analytics study and contrast this to traditional communication audits
3. Develop a communication strategy, vision, and standards based on an underlying communication theory and your organization’s brand and culture.

Module 1: What makes great communication systems and how do we assess them?

Module 2: Developing a strategy and vision that form the foundation for communication “rules and tools”

SALES PROMOTION ASSESSMENT

Overview and Objectives

Sales promotion has always been considered the most measurable of the mass media marketing communication options.  Increasingly, sales promotion techniques are being combined with other communication methods, both internally and externally targeted, to increase impact and add a greater degree of assessment.

You'll learn

1. How sales promotion techniques provide definitive pre- and post- assessment results.
2. Extensions to these techniques, including more in-depth consideration of cannibalization, the promotional trap, and other complications.
3. How these techniques can be combined with other communication approaches to provide measurable performance results

Module 1: Sales promotion assessment tools and techniques

Module 2: Application and extension of these techniques to more complex scenarios

HOW NOT TO BE LIED TO BY STATISTICS: ORGANIZING AND INTERPRETING DATA

Overview and Objectives

Bad data are worse than no data. Good data tell a story; it paints a picture. Using numbers means knowing how to organize the data clearly and allowing the numbers to tell the story they have to tell. Deceptive use of numbers involves manipulating the numbers to serve alien interests. Whether evaluating others’ data and conclusions or collecting and interpreting original data, decision makers must know how to see the forest and avoid being led astray among the trees.

You’ll learn

1. How to recognize when data are misleading or incomplete
2. How to discriminate between coincidence and connection, between randomness and pattern
3. How to read the story the data have to tell and draw the conclusions the data allow

Module 1: Evocative descriptions -- using data to tell a story well

Module 2: Productive decisions -- using data to draw conclusions successfully

PLANNING AND EXECUTING THE SURVEYS YOU REALLY NEED

Overview and Objectives

Carrying out a survey well is harder than it seems. Properly executed surveys provide valuable data that inform actions; poorly conducted surveys induce costly mistakes. Eliminating systematic bias and random error allows decision makers to profit from survey research. Understanding the key strengths and weaknesses of surveys further enables consumers of information to interpret others’ surveys advantageously.

You’ll learn

1. The art of effective and efficient questionnaires
2. The science of choosing survey participants to be able to draw conclusions from the results
3. Traditional techniques and topical technologies, and the advantages and limitations of each

Module 1: Asking the right people the right questions

Module 2: Survey techniques: taking advantage of new technologies

FOCUS GROUPS: THE PSYCHOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY OF PROFITABLE GROUP DISCUSSION

Overview and Objectives

A productive group discussion can provide new insights and generate valuable ideas. A poorly run focus group can stifle creativity and impede understanding. The difference lies in appreciating the psychology of group processes, knowing what causes focus groups to fail, and mastering a few key techniques for focus group success. Today, as technology opens new venues for conducting focus group research, understanding the people within the communication is more important than ever.

You’ll learn

1. When, why, and how to conduct focus group research -- and when not to
2. How to use social psychological principles to engender creative and profitable group discussion
3. How to capitalize on new technologies for conducting focus groups, and how to avoid letting technology trump technique

Module 1: What focus groups do and how to ensure they do them well

Module 2: Focus Groups 2.0 -- new applications of traditional methods

OBSERVATION: CLASSIC PRINCIPLES, CUTTING EDGE TECHNIQUES

Overview and Objectives

Given the limits of self-report, decision makers need insight into what stakeholders really do, not just what they say they do. Observation --overt or covert, direct or discovered -- complements other sources of information to provide unique insight and knowledge of behavior. Familiarity with creative and up-to-date methods for observing and interpreting behavior is essential in today’s complicated and competitive environment.

You’ll learn

1. How to benefit from the myriad methods and settings for observing behavior
2. How to interpret what you observe and draw powerful conclusions
3. Strategies for employing new technologies to observe behavior effectively, efficiently, and ethically

Module 1: Conducting observation creatively and affordably

Module 2: Observation in a post-virtual world