Managing Information

Part 1 An introduction to communication: importance of communication; a model of communication; types of communication - oral, written, non-verbal, visual; barriers to communication; breaking the barriers. Part 2 Oral communication: listening skills; interviewing; recruitment; disciplinary; grievance; exit; appraisal; meetings - procedures, planning, chairing; telephone skills; presentations - planning, production and use of common AV aids. Part 3 Written communication: effective writing skills; taking messages; taking notes; letters; memos; reports; form design; signs. Part 4 Communication in organizations: types of organizational communication (formal, informal); communication channels. Part 5 Communication and your workteam: communication in groups; team briefings; giving feedback; orders and instructions. Part 6 Types of information: quantitative information; qualitative information; characteristics of good information. Part 7 Information for decision making: levels of decision making; information channels; information for competitive advantage. Part 8 Gathering information: data and information compared; data collection methods; questionnaire design; reliability of data; Data Protection Act. Part 9 Recording and storing information: manual systems; electronic systems; hardware and software; general purpose packages; applications software. Part 10 Manipulating and retrieving information: processing data to produce information; on-line and real-time systems; management information systems; decision support systems; use of databases. Part 11 Analysis and interpretation of information: information overload; recognizing trends; statistics for analysis and interpretation; diagrammatic presentation of information. Part 12 Future of information systems: networks; electronic mail; the Internet; teleconferencing and video conferencing; electronic data interchange. Part 13 Researching a writing project: sources of help; planning the task; terms of reference; collecting information; analyzing information; solving problems; writing the report.