Want to make smarter, evidence-based decisions at work? This two-day course builds the analytical thinking, data interpretation, and problem-solving skills needed to turn information into clear, confident recommendations — with practical tools including Excel, structured reasoning frameworks, and data storytelling techniques
This course equips participants with the analytical thinking, problem-solving, and data interpretation skills needed to make sound, evidence-based business decisions. Learners will apply structured reasoning frameworks, strengthen critical thinking, and use practical data tools such as Excel to analyse and interpret information effectively. Emphasis is placed on turning data into actionable insights, communicating recommendations with clarity and impact, and maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, integrity, and ethical practice.
Course Outline
During this course, participants will develop analytical thinking, problem-solving, and data interpretation skills, using tools like Excel to generate actionable insights and communicate clear, ethical, evidence-based business decisions.
Problem-Solving Frameworks – Learn structured approaches such as the 5 Whys, Root Cause Analysis, MECE Principle, and Issue/Logic Trees to break down and diagnose problems effectively.
Critical Thinking Foundations – Develop the ability to identify assumptions and biases, evaluate evidence quality, and distinguish between correlation and causation for stronger reasoning.
Structured Reasoning in Practice – Apply problem-solving frameworks to real-world scenarios through case studies, group exercises, and individual practice with feedback.
Data Literacy & Interpretation – Build confidence in reading and interpreting data visualisations, understanding KPIs, and recognising misleading data or statistical fallacies.
Understanding Data Types & Visualisation – Explore qualitative and quantitative data, assess data reliability, and interpret charts and graphs to identify trends, patterns, and outliers.
Practical Excel for Data Analysis – Use key Excel functions (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, IF) and create pivot tables, calculated fields, and dashboards to organise and analyse data effectively.
Data-Driven Decision Making – Apply evidence-based reasoning using tools such as the “So What?” test, situation–complication–resolution structure, and risk assessment to form actionable recommendations.
Communicating and Validating Data – Present insights clearly through data storytelling and strong design while ensuring accuracy, integrity, and ethical standards.
Who should attend
This course is ideal for managers, analysts, and professionals who want to improve their analytical thinking, problem-solving, and ability to make confident, data-driven business decisions.
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Apply problem-solving frameworks to break down complex workplace issues effectively
Use critical thinking and structured reasoning to evaluate information, assumptions, and options
Interpret and analyse data effectively to generate meaningful, actionable insights
Communicate evidence-based recommendations with clarity, confidence, and impact
Maintain data integrity and ethical standards throughout analysis and reporting processes
Course Reviews
Mentor and coaching
Inspirational and engaging. Matt is a fantastic trainer who ensured we were all included and felt part of the course. He gave us some fantastic tools to use in our mentoring journey and hopefully we will see him again soon.
Giving and Receiving feedback
Informative and engaging. She was very engaging and enthusiastic. Lots of activities.
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Very clear, engaging and well produced. Had a breadth of experience across a wide range of industries and applied this knowledge really well with lots of examples
Emotional intelligence
Very interactive and enjoyable. Sandra was an excellent guide through the subject matter, thankyou
Emotional intelligence
Really informative and provoked me to think and reflect. Amazing training from Mary - she was very informative
Emotional Intelligence
It was eye opening. There are so many things we do as individuals that affects other people and the course opened our eyes to them. The activities outside was great, getting us to move around and work in groups kept the course lively and interactive.
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We offer a wide range of bespoke corporate training solutions across key areas such as leadership, management development, digital skills, workplace communication, customer experience, sales performance, project delivery, team development and professional skills. Each programme can be tailored to your organisation’s objectives, your people and the practical challenges they face at work.
Do you offer public courses?
No. Elliott Training does not currently offer public scheduled courses for individual delegates. We specialise in private corporate training courses delivered exclusively for organisations, teams and groups who require tailored training aligned to their business needs.
Are your courses bespoke?
Yes. Our courses can be tailored to your organisation, team and objectives. We can adapt the course content, examples, exercises, case studies and delivery style to reflect your sector, systems, processes and workplace priorities.
Can you create a bespoke course from scratch?
Yes. If you require a course that is not listed on our website, we can design a bespoke training programme around your specific requirements. This is ideal for internal projects, new systems, company initiatives, role-specific development or specialist skills training.
How long are your training courses?
Course length depends on the subject, objectives and level of detail required. We can deliver bite-size sessions, half-day workshops, full-day courses, multi-day programmes or larger training projects across multiple cohorts.