The title of this chapter could justifiably be “Miscellaneous Arithmetic and Proper Presentation Skills.” the explanation for including this material is that almost all business decisions involve numbers of 1 kind or another.
Arithmetic combined with sense and judgment ends up in effective business decisions. This doesn’t diminish the importance of advanced mathematics like differential equations, but most business situations a manager faces don’t require higher mathematics. Hopefully this material will facilitate your specialise in the choice making process.
When you need data to form a choice or a business evaluation, you should ask yourself certain questions:
- What am I trying to determine?
- What data do I need?
−− What do I already have?
What do I still need? − −
- How do I obtain this data?
- What does it mean?
- what’s the most effective thanks to have a look at this data to interpret it properly?
- How should I present this data to others to convince them of my views?
Essentially, most of the info evaluated in business involves some or all of the questions presented above. now and then you’ll view presentations of data and understand it has significance but you don’t see what it’s.
If the importance isn’t clear, the presentation isn’t effective.
When you are presented with data that appears unclear to you, present the numerical information to yourself during a different way. A case in point is selecting incorrect scales for the axes of graphs; the dots representing the individual points seem to fall secluded from the line drawn to represent the trend illustrated by the points. Sometimes the converse is true; every point seems to fall right the road when in reality you recognize that that would not be the case. Plot the info differently and possibly some facts will almost stand out at you—facts that were present but not apparent within the original presentation form.
Another pitfall is presenting data on a line chart that would have been better represented on a bar graph. The numbers may appear to be significant but the presenter doesn’t deliver them during a fashion that you simply can readily understand. If you ever presented data in such the simplest way that your audience had difficulty understanding what you meant, you now know why they gave you incredulous stares. Paying careful attention to how data is presented can make sure that you convey your message properly to your audience; as a side benefit, this could further your career.
Think about it. How can people evaluate you or your information if they don’t understand what you’re trying to say? When people can understand your information, they know your position and can listen
to you. This doesn’t mean they’ll always accept as true with you, but they will pay more attention to you than after they can’t understand you.
Visual Means of Presenting Data
Today, tricks allow managers impressive methods of presenting data. Available computer programs can assist you in delivering your message very efficiently. However, don’t make the error of getting frenzied with computer programs. understand how to use them to present what you would like to present. the 2 classic cases of misuse are:
- Minimal data presented in numerous ways
- Much data presented in numerous ways in which the result’s overwhelming
The person presenting the insufficient little bit of data didn’t know the way to present it, got frenzied with the pc program, and forgot the message he was trying to convey. His report would be described as plenty of style but no substance.
The presenter within the latter case wasn’t sure of the most effective thanks to present his data, and thus presented the knowledge in every way he knew, thus overwhelming the audience. you’ll be able to present data two or three alternative ways if your audience includes various disciplines (e.g., production staff, scientists, salespeople) and you would like to convey clear information supported what these kinds of people feel most comfortable reading. this is often vastly different from confusion on a presenter’s part to the point where information is presented again with lots of favor but no substance because the substance got lost within the mountain of knowledge.
