Evidence-Based Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Department Heads, Senior Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-EM-127

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to management decisions, improvement projects, policy development or business cases.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Managers routinely make decisions about restructuring, performance, technology, workforce policy, customer service and risk with incomplete information and strong stakeholder opinions. Evidence-based management provides a disciplined alternative to relying on habit, seniority, anecdotes or fashionable management claims. It helps leaders frame the real decision, identify relevant evidence, judge its quality, combine multiple sources and act while recognising uncertainty.

This course teaches the evidence-based management process for executive and operational decisions. Participants learn the Six Aces framework: asking, acquiring, appraising, aggregating, applying and assessing. They formulate answerable management questions, search for credible research and internal data, distinguish correlation from causation, assess study design and bias, and use stakeholder perspectives without treating them as proof. The course also covers decision criteria, expected-value thinking, controlled trials, pilot design, dashboards, implementation review and ethical evidence use.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with sector-based cases from banking, government, NGOs and large corporate functions. Participants work with management research summaries, operational datasets, decision records and competing stakeholder claims. Group work focuses on making the reasoning visible: what is known, what remains uncertain, what assumptions require testing and what decision is justified. Each participant leaves with an evidence-based decision dossier, an evidence appraisal checklist, a decision criteria matrix and a 90-day application plan for a live workplace decision.

The course is suited to managers who influence material decisions but need a more rigorous way to evaluate proposals, challenge unsupported claims and explain recommendations to executives, boards, staff and partners.

What you will be able to do

  • Frame management decisions using answerable questions and explicit decision criteria
  • Acquire relevant research, internal data and stakeholder evidence for management decisions
  • Appraise evidence quality using study design, bias and applicability criteria
  • Distinguish causal claims from correlations, anecdotes and unsupported management assertions
  • Aggregate conflicting evidence into defensible options, assumptions and confidence judgments
  • Design pilots and controlled tests using outcome measures and comparison groups
  • Produce an evidence-based decision dossier for an executive management issue
  • Create a 90-day evidence-use plan for a current workplace decision

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Challenge persuasive but weak management claims with structured evidence questions
  • Write clearer recommendations that state assumptions, uncertainty and decision criteria
  • Assess research reports, vendor studies and internal analyses more confidently
  • Design practical pilots before scaling costly organisational changes
  • Build credibility with executives through transparent decision reasoning

For your organisation

  • Reduce investment in interventions supported only by anecdotes or management fashion
  • Improve the quality and traceability of major operational and people decisions
  • Test change initiatives before organisation-wide implementation
  • Create reusable decision records for audit, governance and post-implementation review
  • Increase learning from internal data, stakeholder feedback and measured outcomes

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain the evidence-based management process and identify where it improves management decisions.

  • Evidence-based management as disciplined use of research, data, expertise and stakeholders
  • The Six Aces framework: asking, acquiring, appraising, aggregating, applying, assessing
  • Separating management facts, assumptions, values, predictions and preferences
  • Common decision traps: authority bias, confirmation bias and availability bias
  • Management fashions examined through claims, mechanisms, evidence and boundary conditions
  • Decision quality distinguished from outcome quality under uncertainty

Participants can turn a broad management concern into an answerable evidence question.

  • Problem statements separated from proposed solutions and preferred interventions
  • PICOC structure for population, intervention, comparison, outcomes and context
  • Decision owner, authority, constraints and timing defined before evidence collection
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies affected groups, interests, knowledge and influence
  • Outcome measures specified for cost, quality, risk, equity and service
  • Assumption registers expose claims requiring evidence before approval

Participants can build a focused evidence search strategy using internal and external sources.

  • Evidence sources: systematic reviews, primary studies, internal data and practitioner expertise
  • Search terms derived from PICOC elements and alternative intervention names
  • Google Scholar, ABI/INFORM and institutional repositories used for targeted searches
  • Internal records assessed for definitions, completeness, timeliness and ownership
  • Vendor white papers separated from independently reviewed research evidence
  • Stakeholder interviews structured to capture experience without overstating causality

Participants can assess whether research and management claims are credible and relevant.

  • Research questions matched to experimental, observational, qualitative and mixed-method designs
  • Randomised controlled trials compared with quasi-experimental and observational studies
  • Selection bias, confounding, measurement error and attrition identified systematically
  • Sample size, confidence intervals and practical significance interpreted cautiously
  • Systematic reviews assessed for search methods, inclusion criteria and publication bias
  • Applicability judged against workforce, process, regulation and resource conditions

Participants can interpret operational data without making unsupported causal conclusions.

  • Correlation, causation and reverse causality distinguished using management examples
  • Causal diagrams map confounders, mediators, colliders and plausible mechanisms
  • Before-and-after comparisons tested against trend, seasonality and concurrent changes
  • Regression outputs interpreted through coefficients, uncertainty and omitted-variable risk
  • Subgroup results examined for heterogeneity, fairness and unintended consequences
  • Data visualisations checked for denominators, scales, missing values and misleading aggregation

Participants can combine evidence sources into balanced and decision-ready conclusions.

  • Evidence tables compare findings, methods, populations, outcomes and limitations
  • Triangulation combines research, organisational data, expertise and stakeholder perspectives
  • Confidence judgments distinguish strong evidence from plausible but uncertain conclusions
  • Contradictory findings analysed through context, implementation quality and measurement differences
  • Decision criteria matrices weight benefits, costs, risks, feasibility and equity
  • Expected-value calculations compare options under uncertain outcomes and probabilities

Participants can design proportionate tests that produce useful evidence before wider rollout.

  • Theory of change links intervention activities, mechanisms, outputs and outcomes
  • Pilot scope defines target population, duration, resources and decision thresholds
  • Comparison groups selected using randomisation, matching or phased implementation
  • Pre-registration records hypotheses, measures, analysis approach and stopping rules
  • Leading and lagging indicators aligned with intended benefits and harms
  • Process evaluation distinguishes implementation failure from intervention failure

Participants can convert evidence into clear recommendations for executive decision-makers.

  • Decision memos present recommendation, evidence, uncertainty, options and requested action
  • A3 thinking structures problem definition, analysis, countermeasures and follow-up
  • Recommendation strength calibrated to evidence quality, reversibility and decision stakes
  • Scenario analysis tests recommendations against plausible costs, demand and risk changes
  • Pre-mortems identify failure modes before commitment and resource allocation
  • Escalation criteria specify when new evidence requires decision revision

Participants can apply ethical and governance controls when using evidence for management decisions.

  • Data governance assigns stewardship, access controls, retention and accountability
  • Privacy risks assessed when employee, customer or beneficiary data are analysed
  • Fairness checks identify disparate effects across groups and service populations
  • Conflicts of interest declared when suppliers, sponsors or leaders influence evidence
  • Research consent distinguished from operational data collection and performance monitoring
  • Audit trails preserve sources, assumptions, versions and decision rationale

Participants can establish practical routines for sustained evidence-informed management decisions.

  • Decision logs capture questions, evidence, assumptions, choices and subsequent results
  • After-action reviews compare expected outcomes with observed results and explanations
  • Evidence standards tailored for routine, high-impact and irreversible decisions
  • Meeting protocols require claim sources, decision criteria and dissenting evidence
  • Knowledge repositories organise reusable studies, dashboards, pilots and decision records
  • Ninety-day application plans assign actions, sponsors, milestones and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Evidence-based decision dossier template
  2. PICOC management question worksheet
  3. Evidence appraisal checklist
  4. Decision criteria matrix
  5. Pilot and evaluation design template
  6. Ninety-day evidence-use action plan

Who should attend

  • Department Heads — improve the basis for operational and people decisions
  • Senior Managers — test proposals before committing budget, staff or reputational capital
  • Programme Managers — use evidence to prioritise interventions and monitor results
  • Policy Managers — assess research and local data before recommending policy changes
  • HR and People Leaders — evaluate workforce practices beyond vendor claims and opinion
  • Strategy and Transformation Managers — build defensible business cases and test change assumptions

Skills and tools covered

Decision framingEvidence appraisalCausal reasoningData interpretationPilot designDecision communication

Tools and standards

Six Aces framework, PICOC framework, A3 problem solving, Theory of Change

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings, worked examples, facilitated discussion and structured case analysis. Participants examine research summaries, internal performance data, vendor claims and stakeholder accounts, then apply evidence appraisal methods in small groups. Simulations test how decision quality changes when evidence is incomplete, conflicting or politically contested. Cases can be selected from public services, financial institutions, NGOs or corporate functions. Individual application planning connects the methods to a current decision, proposal or improvement initiative.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to management decisions, improvement projects, policy development or business cases. They should be comfortable reading short reports, interpreting basic tables and discussing operational measures such as cost, quality, service levels or staff turnover. Familiarity with spreadsheets is useful but not essential. No formal statistics qualification, research degree, programming skill or prior knowledge of academic databases is required. The course explains statistical concepts in management terms and concentrates on judging evidence well enough to make and communicate better decisions.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have experience with management decisions, projects, policies or business cases. No research degree, advanced statistics training or programming experience is required.

Bring a current management decision, proposed initiative or recurring operational problem if possible. A laptop is useful for reviewing materials and completing templates, particularly for live online delivery.

It is designed for managers, department heads, programme leaders, policy professionals, HR leaders and transformation managers. It is most useful for people who must recommend or approve actions with budget, workforce, service or risk consequences.

Data analytics courses focus primarily on analysing datasets, while leadership courses often focus on behaviour, communication and team direction. This course focuses on how managers combine research, data, professional expertise and stakeholder evidence to make defensible decisions.

Participants can use the decision dossier, appraisal checklist and decision criteria matrix for live proposals and reviews. The 90-day action plan identifies an immediate decision where evidence methods can be introduced.

The five days provide approximately 32.5 contact hours, typically from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided across ten modules covering question framing, evidence acquisition, appraisal, causal reasoning, testing, executive communication and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Executive Management

Executive Management Conducting Effective Business Reviews Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Driving Organisational Success Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Energy and Utilities Executive Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Essential Management Skills Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Executive Decision Making and Enterprise Leadership Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Executive Development Masterclass Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Executive Leadership Masterclass Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Executive Management Executive Office Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov