A two day course on how to interpret information for scrutiny groups, those interested in board and committee membership, or other tenants engaged with their landlord

 This course explains why “knowledge is power”. The work of scrutiny groups involves collecting and analysing a large amount of information, written and numerical.  Reports, performance data, comparative statistics – how well scrutiny groups can understand what the numbers are telling them, sift out relevant key points from reports and gather further information will determine how successful they will be in developing a clear picture of a service or organisation. 

This course will help you to  

• Understand what the numbers are telling you
• Make sense of reports and other written information
• Ask questions about information and identify what else you need to know. 

Practical exercises include working with survey results and other statistics, case studies, financial accounts, performance reports, and matters of policy.

Day 1: The numbers

• The importance of figures in understanding the world
  
• How figures help us to measure how things change over time, and make comparisons 
  
• Applying figures to scrutinise how a landlord is performing
  

Day 2: The words 

• A logical structure for approaching tasks and presenting information (why/what/how/what if)
  
• Applying this structure, including how to read reports
  
• Benchmarking and other sources of information; triangulation
  
• How operating as a team can improve  effectiveness