IBCS® Certified Analyst (public) –
Understand and apply IBCS

What makes reports and dashboards easier and better to understand? Learn the difference between reports for messaging and dashboards for self-service. We'll show you that both reports and dashboards need consistent notation, a well-organized structure, the right chart types, high information density, and proper scaling. Then, through numerous exercises, practice applying what you've learned. Followed by an online test for becoming an IBCS® Certified Analyst.

Objectives

Learn and apply the International Business Communication Standards (IBCS) that help creators of reports, presentations, and dashboards communicate more effectively and their consumers understand faster and better. With numerous before-and-after examples and hands-on exercises.

Attendance fee

The attendance fee is EUR 2.690 (classroom), or EUR 2.490 (online), per person plus VAT except where otherwise specified. Participants from countries with significant lower income and academic staff can request for a discount at info@ibcs.com.

More details

Final test

After the workshop you can take an online exam for getting the certificate ‚IBCS® Certified Analyst‘. There is a playground test with 10 access codes for learning purposes available.

Online test (playground)

IBCS® Certified Trainers

Dr. Jürgen Faisst

Managing Partner at IBCS Institute and Managing Director of the IBCS Association

Dr. Rolf Hichert, Prof.

Managing Partner at IBCS Institute and President of the IBCS Association

Paul Damen

Paul is a Data & Analytics Consultant at Rockfeather which is a consultancy company in the Netherlands that helps companies create better insights.

Ronald van Lent

Ronald van Lent is Managing Partner at JUGO in The Netherlands. JUGO provide Business Intelligence consultancy and one focus area is data visualization applying the IBCS concept.

Dr. Mladen Meter

Dr. Mladen Meter is Managing Director of Business Effectiveness Ltd. (Poslovna učinkovitost d.o.o.) from Zagreb, Croatia. Business Effectiveness Ltd. provides business advisory and executive education services in controlling and finance area.

Esin Özkan

Esin is an executive consultant and trainer in Istanbul, Turkey.

Edyta Szarska

Edyta Szarska is the IBCS® Certified Trainer at the IBCS Institute and founder of Controlling Partner in Poland. Edyta is focused on controlling development for better decision making by improving communication between financials and business.

Markus Wolff

Markus Wolff is Co-Founder and Managing Director of chartisan GmbH, a service provider for data visualization and reporting solutions.

Simone Verza

Simone Verza works as freelance Consultant and Trainer in Management Control and Reporting. He helps companies and Controllers to implement and optimize Planning, Control and Reporting systems.

PROGRAM

PART 1
IBCS with SUCCESS – Successful reports, presentations, and dashboards

Introduction: The basics of business communication (90 min)

  • Reports should have something interesting to report
  • Dashboards serve analytical purposes
  • The SUCCESS formula of the International Business Communication Standards (IBCS)

UNIFY: Apply semantic notation (45 min)

  • Unify terminology
  • Define and learn a semantic notation
  • Unify visualization

SAY: Convey a message (45 min)

  • Focus on the message
  • Detect, explain, or suggest
  • Substantiate message

STRUCTURE: Organize content (45 min)

  • Use homogeneous, non-overlapping and exhaustive elements

EXPRESS: Choose proper visualization (45 min)

  • Use correct chart types

SIMPLIFY: Avoid clutter (25 min)

  • Avoid noise and redundancies

CONDENSE: Increase information density (25 min)

  • Add data, elements, and objects

CHECK: Ensure visual integrity (25 min)

  • Apply proper scaling

Summary (15 min)

  • Next steps

PART 2
IBCS Workshop – Application of the SUCCESS formula

Introduction (60 min)

  • Summary of “IBCS with SUCCESS” training
  • Workshop objective and overview
  • Testing individual level of IBCS knowledge

Apply semantic notation (UNIFY) (60 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for a consistent semantic notation
  • Group exercise from “Solid, outlined, hatched” video course

Convey a message (SAY) (30 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for conveying strong messages
  • Joint exercise about charts following messages

Organize content (STRUCTURE) (75 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for creating well-structured storylines
  • Group exercise on the improvement of poorly structured text

Choose proper visualization (EXPRESS) (120 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for the proper choice of chart and table types
  • Group exercise with case studies
  • Presentation of the results

Avoid clutter (SIMPLIFY) (60 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for a cleaner layout
  • Individual exercises on removing clutter from tables

Increase information density (CONDENSE) (60 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for adding data and elements to charts and tables as well as objects to screens and pages
  • Group exercise with case study

Ensure visual integrity (CHECK) (60 min)

  • Elaboration of rules for avoiding wrong scaling
  • Discussion on proper scaling for typical practical challenges

Case studies (120 min)

  • Group exercises: Design of report pages supporting given messages
  • Presentation of the results

Enabling corporate adoption of the IBCS Standards (60 min)

  • Discussion of the requirements for corporate adoption
  • Discussion of the necessity and the contents of a notation manual

Breaks

With classroom courses there is lunch together at 12:30. Snacks and refreshments are served in coffee breaks at around 10:30 in the morning and 15:00 in the afternoon. After the training you are invited for an Apéro – a kind of small reception, at which snacks and refreshments are served.

In the case of online courses, the breaks are timed in the same way.