Decision Making and Communication e-Course

The Decision-Making and Communication e-course focuses on interpersonal and decision-making skills. If you're an actuary, or on your way to being one, there's no doubt you need advanced technical skills to offer sound financial and management advice. But non-technical know-how is also necessary to be a well-rounded professional.

The Decision-Making and Communication e-course guides you through an integrated decision-making process, which is especially useful when many stakeholders are involved. The process is specific enough to provide you with solid guidance, yet general enough to be applicable in a variety of situations. The e-course readings, a comprehensive case study and other activities help you:

• Anticipate the kinds of questions necessary for making business decisions.
• Participate in, and influence, decision-making in your work environment.
• Partner with others to help identify options related to an impending decision.
• Work more effectively with others.

Course Outline

Section 1: E-Course Overview
Section 2: Integrated Decision-Making Process
Section 3: Build Team
Section 4: Investigate Options
Section 5: Make Decision
Section 6: Implement Decision
Section 7: E-Course Summary and Next Steps

Learning Objectives

After completing this e-course, you should be able to:

• Describe and apply the integrated decision-making process.
• Identify how the SOA Competency Framework supports the decision-making process.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a decision-making process when applied to a business problem that involves a variety of stakeholders.
• Demonstrate effective business communication techniques-listening, writing and speaking.
• Easily recognize and adjust to others' working preferences.

Length

50-60 Hours

Audience

• Individuals engaged in the actuarial profession at any level looking to fulfill their CPD requirement.
• Other professionals interested in learning more about enterprise risk management.

Resource Materials

The following books are resources that are referenced in the e-course. While these materials are not required for those taking the e-course for professional development, they're recommended to enhance the e-course learning experience:

• Maruska, Don. 2004. How Great Decisions Get Made: 10 Easy Steps for Reaching Agreement on Even the Toughest Issues . New York: AMACOM.
• McKay, Matthew, Martha Davis, and Patrick Fanning. 2009. Messages: The Communication Skills Book. Third Edition . Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

The e-course pages will direct you to the appropriate readings in these books within the context of the e-course content. This e-course also provides Ask an Actuary readings, thought questions, review quizzes, audio-casts and a detailed case study. These activities are intended to reinforce the e-course's key concepts and allow you to apply what you've learned to realistic examples.

Notes

• This e-course may be suitable to meet the Basic Requirement provisions of Section B of the SOA CPD requirement.
• This e-course may also be suitable to meet the provisions of an Alternative Compliance standard (please consult the appropriate standard).
• This e-course is for professional development. It's not intended to substitute for any professionalism requirements for the ASA, CERA or FSA credentials. If you wish to register for an e-learning module to attain a designation, please visit the e-learning module Web page .
• Ultimately, it's an actuary's responsibility to make a reasonable, good-faith determination of what continuing education opportunities will enhance his or her ability to practice in a desired field. For more information on continuing education requirements, visit soa.org/CE .