Ever feel overwhelmed by Excel formulas?  Like you are always trying to fix them?  Always reaching out to the company ‘Excel Guy’ or, still worse, trawling the internet for answers?  ‘Why doesn’t this Excel formula work?!’ 

Building and maintaining complex Excel formulae is stressful.  Yet, people often think Excel is JUST about formulae, whilst overlooking the more powerful features Excel has to offer.  The features that could make your professional life a lot easier.  In this session, I introduce you to cool facilities in Excel that have nothing to do with Excel formulae.  If you’re not using these in Excel, you’re missing out …

EXCEL DOWNLOAD FILE 

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE 

But first, why the general obsession with Excel formulae? It seems formulae tutorials are everywhere, sometimes with the promise a new formula can ‘change everything’.  That’s not true.  No doubt there’s a sense of accomplishment when an Excel formula works and, don’t get me wrong, I love that.  But, formula-building is wrongly perceived as an advanced skill; too often, the ability to create complex formulae is conflated with being ‘good at Excel’.  The opposite is true – a capable practitioner usually avoids long formulae altogether, whilst harnessing other powerful features we cover in this session.  

Knowing lots of formulae, particularly new ones, is a kind of status symbol in Excel land.  There’s a whole symbology around Excel these days: being an ‘MVP’, speaking at Excel conferences, knowing the big personalities in the sector, even wearing an Excel T-shirt! Though geeking out on Excel can be fun, this can lead our audience - hard-working professionals like you - to focus on the wrong aspects of Excel practice. 

At work, a working formula can bring closure, a sense a solution has been found.  But, in organizational life (spreadsheets are always embedded in organisations), problems are rarely ‘solved’; rather, they are managed and improved over time.  Anybody who has ever rolled out a new spreadsheet to colleagues knows this!  So, in my view, treating Excel as a crossword or chess puzzle that can be ‘completed’ is not the best mindset - if you want your work to have impact in the real world. 

So, if we’re not focusing on formulae, what should we focus on?  Good question!  At Tiger, we use four foundational concepts to think about Excel: (1) data management, (2) data analysis, (3) modelling and, saving the best until last, (4) automation.  Yes, in Excel you’re only ever doing one of these four things.  And, understanding which you’re trying to do guides your choice of tool.  Without this conceptual understanding, you might end up going the wrong way.  Yes, you might not need ANOTHER Excel formula!  The four foundational concepts shape our ’30 Day Excel Analyst’ programme – a complete 15 hour, 30 session Excel course available for free. 

In the session, I take you through four features of Excel that have nothing (or very little) to do with formulae!  Make sure you download the Excel download file and work along with me to get to know these powerful features.  I include beginner level follow-up videos to help you build your confidence in the areas that matter to you as a professional. 

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