Sparklines in Microsoft Excel to Visualize Data Quickly

December 6, 2023August 26, 2023 by Vinai Prakash

In Microsoft Excel, some of the new features introduced in the past 15 years are amazing for every day use. Spark lines and Slicers are some of these amazing gems of Excel.

These improvements to PivotTables and other existing features, can help us to discover patterns or trends in the data. To get started with the features of Excel, first we will look at the details of the Sparkline and slicers features of Excel.

What are Spark lines in Excel, and How to Use Them

Sparklines are tiny charts that is used to fit in a cell to visually summarize trends beside the data.

Sparklines are an extremely useful and user friendly feature in Microsoft Excel that allow you to create small, visual representations of data trends within individual cells.

These tiny charts provide a compact way to display trends, variations, and patterns in your data without taking up a lot of space. Sparklines are particularly useful when you want to quickly analyze data at a glance or within a confined area, such as a cell or a small column.

There are three main types of sparklines in Excel:

Line Sparklines: Line sparklines show trends over a period of time. They are typically used to display data points in a line chart format, helping you visualize trends, fluctuations, and patterns over time.
Column Sparklines: Column sparklines are used to compare values among different data points. They can help you identify variations and relative sizes of data within a specific context.
Win/Loss Sparklines: Win/loss sparklines are used to represent binary data, often indicating “win” or “loss” scenarios. These are typically shown using icons or symbols to denote positive or negative outcomes.

Since sparklines show trends occupies less space, they are exclusively useful for dashboards and other places where we need to show a glimpse of the business in an simple practical visual format.

In the image to the left, the sparklines that appear in the Trend column lets us have a quick look of the performance of each department in the month of May.

If you want to join our Excel course in Singapore & improve your skills, we have multiple courses – Basic Excel for Analytics, Advanced Excel Courses in Singapore & VBA Macro Programming Courses.

Key features and benefits of Spark Lines in Excel include:

Compact Representation: Sparklines are designed to fit within individual cells, making them an efficient way to provide data insights in a constrained space.
Visual Analysis: By using simple visual cues, sparklines allow you to quickly identify trends and patterns, even without delving into detailed data analysis.
Easy to Create: Creating sparklines in Excel is straightforward. You can insert sparklines through the “Sparkline Tools” tab on the Excel ribbon after selecting the data range you want to visualize.
Dynamic Updates: Sparklines are dynamic, meaning they update automatically when you change the data or adjust the range they’re based on.
Conditional Formatting: You can apply conditional formatting to sparklines, enhancing their visual impact. For example, you can color-code sparklines based on specific conditions, making trends more apparent.
Compatibility: Sparklines are available in most modern versions of Excel, including Excel 2010 and later.

To Create Spark lines in Excel:

Select the cell where you want the sparkline to appear.
Go to the “Insert” tab on the Excel ribbon.
In the “Sparklines” group, choose the type of sparkline you want (Line, Column, or Win/Loss).
Select the data range you want to visualize.
Click “OK,” and the sparkline will be generated within the selected cell.

Remember that while sparklines provide a quick and visual overview of data trends, they might not replace the depth of analysis that larger charts or graphs can offer. Use sparklines in scenarios where space is limited and you need to provide a concise snapshot of data trends.

When and where is the best use of Excel sparklines

Excel sparklines are best used in situations where you need to provide a quick and concise visual representation of data trends within a limited space.

They are particularly effective when you want to highlight trends, variations, and patterns in your data without the need for extensive data analysis. Here are some scenarios where Excel sparklines can be most beneficial:

Dashboards and Reports: Sparklines are ideal for creating dashboards and reports that require a compact presentation of key performance indicators (KPIs) and trends. You can include multiple sparklines in a small area to provide an overview of various metrics.
Tables and Data Lists: When working with data tables or lists, you can add sparklines next to numeric data to provide context and visual insight into how values are changing over time or between categories.
Financial Data: Use sparklines to visualize changes in financial data, such as stock prices, revenue, expenses, or budget allocations. Line sparklines can help show trends over time, while column sparklines can highlight variations between categories.
Project Management: Incorporate sparklines in project management to illustrate task completion, project progress, or resource allocation. For instance, you can display task completion rates using win/loss sparklines.
Sales and Marketing: Use sparklines to represent sales figures, conversion rates, or website traffic data. These visualizations can help sales and marketing teams quickly assess performance.
Comparative Analysis: When comparing data sets or categories, column sparklines can show relative values and trends, making it easy to identify patterns and outliers.
Scorecards: In performance scorecards or performance reviews, sparklines can visually summarize an individual’s progress or achievement over time.
Educational Purposes: Sparklines can be used in educational materials to help students understand data trends and patterns, making learning about data analysis more engaging.
Emails and Presentations: Incorporate sparklines in emails or presentations to provide a quick visual representation of data trends without overwhelming the audience with extensive charts.
Data Visualization in Cells: In spreadsheets where you need to keep the data and visualizations together, sparklines offer a convenient way to incorporate visual insights directly into the data cells.

While sparklines are excellent for providing quick insights, they might not replace the need for more detailed charts and graphs in situations where deeper analysis is required.

Additionally, when using sparklines, it’s essential to ensure that the data you’re visualizing is appropriate for the type of sparkline you’re using (line, column, or win/loss) to ensure accurate representation.

What are Slicers in Microsoft Excel

Slicers are visual controls. They let us quickly refine data in a PivotTable in an interactive, automatic manner. If we insert a slicer, we can use buttons to quickly segment and refine the data to display appropriate results.

Not only that, when we apply more than one filter to the PivotTable, we no longer have to open a list to see which filters are enforced to the data. Rather, it is displayed on the screen in the slicer.

We can make slicers relate to the workbook formatting and easily reuse them in other PivotTables & PivotCharts.

Slicers provide an intuitive and user-friendly way to filter and analyze data without the need to access complex filter menus or dialogs.

Slicers create buttons or visual elements that you can click or select to filter data, making data analysis more dynamic and accessible.

When you insert a slicer into an Excel workbook, it creates a dashboard-like interface where users can easily filter data by clicking on specific elements. Slicers are especially useful for large datasets and complex reports where traditional filtering methods might be cumbersome.

When to Use Slicers in Excel:

Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts: Slicers are primarily designed to work with pivot tables and pivot charts. They enhance the usability of these tools by providing a simple way to filter and slice data dynamically.
Large Datasets: When dealing with large datasets, using traditional filter dropdowns can be overwhelming. Slicers offer a more user-friendly experience by visually representing filtering options.
Interactive Dashboards: If you’re creating interactive dashboards or reports, slicers can be a great addition. Users can quickly filter data to focus on specific aspects of the report.
Data Exploration: When you want to explore data trends and patterns quickly, slicers allow you to filter data on the fly without the need to constantly modify filter settings.
Collaborative Work: Slicers are particularly useful in collaborative environments where multiple users need to analyze data. They provide a consistent and easy-to-understand filtering interface.
Sales and Marketing Analysis: Slicers are beneficial for sales and marketing reports where you want to analyze data by different criteria such as time periods, regions, products, or customer segments.
Comparative Analysis: Slicers can be used to compare data across different categories, allowing you to instantly switch between various data subsets for comparison.
Data Visualization: When creating presentations or reports for non-Excel users, slicers provide a more intuitive way to interact with and explore data.

How to Use Slicers in Excel:

Create a Pivot Table or Pivot Chart: Before adding slicers, you need to create a pivot table or pivot chart based on your data.
Insert Slicer: Go to the “PivotTable Analyze” or “Analyzing” tab on the Excel ribbon, then click on the “Insert Slicer” button. Choose the fields you want to use as slicers.
Arrange Slicers: Once inserted, arrange the slicers on your worksheet as needed. You can resize them, move them around, and align them to create an organized layout.
Filter Data: When you interact with a slicer by clicking on an element (e.g., selecting a specific category or time period), the associated pivot table or pivot chart will instantly update to show the filtered data.
Multiple Slicers: You can insert multiple slicers based on different fields to provide more comprehensive filtering options.

Remember that while slicers are a fantastic tool for interactivity and data analysis, they are best suited for scenarios involving pivot tables and pivot charts. For traditional data tables, you might want to stick with standard filtering options.

If you would like to learn more about these new features of Microsoft Excel, or would like to attend the Advanced Microsoft Excel Training, do contact us at Intellisoft Systems.

If you have any further questions or want to join a training on how to use Sparklines, contact Intellisoft for Corporate Training on Excel or call at +65 6250-3575.

Trainer: We have certified trainers who excel in imparting their knowledge and are very patient. Master Trainer Vinai teaches Advanced Excel Techniques, Dashboard Techniques using Excel, Advanced Data Analytics & Data Visualization Training courses at Intellisoft.

Vinai has trained over 15,000 students in over 18 countries, and regularly conducts Excel Workshops in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, Dubai, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc.

Conditional Formatting in Microsoft Excel For Better Data Visualization

December 6, 2023August 26, 2023 by Vinai Prakash

Conditional Formatting in Excel using Color Scales for Data Visualization Training

Improved conditional formatting in Excel For Better Data Visualization

Conditional formatting makes it easy to emphasize important cells or ranges of cells, highlight unusual values, and visualize data by using data bars, color scales, and icon sets. In each newer version of Excel, it includes further more formatting flexibility.

Conditional formatting in Excel is a powerful feature that allows you to automatically apply formatting to cells based on specific conditions.

It’s a fantastic tool for visualizing data trends, highlighting important information, and making your spreadsheets more informative and user-friendly.

If you want to join our Excel course in Singapore & improve your skills, we have multiple courses – Basic Excel for Analytics, Advanced Excel Courses in Singapore & VBA Macro Programming Courses.

Here are some of the best ways to use conditional formatting, along with concrete examples:

Color Scale for Data Ranges:
- Use a color scale to visually represent the distribution of data values within a range.
- Example: Apply a green-to-red color scale to a list of temperature readings to quickly identify hot and cold temperatures.
Icon Sets for Comparisons:
- Apply icon sets to cells to compare values and show trends using icons like arrows or traffic lights.
- Example: Use upward and downward arrows to indicate whether sales figures have increased or decreased compared to the previous month.
Data Bars for Proportional Data:
- Use data bars to create horizontal bars within cells to represent the proportional value of each cell compared to others.
- Example: Apply data bars to visualize the relative sizes of monthly expenses in a budget spreadsheet.
Highlighting Duplicates and Unique Values:
- Apply conditional formatting to highlight duplicate or unique values in a range of cells.
- Example: Highlight duplicate names in a list of customers to identify potential data entry errors.
Color-Coded Prioritization:
- Use conditional formatting to color-code cells based on priority levels, making it easy to identify important tasks or items.
- Example: Color-code tasks in a to-do list as high, medium, or low priority.
Custom Formulas for Complex Conditions:
- Create custom formulas for more complex conditions that aren’t covered by built-in formatting rules.
- Example: Apply conditional formatting to highlight cells with values greater than the average of a range.
Highlighting Dates:
- Apply conditional formatting to highlight dates that fall within a certain range, such as upcoming deadlines or overdue dates.
- Example: Use red formatting to highlight dates that are past the current date in a project timeline.
Data Validation Feedback:
- Use conditional formatting to provide feedback on data validation rules, making it clear why certain entries are invalid.
- Example: Apply a red border to cells that contain text longer than a specified character limit.
Heat Maps for Data Analysis:
- Create heat maps by applying conditional formatting to visualize patterns and trends in large datasets.
- Example: Apply color scales to sales data to quickly identify regions with the highest and lowest sales figures.
Formula-Based Alerts:
- Use conditional formatting to trigger alerts or notifications based on specific formula-driven conditions.
- Example: Apply a bold font and red text to cells where inventory levels are below a certain threshold.

Key to effective conditional formatting is to choose formatting options that align with your goals and data presentation needs. By using conditional formatting strategically, you can make your data more visually engaging and facilitate better decision-making.

New icon sets: In Excel, we can access to more icon sets, including triangles, stars, and boxes. We can also mix and match icons from different sets and more easily hide icons.

For example, we might choose to display icons only for high profit values and remove them for middle and lower values.

More options for data bars: Excel now comes with new formatting options for data bars. You can apply solid fills or borders to the data bar, or set the bar direction from right-to-left instead of left-to-right.

Not only that, data bars for negative values appear on the opposite side of an axis from positive values.

If you would like to learn more about these new features of Microsoft Excel for data analysis and data visualization or would like to attend the Microsoft Excel Training, do contact us at Intellisoft Systems.

If you have any further questions then contact us through email training@intellisoft.com.sg or call at +65 6250-3575!!!

The Best Trainer for Advanced Data Analytics With Excel in Singapore

Mr. Vinai, Prakash the founder of Intellisoft Systems teaches Advanced Excel Techniques, Dashboard Techniques using Excel, Data Interpretation and Analysis Training courses at Intellisoft.

He has trained over 15,000 students in over 18 countries, and regularly conducts Excel Workshops in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, Dubai, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc.

Pivot Tables in Microsoft Excel For Fast Data Analysis

November 6, 2023August 22, 2023 by Vinai Prakash

Excel Pivot Tables help us to discover patterns or trends in the data.

Here is a quick tutorial on Pivot Tables in Excel which highlights the new features added in Microsoft Office 365, Office 2019, and Microsoft Office 2016 or earlier versions of Excel.

Earlier we had a look at the Sparklines and Slicers features of Excel so now we will look at the improved pivot table feature of excel.

Learn Improved Pivot Tables in Excel

PivotTables are now easier to use and more responsive. Key improvements include:

Excel Pivot Table Training — Lesser-Known Features of Microsoft Excel

Performance enhancements: In Excel, Multi-threading helps advanced sorting, data retrieval and filtering in Pivot Tables.

Write-back support: In Excel, we can update values in the OLAP PivotTable Values area and then transferred to the Analysis Services cube on the OLAP server. We can use the write-back feature in what-if mode and then roll back the changes when we no longer need them, or we can save the changes. We can use the write-back feature with any OLAP provider that supports the UPDATE CUBE statement.

Enhanced filtering: We can use slicers to quickly het the required data in a PivotTable and see which filters are applied without having to open additional menus. In addition, the filter interface includes a handy search box that can help us to find what we need among potentially thousands (or even millions) of items in the PivotTables.

Pivot Table labels: We can add labels in a Pivot Table and also replicate them in the Pivot Tables. This will help us to display item captions of nested fields in all rows and columns.

PivotChart enhancements: It has made things easy to interact with PivotChart reports. Specifically, it’s easier to get the required data directly in a PivotChart and to reorganize the layout of a PivotChart by adding and deleting fields. Similarly, we can hide all field buttons on the PivotChart report.

Show Values As feature: The ‘show values as’ feature includes a number of new, automatic calculations, such as % of Parent Row Total, % of Parent Column Total, % of Parent Total, % Running Total, Rank Smallest to Largest, and Rank Largest to Smallest.

How To Create a Pivot Table in Excel

Drag and drop fields from your data into the “Rows,” “Columns,” “Values,” and “Filters” areas in the PivotTable Field List.
- Rows: This area represents the rows of your pivot table, often used for categorizing data.
- Columns: This area represents the columns of your pivot table, creating a hierarchical structure.
- Values: This area represents the values you want to summarize or calculate, such as sums or averages.
- Filters: This area allows you to apply filters to your data before generating the pivot table.
Customize Values: You can change the way your values are summarized by clicking on the drop-down arrow next to a field in the “Values” area and selecting a summary function (e.g., Sum, Count, Average).
Apply Filters: If you added fields to the “Filters” area, you can use the filter drop-downs in your pivot table to narrow down the data displayed.
Format and Style: Format and style your pivot table to make it visually appealing and easier to understand. You can use Excel’s formatting tools to adjust fonts, colors, and cell borders.
Refresh Data: If your original data changes, you can refresh the pivot table to update it with the new data. Right-click on the pivot table and choose “Refresh.”
Explore and Analyze: Use your pivot table to explore and analyze your data. You can easily rearrange fields, add or remove them, and experiment with different layouts.

Creating a pivot table might seem a bit complex at first, but once you become familiar with the process, you’ll find it to be a powerful tool for data analysis and reporting in Excel.

If you would like to learn more about these new features of Microsoft Excel, or would like to attend the Microsoft Excel Training, do contact us at Intellisoft Systems.

If you have any further questions then contact us through email training@intellisoft.com.sg Systems or call at +65 6250-3575!!!

Your Pivot Table Trainer is Vinai Prakash.

Vinai teaches Advanced Excel Techniques, Dashboard Techniques using Excel, Data Interpretation and Analysis Training courses at Intellisoft.

He has trained over 15,000 students in over 18 countries, and regularly conducts Excel Workshops in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, Dubai, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc.

Why Use Pivot Tables in Excel:

Pivot tables are a powerful tool in Excel that offer a range of benefits for data analysis, summarization, and reporting. Here are some examples of why you should use pivot tables and the key advantages they provide:

1. Data Summarization: Pivot tables allow you to quickly summarize and aggregate large datasets. They can help you calculate sums, averages, counts, percentages, and more, without requiring complex formulas.

Example: Summarizing sales data to calculate total revenue, average sales per region, or the number of units sold by product category.

2. Data Analysis: Pivot tables enable you to analyze data from multiple perspectives by arranging fields dynamically. This flexibility allows you to uncover patterns, trends, and insights within your data.

Example: Analyzing website traffic data to determine which pages are most visited, identify traffic sources, and compare user engagement across different time periods.

3. Quick Report Generation: Pivot tables provide a rapid way to generate comprehensive reports from your data. You can customize the layout, apply filters, and instantly update the report as your data changes.

Example: Creating monthly financial reports with detailed breakdowns of expenses, revenues, and profits across various departments or projects.

4. Interactive Dashboards: Pivot tables can be part of interactive dashboards. When combined with slicers and pivot charts, they allow users to dynamically explore data and instantly visualize trends.

Example: Building a sales dashboard where users can filter data by product, region, or time period using slicers and see the results in pivot charts and tables.

5. Easy Data Restructuring: Pivot tables make it easy to reorganize data on the fly. You can quickly change the order of rows and columns to view data from different angles.

Example: Rearranging survey data to view responses based on different demographic categories like age groups, gender, or education levels.

6. Data Cleansing and Filtering: Pivot tables can help you clean and filter your data. You can easily remove duplicates, filter out irrelevant records, and focus on specific subsets of your data.

Example: Identifying and removing duplicate entries from a customer database or filtering out low-performing products from a sales dataset.

Key Advantages of Pivot Tables:

Efficiency: Pivot tables allow you to perform complex data analysis tasks quickly, without requiring in-depth knowledge of formulas or programming.
Dynamic Exploration: You can easily switch, add, or remove fields to explore data from different angles, helping you uncover hidden insights.
Flexibility: Pivot tables accommodate changes in data structure or values, allowing you to update your reports and analysis effortlessly.
Compact Presentation: Pivot tables provide summarized results in a compact and easy-to-read format, making it simpler to communicate key findings to stakeholders.
Interactivity: By using slicers and pivot charts in conjunction with pivot tables, you can create interactive reports and dashboards that facilitate user-driven analysis.
No Data Alteration: Pivot tables do not alter your source data. They create a separate view of your data for analysis purposes, ensuring data integrity.

Pivot tables in Excel are essential for transforming raw data into actionable insights. They offer a range of benefits, including efficient data summarization, interactive analysis, and quick report generation.

Whether you’re working with sales figures, survey responses, financial data, or any other type of dataset, pivot tables can help you make sense of your information and make informed decisions.

Exciting Microsoft Excel Shortcuts You Never Knew

July 12, 2021 by Corporate Training Singapore

Microsoft Excel is one of the most used software at work. People who claim to know Microsoft Excel software mostly are the ones with basic or intermediate knowledge & understanding of Excel. The productivity increases only when we make the most out of the useful software, and gain mastery.

There are many hidden gems and short cuts within Excel, that hardly anyone talks about. I am amazed when people with years of Excel experience tell me they haven’t heard about these. What a waste of time…

‘Let us discuss in this series the ultimate tips in Excel that will make things snappier, and make your co-workers say, “how did you do that??”. They will save a lot of time for you too and improve your productivity.

Tip Number 01 INSERT SERIAL NUMBERS IN A FLASH

What do we when we have to insert Serial Numbers in Excel? We type the number 1 in the cell A1, then 2 in the cell A2, and finally select both the cells & drag the mouse pointer until we get the required serial numbers generated. Right?

But what happens when we need Serial numbers until 100? 200? Or more?

Do we keep dragging? Certainly not!

There is an ultimately easy way in which you can just flash fill the serial numbers to whatever value needed.

Here are the steps:

Input Number 1 in the first cell

Select Fill > Series from Editing Ribbon of Home Tab

Home> Fill > Series

Select Columns from the Dialog box, give Step & Stop values and Hit OK.

NOTE: If you are looking to Fill Rows instead of columns, just select Rows in the dialog box and follow the same steps.
Bet you didn’t know this trick… Well, now you do.

Tip Number 2 FORGET COPY+PASTE – JUST DRAG & DROP

When we have a set of data in one column & we want it to move to another column. What do we do? Select them all, copy or Hit CTRL C and select the destination column, and paste or hit CTRL V?

Forget the hassle, now select the required data, just Drag & drop to the destination.

Tip Number 3: COPY MULTIPLE VALUES USING THE CLIPBOARD

Working with multiple values? Forget the hassle of copying and pasting one by one.
Use the built in Clipboard feature of Excel.

You can expand the clipboard from the icon lists or use the Win (Windows Key) + V to click on the required values

Tip Number 4: DUPLICATE A SHEET IN JUST ONE-CLICK

Want to copy the whole sheet? Are you selecting and copy pasting?
Or right click, copy, select the sheet, move to bottom?? So many steps for duplicating the sheet?

Now Duplicate a Sheet like a Pro!

Just hold down Ctrl + Drag & Drop the sheet to desired position.

Tip Number 5: UNDO & REDO IN ONE HIT

Undo & Redo would be the most used operations in Excel.
Now do undo and redo with just one click.
Use the buttons on top.

Tip Number 6 Use the QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR

Tedious to find the operations that you frequently use?

CHANGE ALL CAPS TO Mixed Case for Next 3 Rows.

CLICK THE DROP DOWN ARROW TO SEE THE OPTIONS
YOU CAN ADD THE FREQUENTLY USED OPTION TO QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR

EXTRA TIP: YOU CAN ADD ANY OTHER COMMANDS THAT YOU USE FREQUENTLY

Hope that helps! Want to learn more exciting tips, tricks & shortcuts and improve your productivity in Microsoft Excel?

If you wish to build your knowledge to have a better Excel Operations knowledge, you must start working on it. You will do well in your career, and get ahead faster, even land that dream job with better skills & competence in Excel.

We at Intellisoft are here to guide you.

Intellisoft Systems offers 2 day extensive workshops on Microsoft Excel.

Simply pick a program – Basic/Intermediate Excel OR Advanced Microsoft Excel

Join us to get more out of Microsoft Excel to make the best use of the software in your day-to-day work!

Sparklines Microsoft Excel

August 20, 2021February 7, 2018 by Vinai Prakash

In Microsoft Excel, some of the new features are sparklines and slicers, and improvements to PivotTables and other existing features, can help us to discover patterns or trends in the data. To get started with the features of Excel, first we will look at the details of the Sparklines and slicers features of Excel.

Sparklines

Sparklines are tiny charts that is used to fit in a cell to visually summarize trends beside the data.

Since sparklines show trends occupies less space, they are exclusively useful for dashboards and other places where we need to show a glimpse of the business in an simple practical visual format.

In the image to the left, the sparklines that appear in the Trend column lets us have a quick look of the performance of each department in the month of May.

Slicers

We can make slicers relate to the workbook formatting and easily reuse them in other PivotTables & PivotCharts.

If you would like to learn more about these new features of Microsoft Excel / Office 365, or would like to attend the Advanced Microsoft Excel Training, do contact us at Intellisoft Systems.

If you have any further questions or want to join a training on how to use Sparklines, contact Intellisoft for Corporate Training on Excel or call at +65 6250-3575

Trainer: We have certified trainers who excel in imparting their knowledge and are very patient. Master Trainer Vinai teaches Advanced Excel Techniques, Dashboard Techniques using Excel, Data Interpretation and Analysis Training courses at Intellisoft.

He has conducted over 700 live workshops, and trained over 5,000 students in over 18 countries, and regularly conducts Excel Workshops in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, India, Dubai, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa etc.

Do You Use These Advanced Features in Microsoft Excel?

September 10, 2018September 21, 2017 by Vinai Prakash

Practical hands-on advanced excel training at Intellisoft

Most people hardly use the huge number of features available in Microsoft Excel. Many are just using Excel as a calculator. This is a gross under use of Excel’s vast potential and feature rich functionality.

Do a quick check, and see if you use these advanced features of Microsoft Excel in your day to day work.

Some of the common things that can be done easily with Excel are:

Finding the Top 10 Customers or Finding the Bottom 10 Performers in the organization
Highlight values that are above or below a certain threshold – like all sales above $25,000 to be highlighted
Sort the values in Ascending, Descending or any customized order – like sorting in order of Manufacturing, Accounts, Sales departments.
Give Names to Range of Cells, and then use them in formulas for easy referencing and decoding
Exploit Pivot Tables to Summarize the data and slice & dice it in any way – finding sales by product groups, or calculating productivity by department
Write Macros to automate routine things that save you a huge amount of time – example creating pivots, charts, tables, and doing complex calculations automatically.
Use advanced filtering conditions, and be able to filter data using multiple different criteria
Create fantastic charts that portray the given business situation perfectly. There are over 50 different types of charts to choose from, and each has its edge, advantages and a reason.
Create management dashboard that are dynamic, and provide a complete snapshot of the key business KPIs in the company – change the chart values at the click of a checkbox or change in a drop-down value
Use Excel’s advanced What-If analysis to do projections for future, forecasting, trend analysis etc. with ease
Use Lookup tables to find any value or corresponding value from a table using advanced functions and formulas

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft Excel is really extremely powerful. Each version of Microsoft Excel – be it Excel 2007, or Excel 2010 or Excel 2013 adds more and more features to the already powerful dynamite of a package.

At Intellisoft, we teach people how to leverage the maximum power out of Microsoft Excel in short training courses. Some of the popular courses are:

Advanced Excel 2007, Advanced Excel 2010 Training or Microsoft Excel 2013 Training (2 Day courses)
Basic / Intermediate Excel 2007, Basic Excel 2010 Training or Basic Microsoft Excel 2013 Training (2 Day courses)
Data Interpretation and Analysis using Microsoft Excel (2 Day course)
Pivots, Charts, and Management Dashboards using Microsoft Excel 2010 (1 Day course)
Excel for Human Resource Professionals ( 2 Day course)

We have a number of Public Classes each month, and we also provided In-House Training to your staff and team at your office, if you have a group of 10+ people, and have a room to hold the training.

So what are you waiting for? If you would like to learn any one or more of such useful features of Microsoft Excel, come for a short Excel Training at Intellisoft.

Go ahead, equip your team with the right skills. Get everyone on board to learn the basic and advanced features of Microsoft Excel, and Be Awesome in Excel!

Email to training@intellisoft.com.sg or call +65-6250-3575 for the next available schedule of Microsoft Excel Training in Singapore.

We are located at Fortune Centre, in Singapore! Location Map of Intellisoft

Cheers,
Vinai Prakash, PMP, ITIL, Six Sigma, GAP,
Master Trainer

Sparklines in Microsoft Excel to Visualize Data Quickly

In Microsoft Excel, some of the new features introduced in the past 15 years are amazing for every day use. Spark lines and Slicers are some of these amazing gems of Excel.

What are Spark lines in Excel, and How to Use Them

There are three main types of sparklines in Excel: