Microsoft® Excel® for Office 365/2019/2021: Dashboards

Course Specifications

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Course Length:

2 days

Course Description

Overview:

Today’s world runs on data more than ever before and that’s a trend not likely to change, or even slow down, any time soon. With the tremendous amount of available data, the ability to make sense of it continues to be an ongoing challenge. You already know how to use Excel to perform simple calculations and modify worksheets to make them easier to read, interpret, and present to others. But Excel is capable of doing so much more.

To gain a truly competitive edge, you need to be able to extract actionable organizational intelligence from your raw data, and present it in a visually compelling format that enables decision makers to view key trends and gain insights. And that’s exactly what this course aims to help you do.

This course builds upon the foundational knowledge presented in the Microsoft® Excel® for Office 365™ (Desktop or Online): Basic course and introduces the basics of data analysis and how to use Excel to create informative dashboards.

Course Objectives:

In this course, you will analyze and visualize data using Excel and associated tools. You will:

• Perform data analysis fundamentals.
• Visualize data with Excel.
• Analyze data with formulas and functions.
• Analyze data with PivotTables.
• Present visual insights with dashboards in Excel.

Target Participant:

This course is designed for participants who already have foundational knowledge and skills in Excel and who wish to begin taking advantage of the data analysis functionality with Excel using functions, charts, and PivotTables, and using visualizations in charts and dashboards in Excel.

Prerequisites:

To ensure success, you should have baseline skill using Excel worksheets, particularly in creating workbooks with formulas and functions. You can obtain this level of knowledge and skill by taking the following or any equivalent Logical Operations course:

• Microsoft® Excel® for Office 365™ (Desktop or Online): Basic

Additional workplace experience with Excel is highly recommended.

Course-Specific Technical Requirements

Hardware:

For this course, you will need one computer for each participant and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit (x64) processor.
• 4 gigabytes (GB) of Random Access Memory (RAM).
• 32 GB available storage space.
• Monitor capable of a screen resolution of at least 1,024 × 768 pixels, at least a 256-color display, and a video adapter with at least 4 MB of memory.
• Keyboard and mouse or a compatible pointing device.
• Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) adapter or faster and cabling to connect to the classroom network.
• IP addresses that do not conflict with other portions of your network.
• Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
• (Instructor computer only) A display system to project the instructor’s computer screen.

Software:

• Microsoft® Windows® 10 Professional or Enterprise
• Any current version of Office.

NOTE: This course was developed and keychecked using the Microsoft 365® version of Office. There may be some keying discrepancies with the activity steps if you use a different version.

Course Content

Lesson 1: Data Analysis Fundamentals

• Topic A: Introduction to Data Science
• Topic B: Create and Modify Tables
• Topic C: Sort and Filter Data

Lesson 2: Visualizing Data with Excel

• Topic A: Visualize Data with Charts
• Topic B: Modify and Format Charts
• Topic C: Apply Best Practices in Chart Design

Lesson 3: Analyzing Data with Formulas and Functions

• Topic A: Analyze Data with Formulas and Named Ranges
• Topic B: Analyze Data with Functions
• Topic C: Implement Data Validation, Forms, and Controls
• Topic D: Create Conditional Visualizations with Lookup Functions

Lesson 4: Analyzing Data with PivotTables

• Topic A: Create a PivotTable
• Topic B: Analyze PivotTable Data

Lesson 5: Presenting Visual Insights with Dashboards in Excel

• Topic A: Visualize Data with PivotCharts
• Topic B: Filter Data Using Slicers and Timelines
• Topic C: Create a Dashboard in Excel

Course Delivery

The course methodology for face-to-face sessions employs a dynamic blend of interactive lectures, collaborative discussions, and hands-on workshops. Participants will engage in real-world case studies, practical exercises, and group activities to reinforce theoretical concepts, fostering a rich learning environment that encourages active participation and skill application.