Power Excel: Analyzing Data to Make Business Decisions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course is about harnessing the power of Microsoft Excel to analyze business problems and identify solutions, allowing you to make sound decisions that, in today's fast-paced climate, can lead to a competitive business advantage. You will gain the knowledge and hands-on skills required to exploit Excel's more advanced features, such as PivotTables and PivotCharts. Who will benefit from this course? This course is valuable for anyone who uses Excel to make decisions based on data, including those who: Analyze and summarize worksheet and database information Consolidate data Forecast and plan budgets Assess risks Draw out information from datasets to use in reports or calculations What background do I need? Experience with Excel at an introductory level is assumed. You should be able to: Open, save and close workbooks Reference cells through absolute and relative addressing Create simple formulas Access worksheets in a workbook Insert and delete worksheets Cut, copy and paste information from one cell to another Format numbers in a worksheet Resize columns and rows How does this course differ from other vendor's advanced Excel courses? Learning Tree courses are designed to go beyond the simple demonstration of a product's features and explore that product's practical application in a real-world environment. In this course, through instructor-led lecture, demonstration and hands-on experience, you learn to implement the advanced features of Excel that best meet your organization's immediate and far-reaching needs. What Excel features are covered in this course that I can use to analyze data? In this course, you gain experience with the following: Financial and statistical functions Scenario Manager, Solver and Goal Seek 3-D worksheets Data consolidation Subtotaling PivotTables and PivotCharts Creating and troubleshooting macros I use Excel 97/XP/2003. Will this course still be useful for me? Yes. While this course uses Excel 2007, many of the underlying features in this version have not changed from previous versions. Furthermore, you can complete the hands-on exercises in either Excel 2007 or 2003, allowing you to choose the version that better suits your needs. I understand PivotTables are a powerful tool. Will I learn about them in this course? Yes! This course fully explores this valuable Excel tool. You learn to edit existing PivotTables, create new PivotTables from scratch to summarize large amounts of data, and build colorful and dynamic graphs. Will I learn how to import data from my company's databases? Yes! This course teaches you how to access data from company database servers and desktop databases. The instructor-led demonstrations in this course use Microsoft Access. However, the skills you learn can be directly applied to Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or any ODBC database source. How will I learn to enhance my Excel environment? In this course, you learn tips and techniques to easily and effectively optimize your spreadsheets. From highlighting key points, to managing multiple workbooks, to automating tasks with macros, to choosing tools to summarize and analyze your datasets, you will leave this course with the skills to customize Excel in a way that best meets your individual or organizational requirements. How much risk analysis is covered in this course? In this course, you learn how to use Excel to perform risk analysis calculations. This course does not cover the concepts of risk analysis in detail. If you are interested in learning more about these concepts, please see Course 286, Project Risk Management: Hands-On. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Examining and analyzing data 2.0 Incorporating lookups into calculations 2.5 Optimizing models for effective analysis 2.0 Analyzing disparate sets of data 1.0 Examining and reporting on database information 3.0 Creating and troubleshooting macros for automation 1.5 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. How much time is devoted to the hands-on exercises? Approximately 50 percent of class time is spent on hands-on exercises. These exercises are designed to provide you with practical, real-world experience using the more advanced Excel features. Hands-on exercises include: Performing statistical and financial calculations Reducing speculation with "what-if" analysis Summarizing data contained in 3-D worksheets Defining the best combination of values to solve complex business problems Designing formulas that capture errors and require less maintenance Creating interactive data reports with PivotTables Developing macros to simplify data analysis Is this course applicable to a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification? Yes. Although this course is not designed as preparation for the exam, it is beneficial to anyone working toward PMI's PMP certification. For those who are currently certified, completion of this course counts as 11 professional development units (60 units must be completed every three years to maintain certification). For more details, please see the Learning Tree PMI Registered Education Provider Q&A. If you are an experienced project manager intending to take the PMP exam, you should take Course 276, Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam. In this course you learn essential PMBOK® Guide terminology, tools and techniques. You gain practical test-taking experience through PMI-style practice exams and create your own personal study plan for continued use after the course. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree Courses? If you are interested in expanding your management skills, we recommend the following courses: 290, Management Skills allows you to gain working knowledge of the key aspects of management- leadership, delegation, motivation and communication-and practical techniques for getting the best from people. 286, Project Risk Management: Hands-On teaches you to proactively develop strategies that analyze the risks associated with project development and implementation. 281, Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers transforms financial and accounting language and concepts into decision-making tools the non-financial manager can use successfully every day. 284, Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving develops your skills as a critical thinker and problem solver. You learn to leverage your personal thinking preferences using tools and techniques based on cutting-edge technologies. 296, Project Management: Skills for Success provides the knowledge to successfully plan, manage and deliver projects. You learn to implement monitoring tools and controls to keep you fully in command of your projects. If you are interested in expanding your technical expertise to aid Excel usage, we recommend the following courses: 209, VBA Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction focuses on the fundamentals of programming and VBA from the ground up. You learn to take full advantage of extensive built-in VBA functionality. 194, Hands-On Visio®: Designing Effective Visual Solutions provides the hands-on skills to use the Visio templates and stencils to quickly create sophisticated diagrams. 307, Access™ 2003: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction provides an in-depth view of the features and functionality of Access. You learn key database design concepts and work with Access to build a database system in class. 249, Hands-On Microsoft® Project: Managing Multiple and Complex Projects offers the skills to leverage Microsoft Project Professional tools and techniques to manage multiple or complex projects

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