98.8% Of all customers recommend us, we're so confident about our results we publish all reviews and stats
View Live Stats View ReviewsPrevious article Next article Excel articles
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words (Or Numbers)
Wed 22nd July 2009
Of course, complexity does not make it any less important that those figures are managed accurately and efficiently. Microsoft Excel has long been the dominant application for doing so, whether it's in a business (of whatever size and description) or for home finances. Excel can give you instant control over any data you need it to manage, and can be updated automatically; for instance, if one area of your expenditure decreases, by entering in that one number Excel will automatically adjust any other related totals, subtotals, or whatever you need adjusting.
If you can discern patterns or movements from these figures, then you can gain a much greater understanding of where your business is heading, or of how your domestic finances are coping. And such an understanding is all important, more so than ever in these constrained economic times. But it is easier said than done, isn't it? And the more entries you make, the larger the sheet grows, and the denser the forest of numbers becomes; you know that what you need to know is hiding in their somewhere, but it's lost in an undergrowth of profits and losses, incomings and outgoings.
Thankfully, Excel can cut through the morass, quickly and easily. From complicated figures, the software can pull out a range of clear and detailed graphs and charts, and transform the way that you see your data.
When selecting the range of figures that you need to visualise, Excel gives a selection of different options for producing charts. Simplicity and clarity are the keywords here, and the alternative charts are presented in a straightforward choice between traditional styles:
- Column and bar charts, to show how figures compare to one another;
- Line and area charts, to show how your numbers develop and change over time;
- Pie and doughnut charts, to show everything in proportion.
And within these different styles, charts can be customised to suit your particular demands, allowing a variety of different information to be presented together, with colours and three-dimensional graphs available as and when required. The advantages of presenting the data in comprehensible and appealing charts are clear, and as substantial as the process is straightforward.
Let's take, as an example, Sid, who heads the sales team of a company selling Somerset sausages to supermarkets and smaller stores. He can use a 3-D line graph in a presentation to management to show (in an attractive and accessible manner) the fluctuations in sales of the company's various lines over a period of time. He can use a bar chart to show which stores have been the best customers and when, dividing each bar up to show different stages of the year. And when he goes home, if he's not too tired of figures, he can pull up a pie chart to show his family just how much of their spending goes on the electric bill, and just how much could be saved if Sid Jr would only turn those lights off once in a while.
We all need to keep tabs on those important numbers, whether for business or domestic purposes. But visualising them with Excel does more than just keep tabs, it allows us to understand what they mean, and foresee what they might mean for the future. It's surely worth considering a short training course to get the most from this powerful tool, so you can see what the numbers are really telling you.
Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on excel 2003 training course, please visit https://www.stl-training.co.uk
Original article appears here:
https://www.stl-training.co.uk/article-483-a-picture-is-worth-thousand-words-or-numbers.html
London's widest choice in
dates, venues, and prices
Public Schedule:
On-site / Closed company:
TestimonialsTeach First
Selection Officer Carol Pratt Excel Intermediate This was a great course - initially I was a little worried, but the trainer put the group at great ease and ensured that everyone was happy with the training stages. Great day - thank you very much Canaccord Genuity
EA To CEO Tej Makani PowerPoint Intermediate Advanced Our course instructor was really great - she was enthusiastic, really friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and very patient. She was able to successfully navigate a group with different skills levels and ensuring no-one feels left behind or like they are bored waiting for others! All of my questions were answered to my complete satisfaction and I will definitely go away and use a lot of what I learnt today. I really would recommend this course, and would specifically tell those who are doing the course to work with Sunita. Venue was nice, not too hard to find and on a nice day, quite pleasant. Worst part of today was the food for me ...I had the chicken Caesar salad and the chicken meat was inedible (I wasn't entirely sure it was chicken as it tasted funny and VERY bad quality, so I didn't eat it). Biochemical Society
Digital And Communications Manager Ellen Hinkley Time Management Really great course and loved that there were useful tasks throughout that helped to put the ideas in to practice/that we could take away with us. Tony was a great trainer too - enthusiastic and knowledgable. |
PUBLICATION GUIDELINES