I’m excited about a new series idea that came to mind this week. I’ve been thinking about a work related series that I would have energy for. The “Work Hacks Wednesdays” series died an untimely death simply because I felt it was getting too generic and too forced.
This new series idea is called “The Rock Star Analyst” series. Thanks to the mountains of data flying around, every one of us needs to have an analytical hat that we can put on at will. Some make their livelihood doing just that while others (especially those more senior) need it every once a while.
This series is going to focus on a lot of practical tips to get the most out of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint for analytical purposes but will contain a few bonus topics on creating good presentations and using Microsoft OneNote – an excellent tool very few seem to be familiar with. I intend to approach it from the point of view of someone asking “why” questions on each of these features and will point you to the best resources I know for more advanced learning. Of course, each of these tools is incredibly powerful and there are whole websites and businesses dedicated to making the most out of them – my goal would be to cover the 80% with minimal effort.
The rough plan for the series as it sits on my head is as follows –
I. Excel Rock Star
1. Analysis 101 – Setting up an excel sheet for analysis (Clean up source data, use a control sheet, and understand named ranges)
2. Modeling 101 – Basics to build and work with financial models (Absolute and relative referencing 101, working with huge data sheets, and leveraging excel resources)
3. Shortcuts to excel success (shortcuts in the excel sense of the word :))
4. Pivot Table magic
5. Flexing the ‘Index + Match’ muscle
6. All about the Powerful IFs – SumIfs, AverageIfs, Countifs
7. More IF power – Nesting Ifs with ORs and ANDs
8. Exploring arrays formulae
9. Macros 101
10. Signing off on your excel sheets like Leonardo da Vinci
12. Other stuff I don’t know so well (Useful formulae like trends and offset-indirect, excel analysis tools like regression, and data tables)
II. PowerPoint Rock Star
1. PowerPoint shortcuts and setting up your quick access toolbar
2. Charting 101 and an introduction to powerful charting tools
3. Templates 101
4. Making awesome presentations (fonts, alignments, design, etc.)
III. OneNote Rock Star
1. OneNote awesomeness 101 (leveraging OneNote for research, information capture)
2. “To do” system idea on OneNote
And I would love to hear from you if there are any topics you’d like me to cover – please just leave a note in the comments or via email. Very happy to help!
A Learning a Day 