It’s been another busy week of traveling, meetings, some “regular” work and, most importantly, I was able to lead a couple of sessions that were combinations of presentations and courses to assist some co-workers in improving their Excel skills. If that weren’t enough, I was also given some time, an entire afternoon in fact, to lead a small class in Monarch training.
Refer to reference functions
The first Excel session covered the functions that Excel defines as lookup and reference functions. As the group regularly uses some good sized data sets in their work, I’d prepared a number of examples in advance to demonstrate the power of these functions in ways that perhaps they’d not regularly, if ever, seen.
In the second Excel session we talked about some ways to ensure that the spreadsheets that the group creates that are meant for wide distribution take advantage of Excel’s built-in features that enhance usability for the intended users of the documents. Again, I had prepared some examples of how Excel makes tools available for spreadsheet design that are commonly associated with Windows programs, not spreadsheets. The group generally had seen those items, if infrequently, like radio buttons and check boxes in spreadsheets from time to time, but the general consensus was that it took some programming to make those things work.
Indeed, while that can be the case, it’s not always necessary, and this really seemed to surprise them.
What does usability mean to you?
My definition of usability was a little different than what they expected. Having seen the presentation title on the agenda, they didn’t think that I’d be talking about usability from the spreadsheet designer’s point of view in addition to the typical concerns that the designer addresses to improve the end-user’s experience with the file.
As a group we discussed the steps that they typically perform when they go about designing and maintaining Excel files. Then I offered some techniques to enhance the design process; ways to make the job a little easier and smoother both up front and on an on-going basis, all the while keeping in mind that no matter what, the goal is to improve the end-user’s experience, not ours.
Since I’d started the day with a tour of the reference functions, there were plenty of examples of how using those functions can improve overall usability.
High speed Monarch
The Monarch afternoon was so much fun. In my last visit to this office a few weeks ago, I’d been able to sit with each group member individually and give them as much exposure to Monarch’s abilities, a primer if you will, as I could in the short time available.
In a single afternoon we covered all of the basics of the report, table and summary windows, as well as some more advanced features such as using external lookups and implementing all four types of calculated fields, along with regular and compound filters.
Being able to demonstrate just how well data acquired with Monarch dovetails into Excel’s newly learned complement of reference functions was a nice bonus too.
It was a jam-packed session. More time would have helped, but that time allotment was a luxury that we didn’t have. Monarch is an easy program to learn, but to be fair to the student it shouldn’t be rushed. At least I know that they’ve got a solid foundation upon which they can add more skills.
Where will the path lead?
In the end, this group was pleased that, even with said constraints, they were walking away well informed and ready and willing to tackle some projects on their own. I can’t wait to see what they create.
In an age in which all expenditures are closely scrutinized, minor costs like staff training can easily convert investments in people into improved productivity and tools for the organization.
It was a terrific experience to lead another group that now knows that they’re ready to excel with Monarch.
