In 2018 we once again had a very busy year delivering courses of which 92% were Excel based. This was no surprise to us as this tends to be the case every year!

Excel is such a valuable package for companies that it tends to be the main module from all the other modules in the Microsoft Office package that employers want training for their staff. The Excel training for their staff is sought after to help improve and build on their knowledge of Excel to aid them in their daily jobs. As well as helping at work though, the Excel training will help the staff overall with their knowledge of the package that they could then use at home too.

We’ve produced 3 simple charts (In Excel of course) to show the split by: (just click on each chart to view a larger version of it)

• County
• Module
• Level of Excel

Most of the training courses were carried out in groups of between 2 and 10 but we also delivered some 1 to 1 training as well.

There were also a selection of courses which were bespoked to the requirements of our customers too.

All our content of the courses is contained on our web page, which you can take a look at here www.jplcomputer.co.uk/microsoft-office-training

While we focus our attention primarily for Microsoft training courses in Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire and West Midlands you’ll see we sometimes travel further afield.

As mentioned before, Excel training for employers is a great investment in enabling staff to work smarter and much more efficiently when carrying out their work.

For more information on how we as Excel training providers can help improve the productivity of your staff in the workplace using Microsoft Office applications like Excel please contact us on 07903 840105 or email us at johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk.

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BODMAS. The word that tends to divide a room of people on one of our Excel courses up in to one of four groups:

1. Have no idea what we are talking about and never heard of BODMAS
2. Vaguely remember being told about it and learning about it at school but haven’t heard about it since
3. Remember it and are ok about it
4. Remember it clearly, didn’t like it then, don’t like it now and bolt for the door!

Ok so the bolting for the door doesn’t happen that often (thankfully!), people who fall in to the 4th group tend to go quiet and try and hide in their seats so that they aren’t asked a question on it!

So why does this small and seemingly harmless word sometime invoke such a strong reaction in some people?

The reason for this is that BODMAS originates in the Algebra section of Maths days back in school (now this is where people are more likely to bolt for the door, after the word Algebra has been spoken!). Not everyone enjoyed Maths at school and so this is sometimes why not everyone likes the BODMAS topic in our Excel courses.

But it isn’t that bad!

BODMAS

BODMAS is just an order of precedence built in to Excel that is used when calculations are being worked out in a Spreadsheet. The order goes as follows:

BO – Brackets Override
D – Division
M – Multiplication
A – Addition
S – Subtraction

When a calculation is typed in to a cell, Excel will start at the top of this ‘list’ and work its way down, doing whichever symbol comes first before moving to the next.

To help explain this a bit more, we have created a spreadsheet with a few calculations in it explaining each time why it has done what it has.

Please click here to save on to your computer and give it a go.

We hope this has helped you understand the Excel training basics BODMAS concept a bit more! Why not take a look at our previous hint and tip on Excel names?

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In this weeks hint and tip we are going to be looking at the concept of Excel names. This concept is where you are able to name a cell or a range of cells to then use them within a formula or a calculation in an Excel spreadsheet. This is covered on our Basic Excel training course.

The video below is going to show you step by step how you would go about naming both a single cell and also a range of cells. There is also a bit of information about Data Validation within the video too!

Summary of Excel names from the video:

Naming a cell

1. Click on the cell that you want to name (in this example, G1).
2. Go to the name box above column A in your Excel spreadsheet.
3. Single click in the name box and name the cell (in this example, name it ‘increase’).
4. You can now use this named cell in your calculation.
5. To use it in your calculation, you can either click on the cell and it will put the name in to your calculation or you can type the name in yourself.

Naming a range of cells

1. Select the range of cells that you want to name (in this example, A2:B6).
2. Go to the name box above column A in your Excel spreadsheet.
3. Single click in the name box and name the range of cells (in this example, ‘vlookuptable’).
4. You can now use this named range in your formula.
5. To use it in your formula, you can either go to the worksheet it is in and select the cells and it will put the name in to your formula or you can type the name in yourself.

Editing a name (cell or range)

1. To do this, go to the Formulas Tab and select the ‘Name Manager’ button. Here you can edit or delete a named cell or range.

We hope you enjoyed this hint and tip on Excel names and how you actually go about naming cells within your spreadsheets! Why not take a look at our previous one on inserting a slide into a PowerPoint presentation?

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Comments from the IT Training classroom floor which made me think…

Having had the privilege of training thousands of staff of all ages and backgrounds in Excel and other Microsoft Office modules I’ve heard loads of comments during the class. Most are naturally to do with the topic being explained but some are more general which made me stop and think….

I think I’m on the wrong course

Two people have said this. One was completely on the wrong course. Instead of being of a health and safety course they came on our Basic Excel course! Another however had booked themselves onto our Intermediate Excel course and realised early on they should have been on our Basic Excel course first.

It made me think… how important it is to evaluate both from the trainer’s standpoint and trainee’s standpoint the content of the course and any pre-requisites. We always publish and send agendas in advance through to the organiser of the course and ask them a good training needs analysis be conducted to make sure that the person is on the right level of training. It’s not unknown for some to go back and do Basic Excel after say Intermediate Excel but it’s best to do the training in the right order

I will never remember all this

This is a very popular comment often made towards the end of each course. We may have taught a trainee a hundred features and they will have successfully completed those hundred tasks during the day. The key however is to put into practise quickly those new skills after training has finished.

We offer a variety of ways of doing this from ‘reminder exercises and videos’ to encouraging employers to allow a few minutes each day for their staff to look at their own spreadsheets and to improve on them. Practice may not make perfect, but it sure helps!

Have you ever been on stage!?

I do tend to have a very informal but animated style whilst training often trying to add humour into my courses to make the rather drier topics at least more palatable. We believe that if you enjoy a course you are far more likely to want to learn more

I hate Excel and you won’t teach me anything today!

Although this was an exceptional comment made by one lady at the outset of the course it made me think. Here was a person who came into the course with a prejudice against the topic, a closed mind and an attitude which meant she was not prepared to give it a go!

Despite all kinds of encouraging questions and assistance she stubbornly refused to engage and learn. Sadly, at the close of play she still hated Excel and had not learned anything. Her employer had wasted their money. It made me think how important it is when it comes to learning a new subject to come with an open and eager mind and engage, ask for help and be prepared to at least give it a go. In my classes all are unsuccessful (apart maybe from that 1!)

I can work part time now

At a recent course one lady said that the time she could save implementing those shortcuts in Excel she had learned could save her hours and she could now work part time! It made me think that here was a payback and justification for the IT training. Not that all staff can go part time but that their efficiency will improve and in their roles, they can become more productive. I’m always seeking to see how they can put into practice their skills to save time and make life easier for all.

If you would like to hear more stories or simply just information on our courses please email us on johnlegge@jplcomputer.co.uk

Or click on the link here to learn more about our courses.

You might also like to read our previous post Excel training in Gloucestershire.

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Comments from attendees on an Intermediate Excel 2016 course run on their premises:

“Best part of the course: step by step instructions & work sheet activities.”

“Fantastic pace and course notes. Best part of the course: learning filtering.”

“Best part of the course: all of it, lots of useful and new information.”

“Best part of the course: interaction and hands on.”

“Friendly, patient approach. Learnt a lot from the first minute to the last! Best part of the course: practical application.”

– Joe, Alan, Stephanie, Jeanette and Naomi

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Comments from attendees on an Master Class Training 2013 course run on their premises:

“Good presentation and pace throughout. Best part of the course: Pivot Tables and Conditional Formatting”.

“Course notes excellent, really useful. Best part of the course: John! Great teacher and very knowledgeable, very patient, nothing is a silly question!”

“Great step by step help along the way if you get stuck. Best part of the course: learning about new functions within Excel”.

“Best part of the course: visual basic work and macros”.

– Abigail, Charlotte, Matthew and Jo

If you would like more information regarding any of the Microsoft courses that we run, please check out our website.

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Comments from attendees on an Basic Excel Training 2013 course run on their premises:

“Really fun & enjoyable. Best part of the course: learning new easy tricks”.

“The training was very easy to follow. Best part of the course: all of it – very explanatory”.

“thoroughly enjoyed the course, I have learnt a lot that I will be able to apply in my everyday job. Best part of the course: all of it, as it was stuff I have never done and has widened my knowledge in Excel”.

“The training was great, just about at my pace. Best part of the course: the way it was conveyed by John”.

“The delivery from John is top notch. Best part of the course: becoming most efficient at things I currently do slowly”.

“Really enjoyed it, was worried at first but really enjoyed it. Thank you! Best part of the course: John is so patient, no matter how slow you are”.

“Pitched perfectly with plenty of praise given. Best part of the course: gaining confidence in using Excel”.

– Charlotte, Nora, Laura, Ian, Ben, Penny and Heather

For more information on our Microsoft Excel Training, see here.

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Excel Worksheets

Four things you may not know about Excel worksheets:

1. To colour a worksheet simply right click and choose a Tab colour
2. To move a worksheet to a different position simply drag and drop the sheet to the left or right
3. To rename a worksheet its quicker to double click on it and then type over the worksheet name
4. When using a worksheet in a formula where a sheet has an embedded space in it use an apostrophe e.g. =sum(‘jan 18:mar 18’!b2)

Consolidate command

The Consolidate Command found on the ‘Data Tab’ in Excel allows you to summarise data from separate ranges across several worksheets on to a single range on a master sheet. This also has a wonderful drill-down capability if required.

IF Statement

The IF statement in Excel is one of the most useful functions which allows you to return an answer to the function depending upon whether the test or condition you are considering is true or false.

It takes the form: =IF(logical test, value if true, value if false)    For example, it may take the form   =IF(c12>100, c11*1.1,c11*1.2)   this may be used if considering price updates in pricing or in costing.

Remember: if you are testing against numbers in your condition you do not need speech marks but if you are testing against a letter or word you would need speech marks.

Data Validation

Excel is not normally known for its data validation but there is a simple feature found in it called Data Validation. Data Validation in Excel allows you to verify the contents of cell and display error messages if incorrect data is inserted. This could be used to verify a range of numeric data or to verify from a list of possible values.

Customisation

Excel has some non numerical wonderful features that can be used within the package to aid you in its use. One feature is customisation of the ribbon, where you can create your own ribbon with its own groups that you can organise commands in to that you use on a regular basis to make it easier to find them at a later date. Another is customising your QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) which allows you to customise the top left hand ‘toolbar’ in your screen with some commands that you use on a regular basis too.

Conditional Formatting

Conditional Formatting in Excel allows you to apply rules to a set of data so that they are highlighted or display a symbol depending on what rule the figure falls in to. A good example of this is to show sales; £0-£150 highlight red, £150-£300 highlight amber, £300+ highlight green. This feature is found on the Home Tab within Excel.

Remove Duplicates

One lesser known feature is Remove Duplicates. This feature allows you to remove any duplicated data within the range of data present in your spreadsheet. To use this feature, you go on to the Data Tab, and click on the Remove Duplicates option. This will then allow you to choose what you want to check for duplication and then remove any duplication. This will then remove the duplicated data but it will not tell you what you have removed. If you are unsure about using this option, you can use conditional formatting to ‘highlight duplicates’ which might be a safer option for you!

These are just a selection of helpful Excel tips to try and help you in your jobs! There are lots more on our general hints and tips page if you want more, take a look!

If you liked this post, why not take a look at our previous one on some tips from our Advanced Excel course?

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