Events

Course Description:

Let’s face it – Microsoft Excel is one of the many choices a project manager makes, and its usage far overruns all others, including Microsoft Project. It is the only tool that is acceptable to Finance and other peripheral functions. Being a part of “Office”, we tend to be self-taught, and consequently, end up frustrated. So why not learn about some useful tips and tricks through common scenarios? The material for this class is derived from the common yet significant “use cases” and mistakes that instructors have observed in their careers.

PMI Chicagoland Chapter brings you a rare opportunity to learn this tool hands-on from the experts at an affordable price point.

Who Should Attend This Workshop?

1. Those who are self-taught; those who have been frustrated by MS Excel 
2. Those who wish to understand more about how MS Excel handles data
3. Those who are unfamiliar with reporting project status and risks using traffic lights and weighted scorecards
4. Those who wish to know more about using Excel as a formidable tool in Engineering Operations
5. Those who are unfamiliar with the details regarding the interface of Excel and MS Project

Suggested Prerequisite Skills:

• Basic “Common” MSFT Office Artifacts
  • Basic Equation, Symbol, Shapes, Icons, Pictures
  • Comments, Header/Footer, Page Layout, Themes, Printing, Comments, Translations, etc.
• Basic: “View”
  • Freeze/Unfreeze Panes
  • Split/Hide
• Review
  • Protect/Lock Cells 

What You’ll Learn?

• Importing and exporting data
• Formatting data, and extracting “parts of the data”
• Lookups
• Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts
• Conditional Arithmetic
• Duplicate and Noise Removal
• Database Arithmetic: “Significant” Data
• Error Checking and Boundary Conditions
• Data Visualization
• Introduction to Tableau like dashboards in Excel
• And much more…

What Is NOT Covered?

• Excel Macros
• Statistical Functions

Setting Expectations:

Approach:
1. This class makes use of typical “use cases” that Project Managers face on a regular basis.
2. This includes data gathering, data interpretation, and reporting for upper management.
3. This is a class intended for those who are somewhat familiar with Excel. “Power User” items e.g., Macros and SQL entries are not covered in this class.
4. Students are expected to read the learning objectives before signing up for the class
Format:
1. This is a workshop. The objective is for the student to get some hands-on practice for critical tools demonstrated.
2. Students must have a laptop installed with MS Excel and work on exercises
3. It is impossible for every student to go through all the exercises in the allotted time.
4. Students are expected to go through all the exercises after class.
5. If “stuck”, students are expected to write back to the instructor(s) with questions, with the expectation that they will receive further assistance via email in 24 - 48 hrs.
Setting Expectations
Mac Users:
This class is intended for Windows users. However, Mac users may benefit from taking this class, provided they understand:
• Some features on “Windows” Excel are not available on Mac.
• Excel tools even if functionally the same, are not available in the same “menu structure”
• Screenshots provided in the handout materials are for Windows Excel only

No of Participants: Min 15 and Max 30

Workshop:

Pre-workshop Open Session (Optional): Thursday, Oct 29, 2020, from 6.00 PM CT – 7.00 PM CT

Workshop: Friday, Oct 30, 2020, from 9.00 AM CT – 6.00 PM CT

PDUs: 7 PDUs

Cancellation and No-Show Policy

If you registered for the course and later found out that you will be unable to attend it for whatever reason, please send an email to Susmita Sharma,  [email protected]  requesting to cancel your registration as early as possible. All cancellations are subject to a minimum of $30.00 fee, and you will be refunded the remainder of your registration fee within 15 days of your cancellation email. 

Cancellations after 10/12/2020 are subject to full charge to ensure the Chapter does not incur excessive expenses.

Workshop Quorum

Chapter reserves the right to cancel the class if registration is less than 15 participants by 10/12/2020. Full payment will be refunded to the registrants

Instructor:

Sutanu Ghosh, PMP, PMI-ACP, MCTS has served as a PMO as well as a hands-on PM on both SW and HW projects at many distinguished institutions in Silicon Valley for over 20 years, including Bay Networks, Symbol, Lockheed Martin, NetApp, and VMware. His passion for Project and Program Management is centered around scheduling and has taught the subject at PMI-SV, PMI-SF Bay, and SFSU for over a decade.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering, he worked for Tata Motors, which ignited his passion for “Lean.” He has an MS from Arizona State University, Tempe, in CAD/CAM, and has published on CAX tools.