Excel Tips & Tricks: Go-To Resources

For a quick Excel question, the most productive go-to resource is often the person sitting next to you or down the hall. Help from a co-worker who also uses Excel is an opportunity to share different approaches and problem-solve together – you might both learn something new from the discussion!

Since there are usually multiple ways to do a single task in Excel – sometimes the best solution is the most expedient one for a one-time exercise; sometimes the best approach may be more involved to set up, but will pay dividends down the road by making a solution more sustainable for a repeating project. Either way, that colleague down the hall may very well have the Excel answer you need—and recognize the best path to take.

When you need more help, Google is often the best first option – you will find Microsoft help, YouTube videos, Blogs, Forums, etc. You may need to tweak your search terms to dial in the most appropriate answer. For general knowledge, skill building, tutorials, and ideas you may not have thought about, there are a couple of sites that you can visit or subscribe to their newsletter and blog posts:

• http://chandoo.org/wp/
• http://www.contextures.com/
• http://www.teachexcel.com/excel-tutorial/
• http://www.mrexcel.com/
• http://spreadsheetpage.com/

And as a final reminder for the AVPF team, we have started our Intermediate Excel Skills training course – feedback from the 1st session was very positive so make sure you find a time to attend.