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How to change PivotTable grouping in one table without affecting another table
Tuesday, February 28th, 2017
Written by Jane Hames
This post is aimed at those who already use PivotTables (as many of my trainees do!).
PivotTable grouping is easy enough to do, but it could cause a lot of frustation if you want to change the grouping in one table without changing the way that field is grouped in another table.
The image above shows my two PivotTables and in both, the individual dates have been grouped by month, using the Group Field feature.
If I change the grouping from months to quarters in one PivotTable, it will also change in the other. This is because they are based on the same source data and therefore share the same cache.
“HOW DO I GET IT TO WORK?” I hear you cry! You just need to do this:
- Highlight the area of cells containing your second PivotTable and cut it (Ctrl X).
- Go to a new workbook and paste it in (Ctrl V).
- Change the grouping style on the second PivotTable that is now in a new workbook.
- Cut this second PivotTable again from the new workbook and paste it into the original workbook.
Both PivotTables are based on separate caches now, which means you can change the grouping in one PivotTable without affecting the other.
NOTE: This will increase the file size as we have double the amount of data due to the separate caches. As always, there are several ways to get to an end result in Excel, I find this method is very quick and easy (when you know how!).
If you or your team would benefit from being briliant at PivotTables, please do get in touch.
-->
Written by Jane Hames
This post is aimed at those who already use PivotTables (as many of my trainees do!).
PivotTable grouping is easy enough to do, but it could cause a lot of frustation if you want to change the grouping in one table without changing the way that field is grouped in another table.
Read more on How to change PivotTable grouping in one table without affecting another table…
How to get even more than training from your training!
Thursday, January 5th, 2017
Written by Jane Hames
You might be surprised how easy it can be to get much more than what is traditionally expected from your training.
Imagine that you have a training course booked in for next week. Of course, you are hoping to learn some useful information and techniques. I would expect that you also hope to feel confident that you can put these new techniques into practise when you return to work, but how could you make absolute best use of this time in the training room?
I have been an IT trainer since 1998, and every time I see a group of people get together for the training, whether they are total strangers or colleagues, if they choose to, they can get way more from the day than perhaps expected. I am not talking about the content of the training or the objectives you want to achieve in order to help you back in the work place, you can read my tips about this here:
Easy ways to prepare to get the most from your training
I am talking about what ELSE we can achieve…
Company Communications
As an IT trainer, I have found that IT training can be an ideal opportunity for basic IT communications. You need to be careful though; the start of a training course is not the ideal time to impart information of a contentious nature. Likewise, anything that would lead to discussions that would hinder rather than help the objectives to be achieved should also be avoided. Here are some examples where I have been able to help share and implement new IT information for my customers:
A new PowerPoint template – the customer gave the template ahead of the training so that I could understand and then pass it on to those attending the training. This was a great way to tell people about the new template and learn to use it at the same time. This also works well for on going PowerPoint training where the template isn’t new, but new starters or those new to software can learn to use the template from the outset.
Re-enforcing email guidelines – on many occasions, I have been able to pass on information such as inbox size, email archiving systems, attachment sizes, for internal use creating shortcuts to files rather than adding attachments in the email and so on. When you first start a job, you might receive an induction, but often there’s a lot to take in, so including this in Outlook training can save the users and the IT team lots of frustration.
IT Policy – when delivering new starter or induction training, things like IT policies can be included.
New software plans – perhaps your company is upgrading to a newer version of the software used in the very near future. Delivering training with the new version is the perfect way to ensure that users feel ready for the upgrade.
Networking opportunities
Whether it’s a public course with total strangers or a in-company course with your colleagues, a training course is a great time to get to know other people, learn from them and help them.
Getting to know colleagues – when delivering training for large organisations, I often meet people who don’t know each other or they’ve only communicated by email or phone. It’s a real morale booster to put a face to the name and build on that relationship.
Meeting new people – if you are with people from other organisations, make sure you swop business cards, arrange to meet for a coffee or just connect on LinkedIn. You might be able to help one another or pass an opportunity there way in the future.
Learning some usual information – I learn so much by being with different groups of people several times a week. As a training attendee, you can learn some very useful things from others about your own organisation or about opportunities and lots of other things going on in the world!
Career opportunities – you might meet someone within your own company who is looking to recruit a new role that you would love. Likewise outside of your company…it’s back to the old saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”
Team building – put on a course on any subject that would be useful for your team and the team building should happen naturally.
Time to reflect
Time away from your everyday tasks – this is essential for our well-being and can be very productive. When delivering IT training, I meet people who have become bogged down with their work and the methods that they have got used to. Being in the training room, often prompts new ideas and new ways of working that will be much more efficient and bring more value to them and their organisation.
Idea swaping – just the act of sitting next to someone different for the day can bring about all sorts of new ideas. With software and other processes, there can be many ways of getting to a similar end result. Maybe there’s a new method that you might prefer or some techniques that would help your training-neighbour.
Getting a well deserved break from a big office or from your home office – time out of your usual working environment can be very refreshing. Make the most of it – meet some new people, learn some new things and share some knowledge with your new friends!
-->Written by Jane Hames
You might be surprised how easy it can be to get much more than what is traditionally expected from your training.
Imagine that you have a training course booked in for next week. Of course, you are hoping to learn some useful information and techniques. I would expect that you also hope to feel confident that you can put these new techniques into practise when you return to work, but how could you make absolute best use of this time in the training room?
I have been an IT trainer since 1998, and every time I see a group of people get together for the training, whether they are total strangers or colleagues, if they choose to, they can get way more from the day than perhaps expected. I am not talking about the content of the training or the objectives you want to achieve in order to help you back in the work place, you can read my tips about this here:
Read more on How to get even more than training from your training!…
Create a recurring milestone in Microsoft Project
Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Written by Jane Hames
If you are a Microsoft Project user, you might be using recurring tasks to add monthly stakeholder events or other regular activities. It’s useful to remember that recurring tasks, don’t actually have to be tasks with durations, resources and costs.
I have found recurring tasks useful when I’ve needed to create regular reminders rather than full-on tasks. Here’s what you can do to create a recurring milestone in Microsoft Project:
- On a task table, click on the row you want to add a recurring milestone to.
- From the Task tab, click on the arrow below the task button.
- Select Recurring task.
- Add the milestone name and enter the duration as zero. Entering zero, will make it a milestone.
- Double click on an individual milestone to rename it or make other changes to that occurrence.
If you would like to learn how to build schedules and reports in Project or find out about Microsoft Office in general please do get in touch.
Written by Jane Hames
If you are a Microsoft Project user, you might be using recurring tasks to add monthly stakeholder events or other regular activities. It’s useful to remember that recurring tasks, don’t actually have to be tasks with durations, resources and costs.
Read more on Create a recurring milestone in Microsoft Project…
Excel Advanced Filter – find records with blank cells
Tuesday, September 27th, 2016
Written by Jane Hames
On an Excel course this week, I was asked how to apply an advanced filter to show records that contain some blank cells. This is something that isn’t very obvious, but if you know how to use the advanced filter in Excel, you will find it very easy! Here’s a snippet of my data which does have a couple of records which are missing some data.
I have created a criteria range below my data. I want to filter for any records which have EITHER the Customer or the Book cell blank. In the image below, you can see that I have entered the = below the customer and the book headings. (The = are on different rows to make this an OR filter).:
I am now ready to run my advanced filter as shown here:
Here are my results:
If you would like to learn how to use the Advanced Filter from scratch or just to learn more about Excel please do get in touch.
-->Written by Jane Hames
On an Excel course this week, I was asked how to apply an advanced filter to show records that contain some blank cells. This is something that isn’t very obvious, but if you know how to use the advanced filter in Excel, you will find it very easy! Here’s a snippet of my data which does have a couple of records which are missing some data.
Read more on Excel Advanced Filter – find records with blank cells…
Bored of PowerPoint Bullet Points?
Wednesday, May 11th, 2016
Written by Jane Hames
More and more, PowerPoint users want to avoid “Death By PowerPoint”. Bullet points can be overused in PowerPoint and during recent PowerPoint training we have been thining about how we could replace bullet points with something else. Most good presenters who use bullet points, just give a teaser or a summary of what they are going to talk about by adding a couple of words to a bullet point. Would you consider using images, maps, charts or some other visual indicator as an alternative? Here are a few ideas:
Use SmartArt diagrams to enhance a bulleted list:
Use maps or images instead of listing items:
Use icons and short descriptions:
Use charts and images to illustrate numbers:
If you have any other ideas, please get in touch to share them with me. Glide Training provides bespoke Powerpoint training in Sussex, London and the South. If you or your team would like to be more efficient and inventive with PowerPoint, we can help. jane@glidetraining.com 01273 956200
Written by Jane Hames
More and more, PowerPoint users want to avoid “Death By PowerPoint”. Bullet points can be overused in PowerPoint and during recent PowerPoint training we have been thining about how we could replace bullet points with something else. Most good presenters who use bullet points, just give a teaser or a summary of what they are going to talk about by adding a couple of words to a bullet point. Would you consider using images, maps, charts or some other visual indicator as an alternative? Here are a few ideas:
Read more on Bored of PowerPoint Bullet Points?…
Improve your Excel skills with Emotional Intelligence
Monday, February 15th, 2016
Written by Fiona Doran-Smith
You may be surprised to even see Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Excel used in the same sentence. You might be wondering what on earth one has to do with the other. Well, read on and discover how using your EI can help you to be more effective in Excel.
As described by the originators of the theory, Jack Mayer and Peter Salovey, EI is “the ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate emotions to promote personal growth”. The part that’s particularly helpful for us in the context of Excel is the second part; integrating emotion to facilitate thought, sometimes referred to as Using Emotion.
This second area of the psychological theory refers to the fact that emotion affects thinking. Many studies in Psychology and Neuroscience have confirmed this. Contrary to popular belief that doesn’t mean that they inhibit it, it’s quite the opposite – emotions can help us to be more effective. More effective in creating an Excel spreadsheet, a PowerPoint presentation or a mind-map in Visio. In short, emotions help us make better decisions and if we use them effectively they make us more effective in anything we do.
So how can this help you to improve your Excel skills? Firstly you need to know that certain moods are suitable for certain tasks. It’s called Mood Task Match. Research shows that positive moods are useful for creative thinking. It’s helpful to feel happy when doing things where you need to think big picture and come up with ideas. For example brainstorming new product ideas. On the other hand negative moods, also called avoid moods, are useful for more analytical thinking. One such study showed that doctors reading x-rays were more accurate when they were in a negative mood. When they were in a positive mood they missed things. So, negative mood such as mild annoyance or anxiety will help you to focus on detail, be more analytical and notice errors. For example – checking an Excel database of customer details.
So next time you’re about to open up Excel aim to be proactive with Mood Task Match. Ask yourself “What mood am I in?” And “Is it useful for the task that I’m about to do? You then have 2 choices; change the mood or change the task. Some people are better at switching moods than others. If you don’t find it so easy to switch moods you can either choose a more suitable task or consciously change your mood.
Useful ways to generate a positive mood are:
- Put some headphones in and listen to your favourite piece of music for a few minutes.
- Go for a short walk. Just a 10 minute stroll around the block can improve your mood immensely
Useful ways to generate a negative mood are:
- It may be that you find just the though of completing an excel spreadsheet is enough to make you feel in a bad mood! If so, just get started and if you’re undistracted you should be able to get the focus you require
- You don’t want to feel too negative (on a scale of 1-10, no more than 5 should do it) but you could briefly note down 1 to 3 challenges you’re having at the moment
So there you have it, emotional intelligence can help you to be more effective with Excel!
You can receive access to more free resources such as our E-Guide series on how emotional intelligence can help you overcome other everyday challenges like difficulty saying no and procrastination. Use code BGT1 and sign up here: www.yellowtreewellbeing.com/hello
Fiona Doran-Smith is an ILM Level 7 Executive Coach, an Emotional Intelligence (EI) specialist qualified to administer and interpret the MSCEIT (EI test) and a qualified Trainer and Facilitator. She’s specialised in the field of personal development for over 12 years and has substantial experience helping organisations to develop their people. For more information, you can visit the Rise website here: http://www.riseld.co.uk/
-->Written by Fiona Doran-Smith
You may be surprised to even see Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Excel used in the same sentence. You might be wondering what on earth one has to do with the other. Well, read on and discover how using your EI can help you to be more effective in Excel.
As described by the originators of the theory, Jack Mayer and Peter Salovey, EI is “the ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate emotions to promote personal growth”. The part that’s particularly helpful for us in the context of Excel is the second part; integrating emotion to facilitate thought, sometimes referred to as Using Emotion.
Read more on Improve your Excel skills with Emotional Intelligence…
Excel Vlookup using TRUE
Monday, September 28th, 2015
Written by Jane Hames
This guide is aimed at Excel users who can already use the VLookup function and want to learn more about it. This is how to use the Excel Vlookup using TRUE
If you use a VLookup, the chances are you will use FALSE as the Range Lookup finding an exact match for the Lookup Value in the first column of your Table Array. I often get asked when you would use TRUE as your Range Lookup and this is good question as it’s not used half as often as FALSE.
Last week I was able help one of my Excel course delegates to solve a problem she had, and the solution to the problem was to use a Vlookup with TRUE. I wanted to share what we did with my readers and followers as it might give you some good ideas of things you could do with your own work. All data in the guide below is fictional, but based on the real world scenario:
The scenario I was given, is that as shown in the image below, there are a list of date ranges with different exchange rates for different date ranges.
We wanted to ensure that the correct exchange rate was used to calculate the payment amount in Euros as shown in the image below:
In order to do this, I used a Vlookup to pick up the correct exchange rate for the specified payment date. This payment date would need to sit in one of the date ranges listed. This is what we used to do this calculation:
LOOKUP_VALUE: The payment date 
TABLE_ARRAY: The table which shows the date ranges listed in ascending order (the Date From in the first column of the table_array is what Excel will use). The exchange rate is in the third column of the table_array.:
COL_INDEX_NUMBER: 3 This is the column in the table_array that contains the exchange rate we are looking for.
RANGE_LOOKUP: TRUE This ensures that Excel will look at the earliest date in the list that is close to the payment date (our lookup_value).
This what the formula looks like at the end:
Note that the payment date is shown as its reference number rather than the date. This is because I have selected SHOW FORMULAS in order to show you the formulae on the sheet. I then copied the formula down so that I have ended up with this end result:
If you would like help with the Vlookup or other functions in Excel, please get in touch.
-->Written by Jane Hames
This guide is aimed at Excel users who can already use the VLookup function and want to learn more about it. This is how to use the Excel Vlookup using TRUE
If you use a VLookup, the chances are you will use FALSE as the Range Lookup finding an exact match for the Lookup Value in the first column of your Table Array. I often get asked when you would use TRUE as your Range Lookup and this is good question as it’s not used half as often as FALSE.
Read more on Excel Vlookup using TRUE…
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Our trainers have designed and delivered IT training for a wide range of organisations and people including accountants, lawyers, data analysts, sales consultants and buyers. Clients benefit from our our ability to find creative solutions to their problems based on many years of experience.
