When you upgrade to Excel 2007, you and your staff may be in for quite a shock. The initial reaction of most people is: "where is everything?" Bearing this in mind, you may well find that a training course is a good investment. The training should first of all get you past the initial state of confusion caused by the fact that 2007 looks so different from previous versions. Then it should give you some guidance on the new features such as the enhancements to charting and graphics, functions and conditional formatting.
One of the first things you should look for in having training is a full explanation of how the new interface works. You should be shown the new way of working and learn useful tips and shortcuts which will enable you to become at least as productive in Excel 2007 as you were in 2003.
However, naturally, your training should not simply return you to the same level of knowledge that you had in version 2003 or 2003. On the contrary, you should be looking to get some guidance on what else the program has to offer: the new features and the enhanced features.
The number of cells in a worksheet is now about 1000 times bigger than in previous versions. If you book training, you should learn ways of taking advantage of this new space and also pick some tips on efficient navigation and management of this huge area.
Pivot tables have been considerably improved in the newer version. However, given that so many users are a bit vague on getting the best out of pivot tables, why not ask that your training on pivot tables begins with a review of fundamental pivot table concepts before moving on to look at how Excel 2007 implements pivot table features.
Charts and graphics are a great way to add impact to your Excel reports. Does your organisation use them? If so, make sure that your course incorporates gives you plenty of practice examples in using Excel 2007's new features to create and manipulate charts and graphics. You should become a dab hand at using the new charting ribbons: the format ribbon, the design ribbon and the layout ribbon. Do you need advanced features too? If so, you should also be looking to learn about pivot charts, scatter charts and adding trendlines to your charts.
Another feature that has been developed is conditional formatting. Be sure that any training you have on Excel 2007 includes some insight into the use of the powerful new conditional formatting features especially Data Bars and Color Scale.
The ability to enter formulas and functions into the cells of an Excel spreadsheet is the key feature that has made the program so essential to so many organisations. Excel 2007 has added several new features relating to functions and several new functions. You should insist that any training course you book demonstrates these new features and functions such as IfError, SumIfs and AverageIf.
One of the first things you should look for in having training is a full explanation of how the new interface works. You should be shown the new way of working and learn useful tips and shortcuts which will enable you to become at least as productive in Excel 2007 as you were in 2003.
However, naturally, your training should not simply return you to the same level of knowledge that you had in version 2003 or 2003. On the contrary, you should be looking to get some guidance on what else the program has to offer: the new features and the enhanced features.
The number of cells in a worksheet is now about 1000 times bigger than in previous versions. If you book training, you should learn ways of taking advantage of this new space and also pick some tips on efficient navigation and management of this huge area.
Pivot tables have been considerably improved in the newer version. However, given that so many users are a bit vague on getting the best out of pivot tables, why not ask that your training on pivot tables begins with a review of fundamental pivot table concepts before moving on to look at how Excel 2007 implements pivot table features.
Charts and graphics are a great way to add impact to your Excel reports. Does your organisation use them? If so, make sure that your course incorporates gives you plenty of practice examples in using Excel 2007's new features to create and manipulate charts and graphics. You should become a dab hand at using the new charting ribbons: the format ribbon, the design ribbon and the layout ribbon. Do you need advanced features too? If so, you should also be looking to learn about pivot charts, scatter charts and adding trendlines to your charts.
Another feature that has been developed is conditional formatting. Be sure that any training you have on Excel 2007 includes some insight into the use of the powerful new conditional formatting features especially Data Bars and Color Scale.
The ability to enter formulas and functions into the cells of an Excel spreadsheet is the key feature that has made the program so essential to so many organisations. Excel 2007 has added several new features relating to functions and several new functions. You should insist that any training course you book demonstrates these new features and functions such as IfError, SumIfs and AverageIf.
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You can find out more about Excel VBA training courses, visit Macresource Computer Training, a UK IT training company offering Excel VBA training courses at their central London training centre.
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