Introduction to Dashboards in Excel

Presenter(s):    Craig Abbey (University at Buffalo)
Location:           Ryan Center 

Description:
This workshop features various types of dashboards, includes instructions about how to create dashboards with high-quality graphs in Excel, and how to customize output to highlight the meaning of the data. Topics covered include creating and formatting charts for time-series, ranking, part-to-whole, deviation, and nominal comparison relationships. Participants will learn how to use Excel formatting features to design and lay out their dashboard. 

Participants in this workshop will
(1) learn how to lay out various types of dashboards in Excel,
(2) learn how to create high quality graphs for use in a dashboard,
(3) learn when and how to change graph scaling, grid lines, and data labels, (4) learn how to use colors to emphasize and highlight data series and data points, and (5) learn how to use combo boxes to handle reporting of multiple departments or schools. 

Attendees will participate in several hands on exercises to create high quality graphs and design and layout dashboards.

Audience:     All experience levels

Requirements:  Participants are required to bring a laptop with Microsoft 2013 or later, and some basic familiarity with Excel.

Agenda:      

• Theory and Examples
• Time Series Charts
• Distribution Charts
• Categorical Charts
• Ranking Charts
• Creating a Simple Dashboard
• Combo Boxes
• More Advanced Layouts