Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,620 --> 00:00:07,030 By this time, you've gone through your checklist and you have a good idea about the dashboard that you're 2 00:00:07,030 --> 00:00:08,390 going to implement. 3 00:00:08,410 --> 00:00:13,690 The good thing about the exercise is that it makes you and your colleagues think about the main parameters 4 00:00:13,690 --> 00:00:16,290 that are important for your business. 5 00:00:16,510 --> 00:00:21,040 And as a result, it's going to help everyone understand the business better. 6 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:22,660 Your next steps: 7 00:00:22,660 --> 00:00:29,410 Draw a draft on a piece of paper because then, you're also going to see what needs to be where and how 8 00:00:29,410 --> 00:00:32,800 you're going to organize it. It can be majorly ugly. 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,480 It really doesn't matter. As long as it helps you visualize it to an extent, 10 00:00:37,540 --> 00:00:38,960 it's good enough. 11 00:00:39,150 --> 00:00:45,790 Next one, get inspired. Look for dashboards on the internet but don't put Excel dashboards in the search 12 00:00:45,790 --> 00:00:53,170 field. Instead, search for terms like professional dashboards, KPI dashboards, just anything without the 13 00:00:53,170 --> 00:00:54,610 word "Excel" in there, 14 00:00:54,610 --> 00:00:58,120 because this way is going to help you think outside the box. 15 00:00:58,990 --> 00:01:04,720 I like to get inspired by other designs and then I try to find ways to get it done in Excel. If I like 16 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:05,240 something, 17 00:01:05,260 --> 00:01:11,680 I take a screenshot and then I collect the screenshots in a Word document. Next, for each part of the 18 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:12,520 dashboard, 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,260 do you have the required parameters in your checklist? 20 00:01:16,270 --> 00:01:18,250 Is it part of your raw data? 21 00:01:18,290 --> 00:01:20,010 Are you missing anything? 22 00:01:20,110 --> 00:01:25,520 For example, you'd like to show a trend but you're only retrieving data for the current month. 23 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,510 Make sure that nothing is missing there. 24 00:01:29,470 --> 00:01:35,530 Next is that for each section of the dashboard, which Excel functions could you use to prepare the data 25 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:36,320 for it? 26 00:01:36,340 --> 00:01:39,560 Can you picture it in your head how the data is going to flow? 27 00:01:40,340 --> 00:01:45,360 Now we come to the most difficult part for me and it's to get started. 28 00:01:45,490 --> 00:01:52,160 I'm sure I'm not alone here but whenever I come to the struggle of like, should I work in the calculations first 29 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,090 or should I work in the dashboard? Should I work on the formatting? 30 00:01:55,100 --> 00:01:56,750 Where should I start? 31 00:01:56,750 --> 00:01:58,030 This is what I do. 32 00:01:58,580 --> 00:02:00,430 I time myself. 33 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,450 Then I go to the calculations page. 34 00:02:02,450 --> 00:02:03,970 At this point, it's just the blank sheet. 35 00:02:04,010 --> 00:02:10,130 And then I put in sample numbers manually and then I put in the formulas to bring the data over from 36 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:15,260 the raw data table. And then I put in a chart or a table on the dashboard page. 37 00:02:15,260 --> 00:02:20,000 But what I have to remind myself not to touch is the formatting. 38 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,530 Just leave that to the middle or to the end but never to the beginning because otherwise, you're just 39 00:02:24,530 --> 00:02:27,910 going to end up procrastinating the whole process. 40 00:02:28,220 --> 00:02:35,890 When I time myself, I say "Ok, for the next two hours, I'm going to be working on this and that's it." 41 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:39,620 And when I start, I just can't stop anymore. 42 00:02:39,620 --> 00:02:41,800 Getting started is the hardest part. 43 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,100 And I do suggest that you start from a blank sheet. 44 00:02:45,230 --> 00:02:51,920 Don't take over an old report and adjust it, really start from scratch. Start clean. Because this way, 45 00:02:51,950 --> 00:02:57,290 you make sure that there aren't any hidden names in there, any formulas, any excessive formatting and 46 00:02:57,290 --> 00:03:02,540 all that stuff in there. You are going to be in full control. All the while you're doing this, document 47 00:03:02,540 --> 00:03:05,740 your steps and also document your thoughts. 48 00:03:05,780 --> 00:03:09,290 This was your checklist for your next steps. In the next lectures, 49 00:03:09,350 --> 00:03:15,350 I'm going to give you some timesaving tips and also give you a quick overview of the optimal setup 50 00:03:15,410 --> 00:03:19,460 of your spreadsheet to create your great dashboard on. 5243