5 EXCEL SKILLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

Project management is the process of leading a project and its assigned tasks. It involves the accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the project. A project manager is held responsible for anything related to the success and failure of the project.

5 EXCEL SKILLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS

Here are five Excel skills for project managers:

• Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are made in Excel to keep track of tasks and the days assigned to perform each task. It maintains a track of time, as in how many days a particular work is to be completed, which days multiple jobs are being performed, and so on. Based on the Gantt chart and the actual performance, standards are set for the future.

• Formulas

The managers assigned to a project could be related to cost control, production control, finances, human resource management, supply chain, or any other management field. Thus, the manager must have an in-depth knowledge of working on Excel with regard to his specialization. For example, if a manager is assigned the task of controlling cost, he must be familiar with the cost variance formula, some financial formulas, and so on.

• Project dashboards

Working on a project requires reports to be submitted on what you did, what you found, and so on. Therefore, to create attractive and good reports, a project manager must be proficient in making dashboards in Excel. There are many applications, such as Tableau, Google Sheets, Power BI, etc., where live dashboards can be made. But initially, having a knowledge and understanding of dashboards in Excel is a must.

• Time Sheets

Timesheets are again used to keep track of time. Every team member must note the time taken to accomplish tasks. Timesheets in Excel are easy to create and maintain. It helps keep a record of time that can be used in the future for scheduling, allocating work, making teams, etc.

• Creating Templates

Dashboards, Gantt charts, and timesheets are essential to project management. Every time a project is being performed, it requires all these to be created and maintained. To save time to create these again and again, it is suggested to create templates in Excel. So that every time you perform a project, you can use the templates without wasting time to create one.

Management is responsible for accomplishing tasks and goals of an organization. With the sheer motivation and dedication of every employee, nothing is impossible. Try using the five Excel skills to manage projects and see how they benefit you and your organization.