The beauty of Excel is its simplicity: If you enter your data correctly, it works. However, it can be ugly, especially when it returns a mess of formula errors, which sometimes are as understandable as Sanskrit.

We have gathered some tips that will help you root out the potential problems in formulas. If you can identify the issue quickly, then we’ve done our job. As for helping you fix it, that’s for another post.

A circular reference sends Excel into an endless loop where it will never stop calculating the cell. Excel goes around and around, never stopping to give us a final number…

1. Formula Evaluation Tool (Excel 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)

by David McQueary

If you’ve ever created a formula, you no doubt have come across a dreaded #N/A, #DIV/0 or other type of error. This can be frustrating, especially if the formula you entered is long and complex. Sometimes it is not easy to see what is causing the malfunction, and trying to read through the formula to spot the offender is not always a fruitful effort. Excel offers a Formula Evaluation tool, which assesses a formula step by step, showing each calculation and enabling you to view exactly where the error occurs. Here’s how:

Excel 2000, 2002, 2003:

1. Click Tools and move your mouse over Formula Auditing. Read more…

admin Excel, How To circular reference, formulas, software support, Worker Productivity

If you are managing the IT infrastructure, senior-level projects or are the IT leader in charge of maintaining and analyzing the majority of IT’s data points, you’re likely using Microsoft Excel every day. Read more…

admin Excel, How To charts, Excel, secondary axis

Dear Mr. CIO:

I understand we’re in a recession, and the pressure for you to prune your budget is great, but how on Earth do you expect to get the same quality IT outsourcing for less money? I didn’t major in business, but I do know that in a capitalist society, nothing is free. Didn’t they teach you that in economics 101? Read more…

admin Access, Excel, Outsourcing, ROI CIO, Help Desk, IT leaders, Outsourcing, ROI

Cue the Benny Hill music: CIO.com reports that in a recent study, researchers found that employees at large companies (10,000+ workers) spend an average of 38 minutes searching for one document, whether it’s on company networks, databases, intranets or local drives.

What a frightening, unnecessary drain on productivity.

Below are five more snags that can tie up employees for hours. Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, Excel, How To, Outlook, ROI, Time-Saving Tips, Word, Worker Productivity CIO, Computer Literacy, Help Desk, ROI

Efficiency. It’s the unofficial buzzword of 2009. It may summon fear in corporate workers; after all, it’s often heard as justification for layoffs. But that unassuming little noun can also motivate your employees, and maybe even give them renewed interest in your company. It depends on how you package it.

In a recent post on TechRepublic, Calvin Sun offers 10 tips on the subject. Here are three that warrant elaboration:

Less Imaginary Widgets, More Genuine Examples

If one of your employees is fumbling with the Access sample database “Northwind,” it’s no wonder. Read more…

admin Excel, Office 2007, Worker Productivity American Airlines, Calvin Sun, cheese, efficiency, Excel, learning, Office 2007, TechRepublic, Training, Worker Productivity

In an earlier post, I brought attention to the buzz surrounding automated software support and its possible impact on companies. Now, I want to ask an important follow-up:

Do you consider software support from a live technician a luxury in the current economy? If so, think again. Without it, your company may be inviting chaos. Read more…

admin Excel, How To, ROI, Worker Productivity automation, Excel, Help Desk, Outsourcing, recession, ROI, self-help support, software support, Worker Productivity

Forget a leisurely Sunday drive or going to a restaurant without a reservation. Today, everyone wants everything to be convenient and fast. We have drive-through everything – photos, pharmacies, weddings, and anything else you can dream of.

There’s no need to wait in line at the local Blockbuster; you can watch Netflix on demand. You can order your groceries online and have them delivered, print a boarding pass at the airport kiosk (no humans necessary!), and have your dry-cleaning delivered with just a click. Even GPS systems, which were once a luxury in cars, are becoming a standard. Have we lost our sense of direction? No, we like having a faster, more convenient way of getting there. Read more…

admin Excel, ROI, Worker Productivity Excel, Help Desk, ROI, software support, Worker Productivity