Excel Skills Training Summary Document Lessons Page

This is our 20-page Excel Skills Training Summary. It contains 13 lessons for using Excel as a diagramming tool to build Cause Maps and process maps. The lessons cover setting up Excel Overall and using Boxes and Connectors.

Each numbered lesson on the index (page 1) is a link to those specific steps.

There is a back arrow in the bottom left corner of each page that returns you to the index. Click through a few (or all) of these and practice your new skills.

Click through a few (or all) of these and practice your new skills.

As an example, Lesson 3 (shown below) is adding the Select Objects Cursor. This will place the second cursor (select objects arrow) on your toolbar so you can select and move multiple objects together.

Use the Select Objects Cursor to click anywhere on an open part of the worksheet (not on an object) to drag an envelope around the objects/boxes you want to select. Once the boxes are selected, click, and drag the border of any selected box to move the entire group around the worksheet.

Whatever is entirely inside the select objects envelope (which you click and drag to expand) will be selected. This second cursor adds a new dimension to your diagramming skills. It allows you to use Excel for data AND diagrams.

Lesson 3 - Example Page

There are four lessons with a blue border on the index. These are key for using Excel as a diagramming tool.

Lesson 3 Add the Selects Object Cursor (shown above).

Lesson 4 Move the Toolbar Below the Ribbon.

Lesson 9 Copying a Box using Ctrl Drag. This is the best copy shortcut. It works in all of Office. Also, Lesson 6 is the shortcut for copying the entire worksheet using the same Ctrl Drag shortcut. Copying the worksheet allows you to keep your 5-Why AND expand it to an 8-Why on the next worksheet.

Lesson 12 Adding the Elbow Arrow Connector. With this shortcut, you’ll learn how to customize your toolbar to add the other shortcuts you like. Also, make sure you learn how to use the Alt shortcuts with the toolbar in Lesson 13.

Experiment with these lessons and give us any feedback on how we can make them clearer. Remember, the user defines how clear the instructions are so you can help us improve these.

ThinkReliability focuses on problems and processes. As consultants, we lead and document complete investigations of specific client issues. In our Cause Mapping workshops, we teach individuals how to thoroughly investigate and prevent everything from day-to-day recurring problems to catastrophic events. Our consultants and instructors all have strong technical backgrounds with extensive practical experience from the field. We provide fundamental skills that simplify the concepts of root cause analysis, incident investigation and problem-solving. We improve the way people communicate details of what they know to discover better solutions. High reliability requires a basic understanding of problems and processes and involves both management and the people who perform the work. We start with whatever fits the client’s specific needs. That may be one problem, one group, one site or even a complete strategy to establish a reliability culture across the organization. The Cause Mapping method is an extremely effective systems-thinking approach to root cause analysis that improves the way people collect and organize information. It minimizes terminology and buzzwords by focusing on basic principles. Clear communication is required for solving problems effectively. The Cause Mapping method teaches individuals how to document information with pen and paper, using dry-erase boards, on chart paper or electronically in Microsoft Excel. The Cause Mapping method is used in a variety of industries by frontline employees and management to prevent problems and improve results.

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Excel Skills Training Summary

Lesson 3 - Example Page

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