My Strategy for Automating Complex Excel Processes

0:00in this video I'm going to share the

0:01three strategies I use for automating in

0:04tasks in Excel

0:05[Music]

0:13hey there it's John I'll comport from

0:15Excel campus and in this video I'm going

0:17to share these strategies I use when

0:19automating any complex tasks in Excel so

0:22this could be a weekly dashboard report

0:24we have to download a bunch of data and

0:25format it and then update the dashboards

0:28and pivot tables and all that kind of

0:29stuff or maybe a monthly process you do

0:31for a PowerPoint presentation where

0:33you're copying data from Excel over to

0:35PowerPoint and updating a bunch of stuff

0:37and things like that and distributing it

0:39to other users

0:40whatever that complex process is that

0:43you do of course we want to try and

0:44automate that so we can not only save

0:46time with our job but also find new

0:49opportunities in our career so the first

0:52step is to start small of course your

0:54task or your project might have a ton of

0:56steps we have 30 steps listed out and

0:59you have to follow those every single

1:00week or every single month

1:01to complete this process and you want to

1:04start small just pick one of those steps

1:06to automate first you're trying to

1:08automate all of them at one time this is

1:10going to be a huge project it's gonna

1:12feel very complex and overwhelming like

1:14a huge mountain to climb and you might

1:16just get frustrated and it's quit before

1:19you even begin because there's so much

1:21to do so my suggestion is to start small

1:24just pick one of those steps and

1:26automate it first so then the question

1:28becomes well which step should I start

1:31with is it the first step or which step

1:32should I start automating first so that

1:35leads to the second suggestion which is

1:37relieve the pain

1:38when we're trying to determine which

1:40step we want to start with we want to

1:42start with the most painful step first

1:44so what does that mean well this could

1:46be the step in the process that causes

1:48the most errors maybe it's the one

1:49that's just boring and that you hate

1:51whatever step that is you'll typically

1:54know which one this is because you might

1:55just be falling asleep at your desk

1:57while you're doing it or maybe it

1:59requires an extra cup of coffee or

2:00something like that whatever this step

2:02is you want to start with that one first

2:04that'll give you a quick win it gets

2:06that step out of the way the one you

2:08don't like and all of a sudden the task

2:10or the project will become a little bit

2:12more enjoyable so start by relieving

2:14that pain first and that leads to the

2:18third step which is publish and improve

2:21so before you go onto automating the

2:23next step in the list publish that step

2:26get it out into the open if you have

2:27other users using this task or your

2:29Excel files or that are involved in this

2:32project have them start using this step

2:34as well and testing out your automation

2:37and then gather feedback on it and

2:39improve it and then once you do that you

2:41can start automating the rest of the

2:43steps so this will not only help you

2:46automate things quickly and get that

2:48quick win out there but it will also get

2:50your users and your boss involved in

2:53this process and they will be able to

2:54see kind of that evolution of the

2:57automation and once they're involved in

2:59it they will appreciate it more so this

3:01actually adds some intrinsic value to

3:04your process in this the work you're

3:06doing to automate things when you get

3:07others involved gather their feedback

3:10maybe they have some suggestions on how

3:12to make it better you can implement

3:14their suggestions as well they'll be

3:15super excited about that trust me I'm

3:18speaking from experience here so I know

3:20how this goes so if you just publish and

3:22improve step by step before you know it

3:25you'll have the whole thing automated

3:27and you'll also have other people

3:29involved with this so it'll be much

3:30easier to hand off this process to

3:33someone else

3:33have someone else maintain it and do

3:35this process every week or every month

3:37whatever it is and that opens you up for

3:40other opportunities to work on bigger

3:42and more important projects so there are

3:45the three steps to automating any

3:47project in Excel

3:48first of all start small second relieve

3:51the pain and third publish and improve

3:55and before you know it you'll have tasks

3:57and projects fully automated and you'll

3:59be well on your way to finding new

4:00opportunities bigger projects and more

4:02fun stuff to work on at your job so

4:05there we kind of cover the high level of

4:07how to do this but you may now might be

4:09wondering well which tools do I use to

4:11actually automate processes in Excel

4:14well good news this week I'm running my

4:16free webinar on the 7 steps to getting

4:19started with macros and VBA so during

4:22this training you're going to learn

4:23everything you need to know to get

4:24started automating Excel with VBA

4:27whether you're brand new to VBA maybe

4:29been using the macro recorder and kind

4:31of fumbling through that copying code

4:32off the web or even if you've been

4:34writing macros for a while now this

4:36training will absolutely

4:38help you during the training we're going

4:39to write our first macro I'm going to

4:42explain what order the code runs in what

4:44the dots between the words mean what

4:46properties and methods are and some of

4:48these complex things that we need to

4:50know when we're starting out with VBA

4:52we'll also talk about the for next loop

4:54which is a fantastically powerful tool

4:57in VBA to help automate some of those

4:59repetitive tasks that we find ourselves

5:01doing over and over again in Excel so

5:04you're going to learn a ton and again

5:05that training is going on this week only

5:08in multiple days and times per week or

5:11per day I should say multiple times per

5:12day and I'll put a link right below the

5:15video here to the registration page

5:16where you can register and get signed up

5:18we'll probably put one up here or up

5:20here somewhere in the video too so click

5:22that link jump over to the registration

5:24page and get signed up and then one

5:26other thing I'd like you to leave a

5:28comment below with any additional

5:30suggestions you have for automating

5:32tasks maybe something I missed there or

5:34some other suggestion or tip you have

5:36when you start automating a project in

5:39Excel so leave that comment below get

5:41registered for the webinar I look

5:43forward to seeing you there thanks again

5:45for watching and I'll see you soon

5:47bye

5:52[Applause]

5:53[Music]

5:55[Applause]