As part of Speedy Spreadsheet Week, I have emailed a few renowned Excel experts and asked them to share their tips & ideas to speedup Excel. Today, I am glad to present a collection of the tips shared by them.
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Hui
About Hui:
Hui (Ian Huitson) has been writing & contributing to Chandoo.org for more than 2 years. Many of you know him from Formula Forensics & Data table related articles on Chandoo.org. See about Hui page for more about him.
In no particular order:
- Minimize the use of Volatile Functions
- Organize your workbook layout and data methodically
- Where possible use fixed values or Named formulas instead of lookups even if the values only change rarely, flag those for manual checking
- Don’t Start equations with a + that actually adds 0.4% calculation time
- Minimize use of the Data Table command to running summaries only at the end of a project
- Review the logic of the model and all if’s or lookup choices for necessity or alternatives
- Use negatives instead of multiple positives where appropriate in conjunction with If’s and Lookups
- Learn about Conjunctive Truth Tables, they Rock for reporting
- Array formulas can do the work of dozens of normal cells, but use cautiously
- Use Named Formulas and UDF’s instead of multiple Helper Cells/Rows or Columns
- Minimize of us Conditional Formatting
- Minimize use of linked workbooks especially if over network drives
- Take an advanced Excel course like the ExcelHero Academy
- Minimize the use of Excel 2007
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by George
About George:
George runs Excel Unusual, where you can learn about using Excel for engineering, simulations & games. In his work, he builds complex spreadsheet models all the time. So I asked him to share a few tactics with us. He wrote 2 articles in response to my request.
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Gregory
About George:
Gregory runs Excel Semipro, where he shares Excel tips & ideas. I asked him to contribute to the Speedy Spreadsheet Week. This is what he says,
Tips by George:
To speed up my worksheet files, I have one primary rule: do not use the OFFSET function, which is volatile and can slow things down considerably. In newer spreadsheets I use Tables and The imposing INDEX function to keep ranges automatically updated. In Excel 2003 I use an event-based approach, with named ranges, the worksheet deactivate module, and VBA to keep lists and ranges updated.
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Luke
About Luke:
Luke is one of the Excel Ninjas at Chandoo.org where he contributed more than 1000 posts. I asked Luke to share some optimization tips based on his vast experience of using Excel & helping others. This is what he suggests:
- In VB, whenever I see a line like Selection.something that’s usually an indicator that I’m using extra lines. Either I need to apply the method directly to the object instead of selecting it, or I need to use a With statement.
- With Event macros, don’t forget the all-important lines of Application.EnableEvents = False and Application.EnableEvents = True so that you don’t cause multiple events to be triggered.
- See a section of code that you’re repeating? Probably need to make this a separate Sub or Function that you can then reference from the main code.
- When building your formula page, think top-down. Cells near the top of worksheet should be referenced in formulas that are below, not vice-versa. XL likes to calculate left to right, top to bottom. Scattering cell references around makes it work harder.
- When using large amounts of data that you want to be charted, sometimes I’ll build a formula sheet within the workbook with data, and then just build another workbook that uses a data query (referencing the formula results) to generate the charts.
- This might be more along the lines of auditing a worksheet, but sometimes it’s hard to see how I’ve laid out my constants and formulas, and using a worksheet map helps bring things into focus (related: create a worksheet map)
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Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Narayan
About Narayan:
Narayan is one of the Excel Ninjas at Chandoo.org where he contributed more than 1000 posts. I asked Narayan to share some optimization tips based on his vast experience of using Excel & helping others. This is what he suggests:
Period-to-Date and Cumulative SUMs
There are two methods of doing period-to-date or cumulative SUMs. Suppose the numbers that you want to cumulatively SUM are in column A, and you want column B to contain the cumulative sum; you can do either of the following:
You can create a formula in column B such as =SUM($A$1:$A2) and drag it down as far as you need. The beginning cell of the SUM is anchored in A1, but because the finishing cell has a relative row reference, it automatically increases for each row.
You can create a formula such as =$A1 in cell B1 and =$B1+$A2 in B2 and drag it down as far as you need. This calculates the cumulative cell by adding this row’s number to the previous cumulative SUM.
For 1,000 rows, the first method makes Excel do about 500,000 calculations, but the second method makes Excel do only about 2,000 calculations.
Subtotals
Use the SUBTOTAL function to SUM filtered lists. The SUBTOTAL function is useful because, unlike SUM, it ignores the following:
Hidden rows that result from filtering a list. Starting in Excel 2003, you can also make SUBTOTAL ignore all hidden rows, not just filtered rows.
Other SUBTOTAL functions.
Using SUMPRODUCT to Multiply and Add Ranges and Arrays.
In cases like weighted average calculations, where you need to multiply a range of numbers by another range of numbers and sum the results, using the comma syntax for SUMPRODUCT can be 20 to 25 percent faster than an array-entered SUM.
{=SUM($D$2:$D$10301*$E$2:$E$10301)}
=SUMPRODUCT($D$2:$D$10301*$E$2:$E$10301)
=SUMPRODUCT($D$2:$D$10301,$E$2:$E$10301)
These three formulas all produce the same result, but the third formula, which uses the comma syntax for SUMPRODUCT, takes only about 77 percent of the time to calculate that the other two formulas need.
Dynamic Ranges
These are most often created using the OFFSET and COUNTA functions , as in the following :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
Sometimes , when data is stored in the form of records , so that all columns have data to the same extent , there may be several dynamic ranges ; say we have ORDER_ID in column A , CUSTOMER_ID in column B , and the AMOUNT in column C. Thus there may be several dynamic ranges as follows :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$B:$B)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$C:$C)-1,1)
These can be simplified to :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
These can then be optimized by storing the COUNTA value in a cell , and using the cell reference within the OFFSET formula :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,Sheet1!$F$1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0, Sheet1!$F$1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0, Sheet1!$F$1,1)
Where Sheet1!$F$1 contains the formula : =COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1
For more, refer to MSDN.
Resetting the USED RANGE
Pressing CTRL END will take the cursor and place it on the cell which Excel thinks is the last used cell in the worksheet.
Suppose you do this , and the cursor lands on D27 ; now navigate to any cell which is as far away as you can imagine , say AA3456 ; enter any character , even a space will do ; then clear the cell contents by pressing the DEL key.
Pressing CTRL END will now take the cursor to AA3456.
To reset the USED RANGE , go to the Immediate Window of the VBA Project , and enter the following statement :
Application.ActiveSheet.UsedRange
Your used range should now be reset to its earlier value of D27 ; pressing CTRL END will now take the cursor to D27.
Refer to this Stackoverflow discussion for more.
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Jordan
About Jordan:
Jordan runs Option Explicit, an Excel VBA blog. He shared these tips with us,
- When reading and writing to ranges, use .value2 (this is noticeable for large, iterative calculations)
- Ensure that ALL spreadsheet errors are handled. The most common errors I see ignored are #Ref errors and #Div (for dividing by zero). Use Go To Special… to find these errors and either delete them or use IFERROR to handle them. In my opinion, Excel errors are one of the biggest contributing factors to slow spreadsheets.
- When using INDEX, include the row or column number even if you don’t need it. For example, if I’m pulling data from only one column, I need only write =INDEX(A1:A10, 1) to pull the first item. However, =INDEX(A1:A10, 1, 1) appears to be a hair faster. Try it.
- Cut down on Lookup functions. In many instances, the lookup table has already encoded information in the correct order. Instead of looking up, say, Stage 2, just use INDEX on the desired column and pull from row 2.
Thanks to Hui, George, Gregory, Luke, Narayan & Jordan
Many thanks to all of you for sharing these ideas & tips so that we can speed up Excel. If you found these tips useful, say thanks to the contributors.
More on Excel Optimization & Speeding up:
Read these articles too,
- Optimization & Speeding-up Tips for Excel Formulas
- Charting & Formatting Tips to Optimize & Speed up Excel
- Optimization Tips & Techniques for Excel VBA & Macros
- Excel Optimization tips submitted by our readers
Want to become better in Excel? Join Chandoo.org courses
Excel SchoolLearn Excel from basics to advanced level. Create awesome reports, dashboards & workbooks. |
VBA ClassesLearn VBA & Macros step-by-step. Build complex workbooks, automate boring tasks and do awesome stuff. |
28 Responses to “Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools using Excel [Part 2 of 6]”
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Part 3: Preparing a project time line [upcoming] Part 4: Time sheets and Resource management [...]
the templates are great (I bought the combo).
What I'm missing is a way to have the project gantt chart and reporting with the data per resource, in such a way that I can also show the occupation per resource on an extended gantt chart.
So with hours entered per person per project or sub-activity, to show a gantt chart of how many hours/days a person spent on which project (or plans to spend).
[...] from: Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools using Excel [Part 2 of 6] 25 Jun 09 | [...]
Hi Chandoo,
Funny I have a post on the value of MS project lined up which I will post when the current monster project I'm working on finishes and I get some free time!
I'm not sure this would help with any of the projects I've worked on, closing down a to do list seems like more effort than it's worth, but it might be useful for some things. I guessing it doesn't, but does the time stamp not update when you recalculate the work book?
keep up the good work!
Ross
@Ross.. Thanks for sharing your ideas... I think to do lists are a great way to keep up with project activities and ensure accountability from individual team members, when they are implemented right.
"I guessing it doesn’t, but does the time stamp not update when you recalculate the work book?"
Your guess is right. When you change the calculation mode to "iterative", excel takes care of the nittygritties and retains older values in circular references in formulas.
[...] Project Management in Excel [New Series] - Gantt Charts | To Do Lists [...]
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting - Create a Timeline to display milestones Part 4: Time sheets and Resource [...]
Hi Chandoo,
The template give me lot of convenience to monitor the thing to do. It simple. Thank You
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists - Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting - Create a Timeline to display milestones Part 4: Time sheets and Resource [...]
[...] make sure you have read the first 4 parts of the series - Making gantt charts [project planning], team todo lists [project tracking], project time lines chart [reporting] and Timesheets and Resource Management using Excel. Also [...]
Chandoo,
I really do not see any befit to this function in Excel unless it was somehow tied into some other chart. That is say a scheduled activities % complete is based on the to-do list.
The only way this chart would be useful is if no one was assigned none dependent task that could be done by anyone. The cases were both of these conditions are true are so few and far between it really makes this chart worthless.
@Brian... Once you have a todo list up and running, it is easy to get metrics out of it. I didnt propose it as it might look a bit too micro-management-ish.
I am able to understand what you meant by "The only way this chart would be useful is if no one was assigned none dependent task that could be done by anyone. The cases were both of these conditions are true are so few and far between it really makes this chart worthless."
Can you explain?
"Chandoo"
What I mean is this. Lets say you have 10 task which are part of one activity/WBS that is in your schedule. One there are very few cases were many people would be assigned to complete this one scheduled activity with no direction being given who should what of the 10 task. It is poor management, and the task 90% of the time would not get done in a timely manner if say 4 people were responsible. Secondly, you are assuming all 10 task are independent of each other. You might need to do task 1 thru 3 before you can do task 4, and to do task 7 you might need to do 4 and 6. Thirdly, the time it would take to compile and then fill out the to-do-list even in limited applications is really not worth it.
I just see almost no applications why a team would need to inform others separate from the schedule that they have completed a task on a to-do list unless anyone of the 4 people could of completed that task.
My point is, there might be a few very limited applications for this type of list but this list would be worthless as a Project Management tool in every other case.
However, change this from a to-do-list to a document change log and it is perfect. Instead of to-do it is the documents name or summary of what changed in the document. The person is who edited the document, and the time stamp is when they checked it in. But I do not know why you would use excel when there is free software you can use commercially that is 10 times better that does document management.
I think using excel to do Project Management over a real Project Management application is a bad idea. Unless you are running a very small, simple project, the time and effort is a lot more to use excel compared to the cost of the Project Management software.
This comes back to my point, I love your site, however, just because you can do something in excel does not mean you should do it. To often the time it takes to use excel is wasted 10 times over from the cost of doing it in an application designed to for the specific application.
@Brian: The todo list mentioned here is meant to keep track of all the tasks for which detailed planning is not necessary but some sort of tracking is needed. These are not be confused with project activities (a la gantt chart).
I like your suggestion about using this as a document tracker. Pretty cool use.
Coming to your point about excel as a real project management tool, well, I have my views, but in a serious project environment, it would surely payoff to have a dedicated project management application.
[...] & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools Project Status Reporting – Create a Timeline to display milestones Time sheets and Resource [...]
Chandoo,
Wonder how the timestamp column will maintain its previous data. Both Today() and Now() functions will update as and when the next timestamp happens.
[...] Preparing & tracking a project plan using Gantt Charts Part2: Team To Do Lists – Project Tracking Tools Part3: Project Status Reporting – Create a Timeline to display milestones Part4: Time sheets and [...]
I've combined this with the issue tracker since I like the automatic date stamp, but one thing I'm noticing is that I can't replicate the chart that goes along with the issue tracker because the cells that are referenced have the formula that inserts the time stamp instead of a the actual date value. All the dates of the last 30 days display 0 when they should have a value.
Is there a way around this?
I have edited the chart so that my team members can update the percentage completion of the assigned tasks. When the cell is updated, i would like the time stamp to update. How would I manipulate the formula to update whenever the drop-down list is changed?
[...] … ??? To Do List [...]
Excel is great however sometimes you need to get a better idea of what tasks each person on your team is working on at any given time. We've developed a web app that can do just that! Each person has a list of tasks, listed in the order they have to complete them.
HII,
I want to expand the database through excel where i am working on 11 cities as of now and i want to expand it upto 50 cities and hence forth the data related to it will also expand so i want to make it precise where i can get updates also that this work is required to be done at that particular day or date
Thanks for making all of this information available for free. I am currently using excel to track everything for the first time. I later plan to output our information here with a more visual presentation. Wish me luck!
Can some one point me out to some additional direction on the "Who Finished it?" column? Something more 'basic' for a newbie excel guy? lol I got everything else working on this tutorial but that column. I can't seem to recreate it and I know a lot of it is due to lack of knowledge with VB code. I'd like to recreate this column very much 🙁
Dear Chandoo,
Thanks for the team to do list, kindly let me know how to set the column who " finished it " from another work sheet
Hi Chandoo,
Unable to download it - can you please check the link and confirm.
Great inhisgt! That's the answer we've been looking for.
Hi Team,
I know u all are the best programmers in the world!!! that's I am here to rectify my issues. here is my question please ans me as soon as possible before 8-3-2017 its really urgent.
I have a project named the production tracker.
1) I require the user form which shows the names of the Associates which are linked to the different tracks. when the user is selected the particular track related details and dropdowns should appear.
2) I need to track the associate needs how much of the time to complete the particular task. with start stop and pause and resume timer.
3) It should display the daily count of the production and save the data to the another Excel file.
this production tracker should save all the data no matter how many people logs in into it.
Please help me for this it will be very appreciated.
you can directly email me on my mail ID: tusharkch694@gmail.com