So you have decided to up your game with Excel and / or Power BI this year and now ravenously looking for books to read. You have come to the right place. Here is my list of recommended best Excel books, and books on Power BI, visualization, dashboards, VBA, Macros and analytics.
Use below links to navigate the relevant section of this page:
Best Excel Books
Excel 2016 Bible by John Walkenbach
If you are new to Excel or have used it for a while, you can’t go wrong with John’s tome. This 1,100 page tome covers everything from getting started with Excel to some nifty advanced use cases. It is a good reference book to have on your desk or in the team library. Despite its size, this is an easy read.
Excel 2016 by John Walkenbach on Amazon
Microsoft Excel Data Analysis & Business Modeling by Wayne Winston
I bought Wayne’s book in 2013 (same book, for Excel 2013) to learn all about how to apply business modeling, analytics and statistical analysis techniques in Excel. This is a very practical and insightful book and a must have for anyone working in advanced analytics, reporting, modeling or optimization space.
Microsoft Excel Data Analysis & Business Modeling on Amazon
Data Smart by John Foreman
Data Smart teaches all about data science, machine learning, statistical analysis and business optimization and then shows you how to implement fancy algorigthms using Excel. I recommend this book to anyone in the space of analytics or reporting. John has excellent penmanship and wicked sense of humor. You will find it hard to put down this book. I read and re-read this book several times.
Best books on data & visualization
Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
This book is on my to-read list. Many of us are in the profession of story telling and communication. Working with data and coming up with effective storytelling is vital for our success. Storytelling with Data gives you that guidance and makes you a better professional.
Storytelling with Data on Amazon
Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few
Stephen Few’s classic book on dashboard design is what helped me become an expert in making awesome dashboards. I have the previous edition of his book and refer to it every now and then when I need some inspiration or smack on the back for going with a stupid design. Read it cover to cover and implement as much as you can.
Information Dashboard Design on Amazon
Best Power BI Books
Now things get tricky. Power BI is a rapidly evolving software. So any book on it, is bound to be outdated in a month’s time. I learned all my Power BI by experimenting, reading blogs and watching YouTube videos. That said, Power BI is not one software. It is a combination of three different tools:
- Power Query to process and clean data
- Power Pivot for modeling & analyzing data
- Power BI Visuals for creating outputs
I think parts 1 & 2 of Power BI puzzle (Power Query & Power Pivot) are the hardest things to learn. This is where books can help you tremendously. Since you will be learning the technique and language more than screen features, a book on Power Query or Power Pivot tends to have longer shelf life. So keep this in mind where reading my book recommendations.
Beginning Power BI by Dan Clark
Power BI is a new & rapidly changing technology. Hence, getting a reliable book on it is hard. Someone recommended this to me and I find the topics quite relevant and useful for a new Power BI user.
Power Pivot and Power BI by Rob Collie & Avi Singh
Rob & Avi do a good job of explaining Power BI & Power Pivot for traditional Excel users. If you are coming from Excel background and want to learn Power BI, pick up this book. Get the kindle copy as this uses eTextbook format which works very well on your tablet or PC.
Power Pivot and Power BI on Amazon
Learn to write DAX by Matt Allington
DAX can be very daunting and gnarly when you are getting started. I find Matt’s book approachable and elegant. This will help you overcome your fear for DAX and make useful calculations out of your data. Use it to take your reporting to next level.
M is for (Data) Monkey by Ken Puls & Miguel Escobar
This cheekily named guide will help you navigate the murky, unexplained waters of Power Query. That said, the book is 3 years old, so it is WAY behind times when it comes to what is new & better in Power Query. Microsoft has rapidly changed what & how of Power Query in the last 18 months and some of the techniques in the book feel outdated. Nevertheless, a good book to have. Get the kindle version, that way if Ken decides to upgrade the book, you will have new content for free.
M is for (Data) Monkey on Amazon
The Definitive Guide to DAX by Marco Russo & Alberto Ferrari
The Italians book is gold standard when it comes to writing ninja level DAX. Unfortunately, this book is not what you need if you are a beginner. Start with either Matt’s book or Rob’s book and graduate to this one. It will help you understand inner workings of DAX and make it your genie to pull of awesome magic from your data.
The Definitive Guide to DAX on Amazon
Best Excel VBA & Macros books
Excel VBA Programming for Dummies by John Walkenbach
John’s book is the must have if you want to learn VBA programming in a comprehensive, clear way. It comes with many practical exercises, tips & best practices. I have the 2010 version of this and it helped me immensely when I was learning VBA programming.
Excel VBA Programming for Dummies on Amazon
Excel 2016 Power programming by Mike Alexander & Richard Kusleika
Mike & Dick are known for their generosity and creativity in Excel space, naturally this become reflects that. It is a treasure trove of good tips, examples and code base.
Excel 2016 Power programming on Amazon
My *own* books
Hey, I am an author too. I like to toot my horn once in a while. So if you are looking for books to polish your skills, consider these two.
PS: I am in the middle of writing my first Power BI book. This will be a beginner’s guide to everything Power BI. Watch out for an announcement about this.
The VLOOKUP Book by Chandoo
Learn everything from simple vlookup to complex INDEX, MATCH combinations in one book. Don’t be fooled by the name. This one goes beyond VLOOKUP and teaches you many powerful formula techniques when it comes to looking up data.
Excel Dashboards Book by Chandoo & Jordan Goldmeir
Create powerful, insightful and effective business dashboards using this handy guide. Learn all about charting best practices, VBA driven automation and more in this book. Also learn how Power Query and Power Pivot can revolutionize your workbook’s calculation engine.
Excel Dashboards Book on Amazon
What is your favorite Excel or Power BI Book?
Of course this list won’t be complete without your recommendation. So tell me dear reader, what is your favorite Excel or Power BI book? Post your answers in the comments section.
Note about the links in this page:
I am using my Amazon affiliate links in this post when recommending the books. That means, if you click on the links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from Amazon. This has no impact on my recommendation. I have personally read most of the books and recommend them even if there is no commission involved.
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