Microsoft Excel is one of the most important workplace applications that help to organise the business system. This tool is widely used in business practices, classwork and even personal data organisation.
The Financial Express has launched a series of workshops on different important soft skills. "Excel: A key to managing professional work," was the topic of discussion for 'FE skills series: Episode 1'- held online successfully in recent time. This session was inaugurated by the Editor of the Financial Express Shah Husain Imam. He delivered a brief insightful speech about the massive changes that the workplaces have witnessed, which made skills even more necessary than ever. "Just like we inhale oxygen, we need skills to be successful in professional life," he added. Muhammad Sadid Uddin hosted the session with the guest speaker Ms Syeda Nishat Naila, lead--strategic growth partnership at Sheba Platform Limited and trainer Ms Nahmida Pingky, a marketing professional at a multinational company.
Miss Naila shared her experience regarding Excel and explained how important it is to acquire this skill before entering the professional world. She mentioned, "Everything is number driven when we enter the professional world. And when it is about numbers, Excel is inevitable." She also mentioned an important issue from her own experience, regarding students who usually do not really realise the need for Excel and tend to put that aside. She too felt the same during her student life until she entered the workplace.
"How good are you at Excel?"- is a very common and generic question in any interview today, said Ms Naila from her professional experience. This tool contributes to a great extent regarding success in the workplace, especially for those in managerial positions-- where accurate data analysis for growth and strategies are essential. Interpreting work data and bringing number based solutions and presentations become easier with Excel.
After the discussion part by Ms Naila ended, which included the importance of learning Excel and its professional implementation, the skill training part began with Ms Pingky. She designed the workshop to introduce some very basic but important usage of Microsoft Excel to strengthen the foundation of the learners. It was divided into two segments--the first one consisting of VLOOKUP, Hlookup, Sumif and subtotal with relevant exercises which was done by the campus ambassadors of the Financial Express from different universities across the country. The second segment consisted of data analysis and representation of tables, graphs and charts. Ms Nahmida also mentioned how Excel took a key role in her eight years of work life and said,
"Today's youths are growth driven, hence, Excel is a crucial tool for them to manage things properly both in the workplace and academics." She further explained how continuous practice is the only way of harnessing this skill.
At the end of the workshop and interactive training session, there was a Q/A section where the campus ambassadors directly participated through Zoom, while the viewers put their questions on the comment box. Nahid Khan, a student from the North South University, questioned Ms Naila about macros in Excel and how relevant it is in the workplace; to this she explained that macros is a heavy duty Excel work which is not necessary in everyday work. Humaira Afreen asked how to incorporate Excel spreadsheet practices in academic life as it is often left aside due to ease in other tools. To this, both the guest speaker and trainer jointly advised the young professionals and students to use online platforms such as Coursera, Google Garage and DataCamp to practice the files available in those platforms to learn and brush up Excel skills.
It cannot be emphasised enough how significant of a role Microsoft Excel plays in work-life and for young professionals. This skill is not only limited to financial figures; marketing professionals generate marketing strategies based on sales forces and financial analysis; HR professionals use the spreadsheet to store employee data and understand how to plan and control the costs for future. Microsoft Excel has proven to be an integral part of day-to-day business activities around the world. Learning it is quintessential.
The writer is a business student at
North South University. She can be reached at [email protected]
