5 Essential Excel Hacks

Introduction

Microsoft Excel is widely used for data collection and reporting purpose in almost all the industry - so much that it has become the de-facto tool in the IT industry. Managers love it, developers cherish it and the organization produces hordes of excel spread-sheets one after another. In this plethora of workbooks, one can only feel lost in the myriad formulae and cryptic calculations that make excel the most formidable yet useful tool. This article aims to explain some useful tricks to simplify the daily tasks!

Useful Formulae

1. VLOOKUP

You can use the VLOOKUP function to search the first column of a range (range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent or nonadjacent.) of cells, and then return a value from any cell on the same row of the range.

If used correctly, it can replicate database like searches using primary key lookup.

* VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

o lookup_value Required. The value to search in the first column of the table or range.

o table_array Required. The range of cells that contains the data.

o col_index_num Required. The column number in the table_array argument from which the matching value must be returned.

o range_lookup Optional. A logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match.

o If the range_lookup argument is FALSE, VLOOKUP will find only an exact match

2. COUNTIF

* COUNTIF(range, criteria)

o The COUNTIF function syntax has the following arguments:

o range Required. One or more cells to count, including numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers. Blank and text values are ignored.

o criteria Required. A number, expression, cell reference, or text string that defines which cells will be counted. For example, criteria can be expressed as 30, ">30", B4, "oranges", or "30".

3. SUM

* SUM(number1,[number2],...])

o The SUM function adds all the numbers that you specify as arguments (argument: A value that provides information to an action, an event, a method, a property, a function, or a procedure.). Each argument can be a range (range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent or nonadjacent.), a cell reference (cell reference: The set of coordinates that a cell occupies on a worksheet.

o For example, SUM(A1:A5) adds all the numbers that are contained in cells A1 through A5. For another example, SUM(A1, A3, A5) adds the numbers that are contained in cells A1, A3, and A5.

4. IF

IF function can be used for comparing a logical test and returning a value based on the true or false output of this test.

* IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])

The IF function returns one value if a condition you specify evaluates to TRUE, and another value if that condition evaluates to FALSE. For example, the formula =IF(B1>0,"Over 0","0 or less") returns "Over 0" if B1 is greater than 0, and "0 or less" if B1 is less than or equal to 0.

5.NOW

Avery useful function, NOW gives the current date and time.

This simple nifty feature can be used for ny real time calculations

o Syntax: Now()

Conclusion

Excel is full of useful formulae that can simplify things. The knowledge of these can certainly add to the arsenal of tools for any developer or a manager. Happy Excel!!

Project Management - In a Nut Shell

Introduction

Project Management is the buzzword in today's world. It started as a series of best practices to manage any project but has slowly evolved into a branch of management that specialises in the various aspects of handling a project. This article aims to explain project management in a nutshell; giving a bird's eye view from the perspective of a widely accepted framework published by the Project Management Institute [PMI] (r). This framework is published in the Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK](r).

Project

Project Management is a branch of study which is focussed on managing a project.

Hence it is important to understand what we mean by a project. A project is an individual or collaborative enterprise which creates a unique product or a result and is temporary in nature. To achieve the strategic goals, any organization identified the core objectives and creates a set of projects. The delivery of business outcomes is realized through the success of projects, and in essence that is the way that project management strategies drive organizational success.

Since a project is a collective activity, it needs to be carefully planned and managed in order to attain the desired results. The rest of this article will go through the key aspects of a project and the various areas critical to the implementation of any project.

Process Groups

A Project has to undergo certain important phases though its life cycle.

These can be grouped together in the following process groups:

* Initiating: The initiating group is involved in the authorization of the project within an organization

* Planning: During the planning phase, all the work to be done is planned

* Executing: This is the real deal where all the work planned gets done

* Monitoring and controlling: This ensures that the work is executed exactly as planned and any changes are controlled.

* Closing: The closing phase helps to document the important lessons learned for future reference.

Knowledge areas

Every project contains these key areas which need to be carefully managed so that the desired goals are achieved.

* Scope

* Time

* Cost

* Quality

* Human Resources

* Communication

* Risk

* Procurement

* Stakeholder

Conclusion

The study of project management helps a project manager to identify the key planning areas and ensure that the work is performed as planned. A successful implementation of project management practices guarantee that the organization's goals are met. In today's world of great competition, project management methodology has become more of a necessity than a luxury.

For more details of Project management, visit the website : PMI Website

Top 5 IT Project Challenges

Introduction

Information technology (IT) projects are comprised of complex, multifaceted business processes.
These can range from managing Help desks and responding to troubleshooting requests to managing a portfolio of strategic applications. Keeping these IT operations running smoothly requires significant coordination and communication.
In the pursuit of achieving the goals of a project, a team has to face a lot of challenges.
The top challenges include:
* Managing the schedule
* Resource management
* Prioritization
* Communication
* Integration and Synchronization

An inability to address these challenges can hamper IT operations and in turn lead to increased costs, delays in service delivery and inability to respond to the business demands. Hence, it is most important to understand how these issues map to key requirements.

Managing the schedule
Every project has to adhere to the agreements and demands of the business, the most important being delivering the services on time. Thus, managing the schedule is one of the major challenges every manager has to face. Since a project has an end date - or a delivery date, it is imperative that the team and the management understand the importance of planning the work. A sound planning helps in the correct delivery of the agreed services. In some cases it may be actual software or package, while in operations it might be resolution within the given Service Level Agreements [SLAs].

Resource Management
No project can be successful without the efforts of its teams. This makes managing a team a crucial factor in the success of a project and thus a major challenge as well. Handling resources involves the use of effective leadership skills to get the required work done. A majority of this role falls within the Human Resources (HR) domain which requires a good understanding of the nuances of the human needs.
Maslow's theory rightly highlights the needs of human in the following order:
* Physiological - Food, clothing, shelter: basic needs for survival
* Safety - Job satisfaction, security , stability,
* Social: Friendship, affection, and social aspects
* Self-Esteem: achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, respect from others
* Self-Actualization: realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
Understanding these needs will help in getting the most from the team.

Prioritization
In order to optimize the way organizations manage a portfolio of projects, a team needs comprehensive information about resources and projects. For example, developers might need to support multiple projects at once. How should their time be divided between those projects? The answer to that question will depend on multiple factors, including the developer's skill set, the ability to coordinate with schedules with other team members, and the availability of other resources, such as development tools and workstation.
When prioritizing, IT managers and executives also need to consider constraints and dependencies between tasks. For example, one task might be ranked low priority whereas other task may be ranked as high priority. In understanding the priority, the risk categorization of the task must be taken into account.

Communication
Communication is a major challenge that can make or break a project. Effective communication includes the use of the correct communication tools, methods and techniques.
It could be verbal, written, formal and informal and some effective communication methods can be categorized as follows:
Interactive: Phone, Meetings, Video conferences
Push: email, brochures, voicemail
Pull: Website, Bulletin board, knowledge repository
A team must balance the amount of information with the needs of the project and the recipients to determine the most appropriate method to utilize.

Integration and Synchronization
All of the above factors are ineffective unless they are integrated together. Imagine what could happen if a key change in requirements is not propagate across the planning to execution phases. This would result in an incorrect deliverable or worse client dissatisfaction. Hence integration of all the aspects of a project is critical for any project. In addition to this, the various phases must be synchronized for most effective implementation and execution of a project.

Summary
In effect, all these factors are essential for the success of any project. A project to be considered successful requires proper planning and the help from the management. Exceeding customer requirements will bring about success to the project.
Understanding the business drivers and ensuring that the project meets the objectives of the business contribute to the ultimate success.

My GMAT Experiences - Blog 1

GMAT!!

The wonderful exam that every MBA aspirant thinks of. What makes it so elusive is that one can appear for the exam whenever one wishes to. Unlike other exams, where you have a fixed day when to give the exam, the GMAT is all about flexibility and using your logic.. 

This series of posts will cover my experience in this wonderful journey of giving a GMAT test and the later business school admissions. I sincerely hope that my experiences will help the person reading this and motivate , if not scare, the general b-school seeker..  

More to come soon!!!

Inspiring Thoughts...

• We do not see things as they are..
We see things as we are
- The Talmud

• Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.
- Dr. Samuel Johnson

• Abundance is not something we acquire.
Its something we tune into.
- Wayne Dyer

• Interdependent people combine their efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.
- Stephen Covey

• What you become is far important than what you get. What you get will be influenced by what you become.
- Jim Rohn

• Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

• It is the nature of thought to find its way into action
Christian Nevell Bovee

• It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing that matters.
- Mother Teresa

Wake Up, Nik

"Trrinnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg !!!!"
The Sony Ericsson screamed loudly with the morning alarm.

My dreamy eyes fought to adjust to the morning sunshine. I desperately tried to reach it with sleepy eyes. Finally with great efforts I managed to click on the snooze button. Unwantingly, I checked the time in the alarm clock. Oh shucks!!! its 8:00 am..N its Monday morning!!!! Software engineers dread mondays like no other thing in the world...

As I composed myself and thought of it, I realized I had a meeting at 9:00 am!!! With great speed, I completed my morning formalities and got dressed up. I nearly ran towards my bike. Oh my God.. it was 8:30!! I knew I was not going to make it to office on time. With fear in my heart, I kick-started my bike. The bike heeded to my request, but only after a few kicks. As I got onto the main road, I throttled my accelerator taking it from 0 to 60 kmph in just over 30 seconds.

I raced my bike through the busy road. The traffic was bad as usual. Oh no, it was worse that day. The Pune traffic- with the colourful swarm of fancy two wheelers, smoke spewing PMT buses and erratic auto-rickshaws, was not a delightful sight. I honked at every single vehicle on the road which seemed to slow me down. No, I was not going to surrender to their games today.

Just as I was crossing the junction, a couple whizzed past me on a shiny Yamaha. The bike vanished into the crowd adding to my agony. I resented at my bachelorship. If only she had not left me....I thought.
”This is not the time for all these thoughts!”, I reminded myself.

Without thinking much, I accelerated towards my destination. There was only one thing in my mind.. Reach the office!!! On Time!!! Well, for the world, I was living a happy life. My clients sent me hate mails every alternate day and my colleagues were irritated by me. I felt as if I had the worst job! The keen sense of restlessness was growing in me with each passing day. I dint know what it was.

Today was such a day when I had woken up with that same feeling of desperation and helplessness. I wished my life was simpler. As I got involved deeper into my chain of thoughts, I started losing my sense of awareness..I felt as if I was moving towards a big black hole... N before I could realize, the reality hit me! I was speeding towards a big black truck! I slammed hard on my brakes. By a mechanical chain of events, the brake fluid created pressure on the disc brake, the disc locked into place and my wheel stopped dead in its motion. My bike skid and came to rest inches from the truck’s tyre. My eyes closed and the world turned into darkness as I fell down unconscious.

“Wake up, Nik!!” , I heard a familiar voice.
I opened my eyes slowly. And there she was, standing besides my bed- my darling wife- Lucy.
“Have you been dreaming again???” she asked.
Oh my God.. all this was just a dream????? I thought sweating profusely by the impact of the nightmare. Am I alive? Yes I really am.
I looked at my watch. I showed 7:30 am.
Thank God it’s Sunday....I exclaimed almost in excitement.
Why did I have this dream? I pondered over the whole scenario.
Maybe I was cribbing about everything I did not have in life. Had I been missing out on things that really mattered to me? Years of hapless struggle for true happiness had left me weak and fearful of my actions. Did I really wish for this life? There had to be a reason.

And then the realization dawned upon me. All these days, I had been thinking of the bad things happening to me. Things had only gotten worse. I had forgotten the today in hope of tomorrow. I had all the life I ever dreamt of- a great job, a lovely wife, a great home at a posh colony. Yet, I never spent time to enjoy the good things that life had to offer. Yet, I had given up living the moment. How could this fact fade into oblivion?

I had found the secret. It was simple.

Live today as you really wish to live. N your tomorrow will reveal its true beautiful colours.
Have I really woken up???? I guess I am....