Excelling with Excel

Excelling with Excel: Applied Workshops for Finance

This professional development initiative is led by representatives of the Culture and Commuinication Committe and targeted specifically for Finance staff. The series consists of three parts and combines online pre-class assignments with virtual live courses led by Finance leaders in three parts. The virtual live courses will utilize Finance data including payroll and financial transaction data. 

The audience for these workshops is any Finance staff member who wishes to build, add or refresh their Excel skills. Attendance in the Instructor Led sessions is strongly encouraged to receive the most benefit from the collaborative curriculum.

Part 1 is typically paired with a LinkedIn Learning module and assigned as a pre-class requirement. The pre-class assignment is a critical component of the program structure. and should always be completed before participating in Part 2. Completion of the pre-class assignment ensures an inclusive and efficient learning environment by allowing participants to enter the course with similar foundational knowledge. SuccessFactors will track completion of the LinkedIn courses for performance feedback purposes. If individuals do not have a Purdue affiliated LinkedIn account, they will need to create one. 

Part 2 will be a Teams based virtual workshop and include instructor led applied practice using prepared data with exercises based on the LinkedIn Learning module content. Sessions will include demonstrations and then opportunities for hands on practice. An evaluation deployed after this course will be used to solicit topics for the Open Forum. Attendance will be submitted to SuccessFactors. The sessions will be recorded but will not be posted in SuccessFactors.  Access can be requested through the Director of Finance Training and Communication.

Part 3 will follow shortly after Part 2 in an open forum, participant driven format designed to apply lessons learned to real world work tasks. The primary objective of this section is to allow participants to bring their own spreadsheets and tasls for collaborative discussions and application of new skills. Part 3 will not be recorded.

Course Format:

Part 1:  Pre-Class Assignment: Participants are required to complete assigned pre-class LinkedIn courses.

 Part 2:  Virtual Applied Workshop (instructor led)

• 45 minutes for examples/scenarios
• 15 minutes for questions/answers/sharing

Part 3: Virtual Open Forum (instructor led)

• 60 minutes of questions/discussion/applied practice
• Topics covered will identified through survey of Part 2 participants plus questions in the forum.

Series Resources

A LinkedIn “Excelling with Excel for the Finance Team” collection has been created in SuccessFactors. The collection will hold all of the LinkedIn courses used in this series. The collection can be bookmarked on your SuccessFactors Learning page by following the steps highlighted in this video (the video does not have sound).

As the program proceeds, check this website for updated information. Questions about the series can be submitted to the Director of Finance Training and Communication.