Spreadsheet Models for Managers


Getting Access to Spreadsheet Models for Managers


If Spreadsheet Models for Managersyou use Excel to model businesses, business processes, or business transactions, this course will change your life. You’ll learn how to create tools for yourself that will amaze even you. Unrestricted use of this material is available in two ways.

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Order "Spreadsheet Models for Managers, on-line edition, one month" by credit card, for USD 69.95 each, using our secure server, and receive download instructions by return email.
Order "Spreadsheet Models for Managers, on-line edition, three months" by credit card, for USD 199.00 each, using our secure server, and receive download instructions by return email.
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Make your check payable to Chaco Canyon Consulting, for the amount indicated:
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Cambridge, MA 02138

To use the course software you’ll need some other applications, which you very probably already have. By placing your order, you’re confirming that you have the software you need, as described on this site.

Spreadsheet Models for Managers

Session 7
Managing Spreadsheet Modeling Projects
Summary of Pages

As a manager, you’re responsible for the processes people use for developing spreadsheet projects. One practice stands out as a way of making your team, group or department more effective — structured technical reviews. In this session, we’ll study the practice of technical reviews, and learn why they are so helpful to the organization, as it tries to become more sophisticated about business modeling.

Structured reviews and inspections help you find out as early as possible about any defects of design or implementation that might be present in your project. But they do more. They provide a way for your more capable people to show the rest of the organization how they do what they do. By example, and by offering constructive feedback to others, they gradually propagate their knowledge through the organization in the context of the structured technical review.

In this session, we’ll demonstrate tools that you can use to do your own reviews and inspections of spreadsheets.

Below is a summary of pages for Session 7.

  1. Review of Last Time
  2. Managing spreadsheet modeling projects
  3. Management as the art of steering a system
  4. Better management makes better models
  5. Process patterns example: driving
  6. Six cultural patterns of organizational model-making
  7. Some key process areas for spreadsheet modeling
  8. Checklist items: workbooks
  9. Checklist items: worksheets (1)
  10. Checklist items: worksheets (2)
  11. Checklist items: worksheets (3)
  12. Checklist items: worksheets (4)
  13. Reviews and inspections
  14. Output of review/inspection
  15. Roles
  16. Preparing for an inspection
  17. The main points
  18. Reference readings
  19. Preview of Next Time
  20. More general reference readings
  21. Appendix: other management practices
  22. Requirements management
  23. Project planning
  24. Project tracking and oversight
  25. Steering a modeling project
  26. Subcontract management
  27. Quality assurance
  28. Configuration management
  29. Organization process focus
  30. Organization process definition
  31. Training program
  32. Intergroup coordination

Links to other materials for Session 7.

Last Modified: Wednesday, 27-Apr-2016 04:15:26 EDT

Inspect Your Project Early

Many believe that the main benefit of spreadsheet inspections is that they locate issues so they can be fixed. Certainly they do accomplish that. But spreadsheet inspections, when performed early enough and often enough, can actually prevent problems. And preventing problems is certainly more valuable than locating them.

We hope that you’ll apply what you learn about spreadsheet inspections when you work on your projects. If you’re working in a team, review your project schedule and decide when would be advantageous times to insert an inspection or two. If you’re working alone, ask someone else who’s working alone if they would be willing to inspect your project in exchange for your inspecting theirs.

Since we don’t grade on a curve, helping someone else doesn’t hurt you. Inspection exchanges raise the quality of both projects — and both grades. Whatever you do, don’t wait until the end to do your inspections.