Dinosaurs

[macmet]

As usual, I wasn't really sure which thread to put this in, but I decided on this thread...

How do you manage your spreadsheets with respect to your work? I find sheets to be a personal thing. My boss seems to want to force everyone to use his old, outdated, ugly spreadsheets. They drive me crazy. They are terrible. Often times they don't even include the calculations within the sheet. He uses the area outside the print area as a rough work area and he will type in the calculations there.

And then the layout, how he came up with those... well I think I've said enough.

Am I being unreasonable or too sensitive in doing my own? I'm not exactly just out of school and I consider this to be micromanaging. I'm in Field Service, this is more of tracking and analyzing. I'm verifying performances or making adjustments. If I can show everything is working as expected, is that not enough? Why do I have to fumble through someone's else thought process?

Anyone else been through this?

 

[MiketheEngineer]

We ALL have. I had one boss that would critque my work. I would go change it and bring it back. Invariably he would change it back to what I originally had done. That is why I NEVER - EVER toss out older versions!!!

If yours are that much better - just start using them. You will either get fired or people will switch to yours!!

 

[macmet]

Either fired or switch to mine... That is quite the range of possibilities.

One of the other FS guys uses a couple of my sheets for some of his work.

It is not just that mine are better though, it is that they are mine, so I know how they work. They are laid out how I think. My boss lays his out like he thinks.

I guess I will have to come up with a sheet on mine that will mimic his display or something like that.

 

[electricpete]

I can definitely sympathize. Your own spreadsheet is often the most intuitive to you, if for no other reason than you set it up the way that makes sense to you, and you know it inside out. If the other person was disorganized or didn't document things well, even more of a challenge

A big question to ask is why your boss had this requirement and I can tell you've started thinking about that. I can see two possible reasons:

#1 - It makes it easier for him to view the input and output (and maybe intermediate variables) in a format that he's familiar with. So he can check them.
#2 - He doesn't trust you to do that calculation

Your solution to build a spreadsheet mimicking the user interface should work well.
If #1 is the issue, you've got it covered.
If #2 is the issue, you might want to share with your boss some test cases you've done to validate your spreadsheet.

=====================================
(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[cowski]

What's the downstream use of this spreadsheet? So far, you have indicated that it is for tracking/analyzing and there are several people working in your capacity using it.

Perhaps you have a boss similar to Dilbert, and he just throws them away after you submit them. More likely, they become part of a larger summary report. How does this get created? If it is an automated process that pulls information from known locations on a sheet, rolling your own will throw a monkey wrench in the works for someone else. That someone else is either your boss or a secretary, neither of which you want to torque off.

Talk to your boss about how this sheet is used. If the spreadsheet is used in isolation, ask if you can use your version. If it is part of a larger process, ask questions & learn. If you can make a case that the process can be improved, volunteer to help the boss make it happen. If you are unable or unwilling to help, use the boss' spreadsheet and stop complaining.

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[zelgar]

Talk with your boss to see if there's a reason why his spreadsheet needs to be used. If there's a specific reason why he wants it to be used (e.g., that spreadsheet is used by another in some macro), see if you can design a new spreadsheet that would accomplish the same things.

Also, if things come down to the point where your boss tells you that you must use his spreadsheet, cheat. Use your spreadsheet, but make a macro that will copy all of the information needed to populate your bosses spreadsheet. That way, you're both happy.

 

[stevenal]

He uses the area outside the print area as a rough work area and he will type in the calculations there.

Except for the "rough" part, this sounds like the right way. Why do you want to print a bunch of intermediate steps? It's the inputs and outputs that are important. Clean up the rough stuff, but give him the printout he wants.

 

[macmet]

In terms of the rough work, I just meant there is no structure. Calculations start from scratch each time, if you need an average there is no spot to input the data and calculate it, you are to calculate it yourself or off to the side. Many of them have links that no longer work so you are given warning and such which drives me crazy.

But I think what I was really ranting about was just being forced to used these sheets and wondering if this is norm. Excel is great and updating the sheets would save us work, why force us to stick to the old style?

Like suggested, a macro may work nicely for this.

 

[electricpete]

From the context of the macro discussion I gather you're thinking about using macro to transfer values from your spreadsheet to his, and certainly will work.

One (simpler?) alternative is to set it up so the boss' spreadsheet points to one of yours.
i.e. each input cell in bosses spreadsheet is something like =macmetfile!A1 or better yet =macmetfile!DefinedName1

Then when you update your file with new inputs, give it a new name and go to Edit/links menu in boss' spreadsheet to easily change all those links to your new file in one step.

The only caution on this method... never rename your file at the same time that the boss' file is open because it will sometimes automatically change links... and for me that's disturbing (I want to change the links myself at the time I determine).

=====================================
(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[BigInch]

Find a compromise.
Maybe he doesn't like the method you use and he's trying to teach you something.
Maybe your model isn't presented as well as he likes.
Maybe he can't follow your input, or understand your output.
Maybe there are simply too much color, etc. that he finds distracting. Lord knows that I've seen some good spreadsheets, except for totally ratty presentation that essentially makes them unusable.
I've also downloaded many spreadsheets from some pretty savy XL types on this forum where the model isn't well explained, color choice is totally distracting, input is illogical, output is confusing... and maybe mine might have been the worst as well, but that's how spreadsheets are. Highly individualistic and not always suitable for "office use".

What's more important than all of that is that your company should be using standard calculation sheets, as least as much as possbile, that everyone has confidence that they are correct, understandable by all and useable by everyone that needs to use them.

Get together and work it out.

"People will work for you with blood and sweat and tears if they work for what they believe in......" - Simon Sinek

 

[macmet]

Ya, maybe I should be open minded to different style sheets. I've sent him one now and asked if we can make it the standard for one of our procedures. Saves a lot of time and its layout is based on one of his old ones. So, that's a start...

 

[StevenHPerry]

It's not stupid if it works, but your boss's opinion of what is stupid holds more weight than your opinion.

If it doesn't work, just be mindful of how you present the improvements. Some bosses have an irrational emotional attachment to their masterpiece/piece of crap spreadsheet.

From a number crunching perspective, show a case where his old sloppy format produces an incorrect result. Then when you're under the hood fixing that problem, you can massage the rest of it. If you can't talk your bos into fixing verifiable problems in the math, give up now and just start collecting pay checks while you're doing that task. Been there, it's not worth fighting.

From a usability perspective, show a case where you can improve your efficiency using the tool or a customer's efficiency in reading the result. If you can cut 2.5 hours out of a weekly recurring task, maybe spending 8 hours reconfiguring is worth it. But if you can save or make more money doing something else, your boss is justified in saying "this is how it has to be."

Or, you could do it on your own time if it really gets under your skin. Even then, some bosses still must dictate means and methods. Time to move on to another job.

- Steve Perry
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