RACI Matrix Template in Excel

The RACI Matrix is a powerful tool to assist in the identification of roles and assigning of cross-functional responsibilities to a project deliverable or activity. The RACI  or RASCI (pronounced ‘race ski’) matrix is a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) to clarify expectations on the level of their participation. To begin using the RACI template, follow these steps:

1. Across the top row, identify who will be the project’s participants.
2. Down the first column, determine the functions, decisions, tasks and activities that will make up the process or project.
3. Simply place an R, A, C, I or any appropriate combination in each of the applicable roles for each activity. Each activity should have at least one individual accountable while there may be shared responsibilities depending on the activity.

What does RACI (or RASCI) stand for?

• Responsibility = person or role responsible for ensuring that the item is completed
• Accountable = person or role responsible for actually doing or completing the item 
• Consulted = person or role whose subject matter expertise is required in order to complete the item
• Informed = person or role that needs to be kept informed of the status of item completion 
• Supported = the roles/groups/departments that provide the resources and hence support that task 

 Download the RACI Matrix Template.xls file here

Have you ever used a RACI or RASCI matrix at your job or project?

Schedule Meeting Time Template

Having trouble finding the best time to meet with your team? Use this Excel template to find the perfect date or time for your meeting. Here’s how to use the meeting scheduler template: Enter your name in the input field, then use the drop down menu to add a check mark into the time slots you are available. If you’re not available, then leave it blank. When all the required meeting attendees enter their available times, the spreadsheet shows you the first and second best meeting times.

One thing this template will demonstrate is how to insert a check mark in Excel. Go to the top tab "Insert" then in click the "Symbol" button on the far right. A dialog box will appear and you need to select "Wingdings" from the drop down list at the top left. Scroll through the symbols until you find the check mark (wingdings: 252). If you copy and paste the check into a new sheet you may see a ü symbol instead. Simply change the font of that cell to wingdings to get the check mark back.

The next thing you’ll see by dissecting this template will show you how to use a check mark in a drop down list. Another function you can examine is how to use conditional formatting to color a cell based on the cell’s value. In this case, we want to color our cell green if it contains a check mark and red if left blank. As you can see, you will use the "ü" symbol in the formula.

Download the Easy Meeting Schedule Template.xls 

There are similar online tools to help you schedule meetings but most require a fee to unlock all the features. Instead you can use and modify this free Excel template. You could add more functionality, like adding a formula to automatically send an email once you’ve picked the meeting time.

Do you think this template will be useful to you?

Excel Quick Tips: Count Unique Values

I’ve got an extremely short but valuable Excel tip for you today: how to count the number of unique values in a range. Sometimes you need to count values in a row or column but not if they repeat. To count only the unique numbers or words in Excel, use the following formulas depending on:

If there are no blank cells:

=SUMPRODUCT(1/COUNTIF(Range, Range))

With or without blank cells:

=SUMPRODUCT((Range<>"")/COUNTIF(Range,Range&""))

Replace Range with A1:A7 for example. 

COUNTIF is probably the function you’re most used to that will count based on a given condition. SUMPRODUCT returns the sum of the product in the range.  SUMPRODUCT functions as an array formula, you just don't have to enter it as such. 

To see how this formula works step by step, click on the cell that contains the formula, then go to Formula tab, and click Evaluate Formula and you can cycle through each step in the calculation.

For more, see the index of Excel tips page.

Quick Excel Help: Date and Time Formats

I received an email from one of my readers asking a question about date and time formats in Excel and I figured I would share my answer here in case anyone else has the same question.

Question: Hi Nick, I am having trouble with Excel time date formats and was hoping you can help. I have a data field with a date time format and I want to separate this out with date in one column, time in another, & hour of the day  in another. Can you please tell me how to do this?

Answer: There are a number of date and time functions in Excel that should be helpful to you. I’m not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for but try these formulas out:

In column a: =now()

Column b: =month(a2)&”/”&DAY(A2)&”/”&YEAR(A2)

Column c: =HOUR(A2)

Column d: =minute(A2)

Column e: =Second(A2)

Column F: =TIME(C2,D2,E2)

Do you have any other suggestions for this reader’s question?

Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010

A Gantt chart template is included in my Master Project Management Template file that I give away as a free gift for joining my email list. I have a new and improved version that is a bit more user friendly and simply better to look at.

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows the tasks of a project, when each must take place, and how long each will take. As the project progresses, bars are shaded to show which tasks have been completed. People assigned to each task can also be represented. Gantt Charts are also called a Milestone Chart, Project Bar Chart, or Activity Chart.

How to Use the Gantt Chart Template

Follow the steps listed below to use the template spreadsheet:

1. Enter up to 30 tasks in the cells provided.
2. Enter the Start Date for each task and the number of days to complete it.
3. Enter the Percent Complete for each task. This is required, even if 0%.

Watch the video below to see the Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010 in action.

When to Use Gantt Chart

The list below shows the ideal time to use a Gantt chart:

• When scheduling and monitoring tasks within a project.
• When communicating plans or status of a project.
• When the steps of the project or process, their sequence and their duration are known.
• When it’s not necessary to show which tasks depend on completion of previous tasks.

This chart is very easy to use and can be quite helpful when managing a large project. Download the template by clicking the link below:

Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010.xlsx download

How often do you use Gantt Charts? I’d love hear about your experience so please let me know in the comments below.

NCAA 2015 College Football Helmet Schedule

It's hard to believe but the 2015 college football season is about to begin in less than two weeks! My Buckeyes are the defending National Champions! I never would have expected that. In fact, I said this after their second game of last season:

And the entire @bigtenconf has been eliminated from the college football playoff in week 2. #pathetic

— Nick Weisenberger (@NtwProductions) September 7, 2014

College football playoff prediction: 2 SEC teams, 1 Pac-12, 1 ACC

— Nick Weisenberger (@NtwProductions) September 7, 2014

Oops. I’m glad I was so wrong. And that’s why I love watching football – it’s unpredictable!

This 2015 college football helmet schedule in Excel includes every team from all ten conferences plus independents. Every game is listed as either home, away, or neutral site (noted at the bottom of each sheet).  A college football helmet schedule spreadsheet may be available on other websites but, to my knowledge, this is the only downloadable Excel version and unlike some of the others is 100% FREE! Download it today using the link below:

Downloadthe 2015 NCAA College Football Helmet Schedule.xls

When to use macros in Excel?

Automating tasks and process in Excel with macros can be a great way to save time and improve efficiency. But not every task requires a lengthy macro code to be written, tested, debugged, and rolled out to the entire team. There is a good time and a bad time to use macros in your everyday job. You don’t want to waste time writing a program if it is never going to be used, or if there is a simple non-macro solution. Sometimes using macros can be a little overkill, you know, like fishing with dynamite.

How do you know when you should write a macro to solve a problem and when you shouldn’t? Listed below are the cases when it is a GOOD time to implement an Excel macro solution.

• The most obvious situation to use Excel macros is to replace manual, repetitive tasks. If you find yourself doing something over and over, like copy-paste-copy-paste, you should definitely be automating that task. 
  
• If you ever think to yourself “there has to be a better way to do this” then that is a good clue that VBA macros may be the way to go. 
• Along the same line of thought is reducing the time to manage large numbers of spreadsheets. You can do batch processing with Excel macros, like converting hundreds of Excel files into PDFs, exporting data to Word or PPT, taking screenshots, or combining Excel files.
•  Macros are useful when there are large numbers of workbook users who need to reuse variants of the same spreadsheets repetitively. Instead of using a template, sometimes it makes more sense to have a macro that builds the foundations of a new workbook on the fly. 
•  A macro is a good solution if there are tasks that would be practically impossible to do manually. 
• You should use a macro if there are some tasks which you want to be very sure the user will not miss, such as a series of steps that must be executed in a certain order. Macros can be a form of quality control and are a great way to eliminate human errors. 
• Automated solutions can enhance the productivity of non-skilled Excel users. If the projects are just taking too long, maybe due to lack of proper training, you can eliminate some of that headache by using macros. 

As you can see, there are countless tasks and processes than can be made more efficient by using macros within your Excel spreadsheets. You can find some of the macros I've written on the spreadsheet downloads page.