In today’s data-driven world, businesses need more than just raw numbers—they need insights. That’s exactly what this week’s session focused on: how to transform scattered data into meaningful dashboards, KPIs, and reports using tools like SharePoint, Excel, Power BI, SQL, and even AI assistants like ChatGPT.
Let’s dive into the highlights. 👇
📊 Data Analysis with SharePoint & Power BI
The session kicked off with an exploration of SharePoint lists for data validation and collection. Participants learned how to:
Create lists and integrate them into Power BI for rich visualizations.
Build mobile-friendly forms using Power Apps.
Publish reports, set up user roles, and manage permissions.
Schedule automatic data refreshes for real-time dashboards.
A sneak peek into machine learning integration with Power BI was also discussed—hinting at powerful future capabilities.
📈 Excel Data Merge & Automation
The team demonstrated how Excel and Power Query go hand-in-hand for merging and manipulating data. Key takeaways included:
Automating calculations with IF conditions and lookup functions.
Performing left outer joins to combine tables.
Understanding the difference between static Excel sheets and dynamic Power Query transformations.
This was especially useful for pricing, tariff analysis, and quick financial reconciliations.
🧮 Power BI Formula Troubleshooting
Participants practiced creating custom columns and conditional formulas in Power BI. The key message?
👉 Don’t struggle with complex syntax—AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot can guide you through formula writing and troubleshooting.
Hands-on case studies reinforced concepts such as merge types and formula testing.
🤖 AI Meets Data Analytics
The group also explored how ChatGPT can support real projects, from agriculture to business reporting. Dedicated sessions on Copilot and ChatGPT were announced, giving learners the chance to deepen their AI-assisted analytics skills every Saturday.
🔗 Merging Data Across Systems
One of the most practical exercises involved combining attendance, HR, and sales data into a single dataset in Power BI. By establishing relationships between sheets, participants created comprehensive KPIs that reflect both employee productivity and sales performance.
Another highlight was solving real-life issues such as mismatched employee IDs across datasets—an everyday challenge in business analytics.
⏱️ Excel for Attendance Analysis
Using Excel, the team calculated total hours worked by subtracting time-in and time-out records, then aggregating results per employee. This exercise showcased how simple statistical functions—sum, average, median—can be powerful when applied correctly.
🗄️ SQL Join Types Demystified
Understanding SQL joins is crucial for any analyst. The session broke down:
Inner Join 🤝 Matching only common records.
Left Outer Join ⬅️ Prioritizing data from the left table.
Right Outer Join ➡️ Prioritizing data from the right table.
Full Outer Join 🌐 Capturing all records.
Left Anti-Join ❌ Excluding matches.
This knowledge bridges the gap between databases and Power BI for advanced reporting.
📧 Marketing Data Transformation
A fascinating use case involved preparing customer vs. student lists for email campaigns. By applying a slip-to-anti-join technique, students were excluded from the customer list to avoid duplicates.
The session also reinforced merge, append, and unpivot transformations—essential tools for financial reconciliation and anomaly detection.
🎯 Key Takeaways
SharePoint + Power BI = Scalable real-time dashboards.
Excel Power Query is the secret weapon for automating data workflows.
AI assistants are no longer optional—they’re essential for efficiency.
SQL joins remain the backbone of clean and reliable data analysis.
Case studies and hands-on practice are the fastest ways to master data analytics.
🔥 Ready to take your data skills to the next level?
👉 Join our Join a Free Demo Class this week and see how you can transform raw data into