Data Analytics for Business Professionals: From Excel to Insight
Most organisations do not lack data — they lack people who can make it speak. The gap between the report that gets filed and the analysis that changes a decision is not software; it is a repeatable analytical method, and it can be learned in three days.
Format
Classroom · Virtual
Upcoming sessions
Pick a session to applyADMISSIONS OPENThe programme
This three-day programme is corporate data analytics training for the people who actually run the business — not aspiring data scientists, but managers, analysts and specialists who work with numbers every week and know they could get more from them. Built entirely around Excel, the tool your organisation already owns, it moves deliberately from raw extract to boardroom-ready insight: structuring and cleaning messy data; exploring it at speed with pivot tables and lookup logic; building first dashboards that update rather than get rebuilt; and applying the small set of business statistics — averages that mislead, trends, variation, correlation — that separates a defensible conclusion from a hopeful one. Every technique is practised on realistic commercial datasets, and participants finish by presenting an analysis of their own. The course runs superbly as a private in-house programme: whole teams learn on their organisation’s own data, building a shared analytical language in a single week. Delivered in English and French across the Middle East, Africa and Asia — Dubai, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Lagos, Singapore — and live online.
What you will do
Who attends
Any professional who works with numbers and wants to work with them better: managers and team leaders reading performance data; finance, sales, marketing, HR, operations and supply chain specialists; executive assistants and coordinators who prepare the reports everyone else reads. Comfortable everyday Excel use is assumed — formulas and basic tables — but no analytical background is required. For organisations building broad analytical capability, the in-house edition trains whole departments on their own data.
Programme agenda
Built for the decisions no textbook prepares you for
I.Thinking like an analyst
- From question to data: framing the business problem before opening the file
- The analytical workflow — acquire, clean, explore, conclude, communicate
- Where analyses go wrong: the classic traps read through real examples
II.Data you can trust
- Structuring data for analysis: tables, records and the layouts that break pivots
- Cleaning in practice: duplicates, blanks, dates, text-that-should-be-numbers
- Combining sources with lookups — and documenting what you did to the data
III.Exploration with pivot tables
- Slicing, grouping and drilling: interrogating data instead of scrolling it
- Calculated measures, percentages of total and period-on-period comparisons
- From exploration to finding: knowing when a pattern is worth reporting
IV.Statistics for business decisions
- Averages, medians and distributions: when the headline number misleads
- Variation and trend: separating signal from noise in monthly figures
- Correlation, causation and the honest limits of what your data can say
V.First dashboards
- Chart selection: matching the visual to the message, not the fashion
- A one-page dashboard that refreshes when the data changes
- Design discipline: less ink, clearer hierarchy, faster reading
VI.The analysis clinic
- An end-to-end analysis worked on a realistic commercial dataset
- Presenting findings: the storyline, the caveats and the recommendation
- Your ninety-day practice plan — and where Power BI and SQL come next
Frequently asked
Do I need a statistical or technical background to attend?
No. The programme is written for managers, analysts and specialists who work with numbers, not for aspiring data scientists. Comfortable everyday Excel use — formulas and basic tables — is assumed, but no analytical or statistical background is required. The statistics covered are the practical essentials — averages, variation, trends and correlation — taught so conclusions can be defended without a statistician.
Which software does the course use?
The course is built entirely around Excel — the tool your organisation already owns. Participants structure and clean data, explore it at speed with pivot tables and lookups, apply practical business statistics and build a first dashboard that updates itself, all within Excel. The closing module signposts where Power BI and SQL come next, and our companion courses cover both.
Can the course be delivered in-house for a whole team?
Yes — the programme runs superbly as a private in-house course, tailored to the institution. Whole teams or departments learn on their organisation’s own data and build a shared analytical language in a single week. In-house editions are delivered in English or French, at your offices or live online, with the exercises adapted to your datasets and reporting needs.
When does the course run, and what does it cost?
The course runs on a rolling calendar across the Middle East, Africa and Asia — including Dubai, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Lagos and Singapore — and live online; dates are confirmed on request. Fees and group quotations are provided on enquiry, whether for open-enrolment seats or a private in-house edition. Delivery is available in English and French.
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One request — the full agenda, the faculty and the next cohort dates, sent personally by the admissions team.