When should you not use Excel as a business?

Excel is a well-known and extensively used part of the Microsoft Office365 suite of productivity tools. However, although much used, it is also mis-used to the extent that productivity and business management can occasionally suffer.

There are several things that it’s regularly used for and probably shouldn’t be. Why is this, and can Office365 offer a better solution?

Excel does excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program (which contains an unlimited number of columns and rows) and there is no denying that for data analysis, numerical tables, formulas and functions, calculations and much more, Excel is a superb productivity tool.

Excel is great for many tasks, but for example, there is no way a business with ambition can survive using spreadsheet software for its accounting.

Misuse of Excel

Excel is also used for the creation, scheduling, tracking and management of tasks and actions. Managing lists, tasks and time-related actions is not what Excel was designed for though and is not a practical, efficient use for it.

Although Excel might be sufficient at present, in future, as business processes and procedures get more complex, companies will outgrow spreadsheets and need to look for a more robust, effective system.

Effective management

Effective business management revolves around seeing information and taking appropriate action. If the information is hidden, then action cannot be taken. If a list of tasks is created in Excel, it is created, saved, and closed. There is no inherent ability for this information to be seen by others. There are other software tools that are better and more effective for some tasks.

Office365 Lists

Microsoft Lists is a very powerful Office365 application that helps track information and organise work. Lists are simple, smart, and flexible. When a list is created it’s held and maintained in Office 365 multiple people, staff and business teams can access, and make updates to the list.

Lists provides a high level of flexibility and functionality: lists can be related to other lists, lists can be updated from other sources, specific actions and timeframes can be applied to list items or tasks.

Think ahead

For the scheduling and management of business tasks and lists, Lists provides a superior solution. Perhaps it is time to have a look at an alternative, enhanced solution for day-to-day business communication, operation, and management.

If you’re still using Excel to monitor tasks and fancy a change to Microsoft Lists, speak to us and make the switch.