Are you thinking about improving your Tableau Desktop skills by taking a training course? I recommend you start by reading these two articles over the Desktop Fundamentals and Intermediate courses by Robert Curtis.
If you don’t want to sit through two days of Fundamentals and then two more days of Intermediate, the alternative is three days of Tableau Desktop I and II Accelerated. After attending and teaching different courses, I decided to share five reasons why you should consider taking the Tableau Accelerated Course.
Above: The Tableau Desktop I and II Accelerated manual.
1. Challenge Yourself
People who should attend the Accelerated course are those who are already familiar with Tableau or users who haven’t attended Fundamentals and wish to skip it. In an ideal situation, you would attend Desktop I Fundamentals, practice the Fundamentals material for a few weeks or months, and then attend Desktop II Intermediate.
If time isn't a luxury, the Accelerated course is a great alternative. It can be quite challenging, even if you have Tableau experience, because it’s a lot of information to retain over three days. It requires more practice during and after the course.
Concentrating at a high level for three days straight can be hard, but at the same time it’s a great boost for your Tableau knowledge. You’ll build your skills in a very logical way and instantly see connections between the topics discussed. By the time you get to the more advanced chapters, you will already have a solid foundation to work upon.
2. It's Fun!
All the information you need to start exploring your data and answering questions is covered in day one. I’ll admit, the Fundamentals part of the course is very visual, exciting and fun to learn. At the same time, you’re building the most important part of your education. This includes Tableau environment, vocabulary and shortcuts that will make you very efficient with the tool.
3. Connect, Analyse and Share
Throughout the course, you’ll learn about the Tableau workflow and how to connect to different types of data sources. The course explores which data connection options are available and most suitable in different situations. With three full days of exploring analytic options in Tableau, you’ll certainly learn how to share your findings! Again, you’ll learn different options that are available and the difference between them.
Above: Tableau Desktop I: Fundamentals and Desktop II: Intermediate manuals.
4. No Gaps in Your Education
You might have trouble deciding whether the Desktop I or II course is more suitable for you, but both are very informational. Usually students start learning Intermediate topics but are often missing a basic understanding of Tableau that creates obstacles in their data exploration and visualization journey.
When attending a Desktop Accelerated course, you can be sure that all important skills are covered and there are zero gaps in your knowledge of Tableau. Below is an extract of covered topics that you will learn:
- Tableau Workflow
- Setting Up Connections and Data Sources
- Simplifying and Sorting Your Data: Filters and Sorting
- Groups and Hierarchies
- Dates in Tableau
- Using Multiple Measures in the View: Shared and Dual Axis Charts
- Scatter Plots: Show Relationships and Spot Outliers (my personal favorite)
- Crosstabs and How to Improve Them
- Data Connection Options: Join, Blend and Union
- Data Extracts
- Using Calculations in Tableau
- LODs
- Quick Table Calculations with Advanced Options
- Reference Lines and Bands
- Creating and Using Parameters
- Maps and Geocoding
- Show Breakdowns: Pie Charts and Tree Maps
- Comparing Actuals Against Goals: Bar in Bar and Bullet Charts
- Sets and Order of Operations in Tableau
- Viewing Distributions: Histograms and Whisker Plots
- Statistics and Forecasting in Tableau
- Dashboarding and Stories
Above: Me at a recent Tableau presentation.
5. When It All Comes Together
The real beauty of the Tableau Accelerated course is when all the small pieces of the data puzzle come together to create the big picture. Each process directly connects with the next step. You learn how to build dashboards with dashboard actions. What is more, you’re able to apply some visual best practices to create more appealing visualizations. You’re building your own masterpiece that is robust, interactive and shiny.
Almost every chapter has its “Aha!” moment. It’s a common experience for those who are familiar with Tableau and only signed up for the course to learn about LODs. They will typically learn something new and exciting during the day, and they are always blown away by what they don't know about Tableau.
One of my favourite aspects about Tableau courses is that you not only learn a new skill, but you learn it in an interactive way. It’s very rewarding to see how energetic students are to start applying these new concepts in their own work. And now you know all about it! I can’t wait to see you in the next Accelerated class to talk about Tableau. In the meantime, if you're looking for Tableau training for your organization, reach out to us!