Team manager or project manager training?

Misteek

I'm not working currently.

But I have 15 odd years experience working in admin/customer contact roles.

I've never really moved up. Since I'm not working. Is there anything I can do to learn some basic skills as in using excel etc which I can use in the future to progress into a TL , supervisor or project manager roles?

DullGreyGuy

There are plenty of online courses around MS applications like Excel which will clearly be useful in multiple different paths. Obviously doing something like Prince2 is only really going to be useful if you take the PM route

Marcon

Misteek said:

I'm not working currently.

But I have 15 odd years experience working in admin/customer contact roles.

I've never really moved up. Since I'm not working. Is there anything I can do to learn some basic skills as in using excel etc which I can use in the future to progress into a TL , supervisor or project manager roles?

Yes - good, free ones, too! Google on whatever topic you want to learn about (e.g. 'basic excel') and you'll get masses of choice.

You might also consider volunteering in a role which would both enable you to practice your new skills and give something 'recent' to put on your cv. Helpful links on https://www.gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/volunteer

Misteek

Do you know any specific forumals I should try to learn for TL? when I type basic excel on Google, so many different appear.

Marcon

Misteek said:

Do you know any specific forumals I should try to learn for TL? when I type basic excel on Google, so many different appear.

Microsoft's own tutorials are very good: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-video-training-9bc05390-e94c-46af-a5b3-d7c22f6990bb

Make sure you have the version of Excel which is covered by the online course you pick i.e. if you have anything which pre-dates the most recent version, search using that: 'learning excel [version number] online'. There's nothing quite so frustrating as being told to click something which doesn't appear on the version you've got!

Misteek

Thank you so much I'll have to have a look

DullGreyGuy

Misteek said:

Do you know any specific forumals I should try to learn for TL? when I type basic excel on Google, so many different appear.

For a team leader? Not really unless its a team of actuaries 

Functions I use the most:
Subtotal (or sum for more basic) plus SumIfs
XLookup (or vlookup for the older version)
If
IfError

Formulas are really only one tool and I would spend at least as much time looking at PivotTables and conditional formatting 
 

Misteek

DullGreyGuy said:

Misteek said:

Do you know any specific forumals I should try to learn for TL? when I type basic excel on Google, so many different appear.

For a team leader? Not really unless its a team of actuaries 

Functions I use the most:
Subtotal (or sum for more basic) plus SumIfs
XLookup (or vlookup for the older version)
If
IfError

Formulas are really only one tool and I would spend at least as much time looking at PivotTables and conditional formatting 
 

Thank you

What do you do ?

mcpitman

I second that it is worth learning Excel. Think of it as a language.

I would add to the list formulas others have suggest with COUNTIFS and other conditional tools, graphs, charts and tables.

There are a few online courses available, but you can teach yourself from YouTube etc.

For large data set manipulation, a course in PowerBI may also be helpful too.

Andy_L

If you want to "progress into a TL , supervisor or project manager role" would you not be better leaning some (project) management skills/techniques rather than a handful of excel formulas?

MrsStepford

Have a look at NCFE courses by distance learning. There are some geographical restrictions, but if eligible they are free and you can take up to seven in an academic year. Team Leadership, Management, Project Management, Environmental Awareness, Mental First Aid, Customer Service, Coaching & Mentoring, Cyber Security, Digital Marketing, Coding and more at Level 1 and 2. Level 3 you have to pay for. 

If you can think of an institute which is applicable for either your past career path or your future ambitions there are many affiliate, associate and member ship routes which are free or cheap. Some don't expect qualifications, some will offer an Accreditation by Prior Learning route. Some offer qualifications at a reduced rate for members. 

ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) is a good basic computer qualification to build on. It used to be free when we were in the EU. 

Edited to add: Under the new Skills for Life scheme, selected Level 3 courses at colleges are free, if you are unemployed or on a low wage or don't have a Level 3 course under your belt already. For people who are working and not low paid, they are also included in the scheme if they haven't passed a Level 3 course.