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Progress Tracking

Produce a weekly progress summary showing percentage complete by discipline using a PivotTable sourced from the task r…

2heights
2tasks
1roles do it
See the prompt↓More report workflows

The same job, four prompts

do it · improve it · decide · become
AExecute — “help me do it”Produce a weekly progress summary showing percentage complete by discipline using a PivotTable…+
Produce a weekly progress summary showing percentage complete by discipline using a PivotTable sourced from the task register; add a slicer for week and a timeline for date filtering.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.
BImprove — “do it better”Before I share with the client, make the weekly progress clear and defensible: ensure…+
Before I share with the client, make the weekly progress clear and defensible: ensure completion percent uses consistent rules, add conditional coloured KPI tiles for on-track/behind, include a discipline-level comment column for exceptions, and ensure the slicer defaults to the current week.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid
The tool
PivotTables and PivotCharts

PivotTables summarize and analyze data, while PivotCharts visualize the summary data to reveal comparisons, patterns, and trends.

  1. 1

    Prepare your source data with unique headers in the first row and no blank columns or cells.

    RecommendationEnsure your data is rectangular, with variables as columns and observations as rows.

  2. 2

    Select any single cell inside your data set.

  3. 3

    On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click PivotTable.

  4. 4

    In the Create PivotTable dialog box, verify the Table/Range is correct.

  5. 5

    Choose where to place the PivotTable, either a New Worksheet or Existing Worksheet.

  6. 6

    Click OK to create the PivotTable.

  7. 7

    In the PivotTable Fields pane, drag fields to the Filters, Columns, Rows, and Values areas.

  8. 8

    To create a PivotChart, select a cell in your PivotTable.

  9. 9

    On the Insert tab, select the Insert Chart dropdown menu.

  10. 10

    Click any chart type to create the PivotChart.

  11. 11

    Save your Excel workbook to commit your work.

PivotTables are a powerful tool for bank reconciliation, payroll processing, and monitoring energy usage by summarizing large datasets.

Excel PivotTables and PivotCharts can be automated using VBA or Office Scripts to refresh data and update reports programmatically.

Glossary

words on this page
PivotTableAn interactive table that summarizes and reorganizes selected columns and rows of data to show different views.ExampleYou can quickly see total sales per region by dragging and dropping column headers.

The real tasks

1 of them
Produce a weekly progress summary that shows percentage complete by discipline so the client sees whether we’re on schedule.

Who does this

1 roles
Architectural Project Manager

Questions people ask

honest answers

Because you rarely think 'I want the redaction tool'. You think 'I have to share this without leaking the client's details'. Start from the need, and the feature finds you.

Real. Every job here was drawn from what people in real roles were actually seen doing in Excel — not a feature checklist.

No. Each page gives you a ready prompt you can paste into an AI assistant, plus the plain steps to do it yourself. Start with either — the goal is the finished job, not the tool.