Activity 2
Once you've picked your question and found the right data,
it's time to do a simple analysis.
Goal: Quickly uncover your best and worst performers based
on one important business metric. Time Required: About 15
minutes.
Why this method? Sorting and filtering is intuitive, low-risk,
and often leads to immediate "aha" moments—no complex
analysis needed.
Instructions for Activity 2:
Step 1: Choose One Metric to Explore (2 minutes)
Select a numeric or date-based column in your data that
directly relates to your business question or goal.
Examples include:
Sales revenue
Order size
Days since last purchase
Number of website visits
Customer satisfaction rating
Step 2: Make a Copy of Your Data (1 minute)
Before doing any manipulation, duplicate your
spreadsheet tab to preserve your original data.
Step 3: Sort Your Data to Quickly See Top and Bottom
Performers (3 minutes)
Highlight your entire dataset by clicking the top-left corner
of the spreadsheet (the area above row numbers and left
of column letters).
Click on Data → Sort range → Advanced range sorting
options.
Select the column you chose in Step 1.
Choose "Z→A" for descending order (to see top performers
first), or "A→Z" for ascending order (to see lowest
performers first), and click "Sort."
Step 4: Take a Quick Look at Your Top and Bottom Records (3
minutes)
Quickly review the top 5–10 rows:
What stands out?
Are there common characteristics?
Any surprises?
Now, scroll down and look at the bottom 5–10 rows:
What do you notice?
How are these entries different from your top
performers?
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