Power BI Beginner to Pro Part 1: Data Planning And Design

In a recent "Learn with the Nerds" session, Devin Knight and his team at Pragmatic Works guided participants through the Power BI journey from beginner to pro. This session introduced fresh content and new data sets, making it a valuable resource even for those who have attended similar sessions in the past.

Why Power BI?

Power BI is more than just a data visualization tool. While it is renowned for its visual capabilities, Power BI is a comprehensive platform that helps organizations make data-driven decisions. As Devin Knight explained, the goal of this training is to help users effectively collect, organize, and present data to support significant decision-making within an organization.

Training Agenda Overview

The session was broken down into several key phases, each led by a different expert:

1. Planning and Designing Power BI Solutions: Led by Allison Gonzalez, this section emphasized the importance of having a clear plan before diving into Power BI. Allison highlighted the need to define goals, understand the data, and work collaboratively with subject matter experts to ensure successful outcomes.
2. Data Cleansing and Shaping: Angelica Choo Quan walked participants through connecting to and cleansing data, ensuring accuracy before moving forward. She demonstrated the use of Power Query, a tool familiar to Excel users, for cleaning up data within Power BI.
3. Data Modeling: Amelia Roberts focused on making sense of the data by connecting various sources and introducing DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for advanced calculations. This phase is crucial for building relationships between data sets and preparing them for visualization.
4. Data Visualization: Greg Trzeciak led this segment, showcasing Power BI’s capabilities in building engaging and informative reports. He covered various visualization techniques and introduced Power BI's storytelling features, including the use of Copilot to enhance report creation.
5. Data Sharing and Security: Allison Gonzalez returned to discuss how to share and secure Power BI reports. She explained the process of publishing reports to the Power BI service, setting up data refresh schedules, and managing security to ensure that the right people have access to the right information.

The Importance of Planning

One of the key takeaways from Allison Gonzalez's sessions was the emphasis on planning. She advised that every Power BI project should start with a clear goal in mind. Understanding what you want to achieve with your report is crucial to ensuring that the data you collect and analyze is relevant and that the final output meets the intended purpose.

Allison also highlighted the importance of collaboration with subject matter experts, especially in larger organizations. Whether you are the expert or working with one, it’s essential to leverage this knowledge to create reports that are not only technically sound but also useful and actionable.

Practical Tips for Getting Started

The session provided practical advice for getting started with Power BI:

• Download Power BI Desktop: This free tool is available for Windows users and is essential for building and testing reports before publishing them to the Power BI service.
• Utilize GitHub for Class Files: Participants were encouraged to access class files on GitHub, where they could find the data sets used in the session and additional resources.
• Explore Preview Features: Allison also guided participants on enabling Power BI’s preview features, which allow users to experiment with upcoming tools and functionalities that are not yet fully released.

Conclusion

This "Learn with the Nerds" session offered a comprehensive guide for Power BI users, from beginners to those looking to enhance their skills. By following the structured approach outlined by the Pragmatic Works team, participants can effectively plan, execute, and share their Power BI projects, making data-driven decision-making more accessible and impactful within their organizations.

To access this and other "Learn with the Nerds" sessions, consider signing up for Pragmatic Works’ community plan, which offers free, ad-free access to a wide range of on-demand learning resources.

Don't forget to check out the Pragmatic Works' on-demand learning platform for more insightful content and training sessions on Power BI and other Microsoft applications. Be sure to subscribe to the Pragmatic Works YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the latest tips and tricks.