CP008: 6 Tips to handle workbooks made by someone else, #4 is something I struggle with too!

Here is a problem we all face once in a while. We inherit this bulky, bloated, leaking at the edges workbook from a colleague. Now the onus of maintaining it is on us. The person who made this workbook is nowhere to be found. May be she is vacationing in Hawaii sipping pineapple juice. May be he became a vice president and roaming the country in your company's private jet.

So what do we do? How do we handle this inheritance?

That is the topic of our podcast, episode 8.

In this podcast, you will learn,

• An overview of the inheritance problem

• 6 Tips to understand workbooks made by someone else

• Tip 0: Talk to the creator

• Tip 1: Model the workbook on paper

• Tip 2: Locate the engine, ie the formulas • Tip 3: See what else is under the hood - hidden sheets, names, VBA code

• Tip 4: Annotate (add comments) as you learn

• Tip 5: Locate the controls - inputs, assumptions, scenarios

• Tip 6: Re-construct from scratch

• Deep dive in to understanding the formulas

• Deep dive in to understanding VBA code

• Conclusions

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