Power BI Feature Updates Delivery Without The Need To Train Staff

Supporting your workforce with appropriate training programs can be a valuable investment, but only when that training increases the valuable skill sets (and, consequently, improves productivity) of individual workers. Training staff may be much less valuable (or actually costly) when such programs are instructing individuals to perform repetitive actions or functions, something more appropriately managed through automation, scheduling and other professional Business Intelligence (BI) procedures. More importantly, the savings realized by eliminating repetitive tasks can be wisely shifted to other, more valuable growth initiatives (including system upgrades, IT infrastructure, and other sorts of training, such as data security). These have the potential for a far greater return on investment including the potential to both boost company revenues and build greater loyalty and confidence among key staff members.

Significant Savings on Training Costs Adds Up Fast

In 2019, it was estimated that over $370 billion was spent globally on employee training; close to half of that budget (over $169 billion) was spent in the US in 2019 for employee training. Clearly, the demand for employee training is high, but, more importantly, when is it effective?

At an average cost of $1,286 per worker, with approximately 42 hours of training, this isn't small change. In fact, broken down to an hourly rate, companies are spending over $30 per hour training employees. For executive training, this may be a bargain, but on average, only 10% of employee training was allocated to this category of workers, while almost 40% of training was provided to non-exempt employees (workers entitled to minimum wage rates and overtime pay).

This is not to say training is a waste of time and money, but it pays to carefully prioritize training programs and their potential value. As previously noted, this calls for careful consideration of which forms of training will be considered the best use of employee training budgets. More importantly, through judicious selection of workers to be trained and the educational programs offered, smart businesses are discovering that savings on training costs can quickly be diverted to more needful growth initiatives intended to build higher revenues and a greater presence in the marketplace.

A Smarter Training Plan - Power BI Feature Updates

Most businesses using Power BI by Microsoft know they receive regular monthly updates which may or may not automatically appear in their system (depending upon how they configured their Power BI options). If your system isn't currently configured to receive those monthly updates, fear not: you can still find those downloads and updates smartly packaged with ChristianSteven Power BI Report Scheduler updates by viewing their Software Release Announcements page or their Power BI Report Scheduler page.

One of the greatest values (among many values too numerous to list here) of Microsoft's updates are new feature additions which continue to refine and improve the performance of your own Power BI reporting; along with this key addition are continuing improvements to the user interface, all with the intention of making all Power BI tasks more intuitive and natural to use and access. (Be sure to check out the Transform Data option included in the newer versions of Power BI; you can find it by looking under Options and then selecting Preview Features. Each month, this section displays newly added features, making it one area to regularly visit and review.)

Do remember that Power BI is incredibly intuitive (and becoming more so as it matures and evolves), meaning no one needs a master's degree in data science to manage this powerful software system. Instead, you can leave that aspect of Power BI to the data analysts and IT administrators who appear to thrive with such tools and information, while the remaining report scheduling is easily handled by less "techy" staffers.

The Ability of Power BI to Serve All Kinds of Users

One reason Power BI remains such a popular and useful program is its incredible diversity and appeal to different types of workers. For instance, those data mavens and irrepressible geeks who love peeking inside operating systems and staying current with the most recent updates, there is nothing they seem to enjoy more than starting their day with a cup of java while they comb through the latest feature updates, often immediately putting them to use or testing them out.

The remainder of the staff love those people because they can remain current and relevant without enduring the nightmare of managing and maintaining the digital minutiae; indeed, they take comfort in the fact that the people inspired by such information are already integrating new feature updates and putting them to work for immediate benefits and results.

Power BI: Continuous and Automatic Publishing

The reason Power BI remains central to many operations is its incredible flexibility and diversity. Reports which are already scheduled for automatic distribution can still accept modifications and other changes which your tech team deems appropriate for improving or streamlining operations, while those users who disdain most things technical (yet begrudgingly appreciate the results they get from technical tools) can still use the information generated by Power BI to improve their own performance, whether it be in accounting, marketing, sales, or other divisions within the operation. Best of all, these non-tech users always get their information in the format which best serves their needs and enables them to consistently perform at top levels.

In the Hands of Few Come Powerful Results

As businesses work with Power BI and become more familiar with its incredible power and amazingly clear and actionable report generating, they will discover many benefits unique to their own operations. However, regardless of the industry in which one works, there is universal agreement that automated reporting by Power BI presents these benefits:

• Error Elimination - humans are wonderful creatures, but let's not kid ourselves that we are infallible; we are much more likely to commit grave errors than automated Power BI reporting
• Insight Delivery - instead of key players all trying to read from the same homogenized script, Power BI can and will generate reports specifically tailored to the needs and understanding of various employees, meaning less chance of misinterpretations or misunderstandings
• Personalized Dashboards - instead of fitting into one gigantic glove, Power BI empowers users to personalize their dashboard to serve their specific business needs and surpass unique goals and targets
• Relevant Reporting - another potential pitfall with manual reporting by humans is the time factor; with Power BI, relevant reports deliver actionable guidance based upon today's information, not from yesterday, last week, or last year

The bottom line is that Power BI will enable your operations to more effectively use your human assets for their true value: bringing their individual and diverse skill sets to your business table, while Power BI will perform the necessary robotic tasks more efficiently managed by machines.

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