Starting out in Tableau can be overwhelming, despite it being relatively easy to learn. In addition, Tableau has a robust community that may seem difficult to break into. The good news is that both are easier than it seems and you can do both at the same time.
A few months ago, I posted this question to the Tableau Community via Twitter as Veterans Tableau User Group, @VeteransTUG (of which I am a founder): What are the big five moves you would tell someone to do to go from a Tableau Zero to a Tableau Hero. I borrowed the question five moves thing from the book HIGH PERFORMANCE HABITS, by Brendon Burchard. The response I received was pretty amazing. Here they are in no particular order: 1. Desktop Training: I’ve done three classroom trainings. One of them I booked through tableau.com here. There are a lot of options for locations, levels, and methods. You can also request that Tableau come to your organization to teach a class. My employer requested a class and the Tableau famous Dan Murray from Interworks happened to be our instructor. All the trainings were very good, and each instructor brought something different to the experience. You can also go the online route. There are tons of free training videos at Tableau.com. I will occasionally pop over to that site to do a video I am interested in. Finally, third party services offer Desktop training as well. I’ve heard very good reviews about the course offered on Udemy. I take a SQL course on that site and it is really good. I might be a little biased because the instructor uses cat examples, and, well… I like cats. 2. Participate in Challenges This is something I need to get more involved in myself. Three of the most well known challenges are Makeover Monday by Andy Kriebel and Eva Murray from the DATA School. Workout Wednesday, also from Andy Kriebel, and Sports Viz Sunday by James Smith, Spencer Baucke, and Simon Beaumont. I should practice (literally) what I preach and participate more with these. I have only done two Makeover Monday. Feel free to check in with me to kick me in the… well, motivate me. 3. Join the conversation on Twitter This may seem like a small way to get involved but I have found it very helpful. To get a jump start, I recommend following all the Tableau Ambassadors/Zen Masters. They are always posting helpful articles and Tableau news. Not only will you stay in-the-know about the Tableau Community, you can also request help from your new Twitter friends. I have been at work, stumped on a Tableau problem and decided to tweet at the community for help. I got my answer in about 20 mins. It was pretty great. After a few years following and tweeting Tableau related subjects on my personal twitter account, I eventually decided to create a Tableau centered account. Felt like the community didn’t need to see my angry tweets directed at the DC metro or Verizon. You are more than welcome to follow me at @VizLikeAVet. Shameless plug: I also run the @VeteransTUG twitter account. If you are a Veteran, a Veteran’s spouse, or just a Veteran’s advocate, please join our Tableau User Group. End of plug. 4. Download Tableau Public If you don't have a Tableau license, or one at home anyway that you can practice on, then download Tableau Public. It is a fully functional version of Tableau and you'll always have the latest version of Tableau. "That sounds too good to be true!" you gasp. "There must be a catch!" Well you're right, there's a catch, albeit a small catch. "What's the catch?" you ask. First, a question for you: Did I use the word "albeit" correctly? Seriously though, the only catch is that you can only save your work to the Tableau Public Gallery. So I wouldn’t advise making any visualizations (hereafter referred to as vizzes) for financial data or other any other sensitive data you wouldn’t want others to see. However, you are able to fully participate in any of the challenges listed above or dig into any other data you may find interesting to your heart’s content. Publishing to the gallery is also the easiest way to get your great (and not so great) work seen but others. 5. Explore Tableau Public Gallery Speaking of the Gallery, that is where you can find a treasure trove of great vizzes created by people in the Tableau Community. Most of the them can be downloaded and reverse-engineered. You can also search for a particular topic and get inspired by how others present the data, and even leave comments and feedback. I’m sure I don’t have to say this, because we are all respectful people here, but keep it civil with the comments. 6. Go to the Tableau Conference I can’t say enough about the Tableau Conference. I have gone several times, and will go as often as my employer will pay for it. It’s a great place to meet like-minded nerds as yourself, learn a ton of stuff, and get inspired. There’s no point in me trying to describe everything there is at the conference, so just visit the link and explore for yourself. What it doesn’t say is that it can be very overwhelming. The introvert in me wants to curl up into a ball and rock back and forth as soon as I get there because of all the stimulus in my face. But I get over that pretty fast and have a great time. Lastly, register for sessions using the app for the conference as soon as you can. Sessions fill up rather fast. It’s great. Go. 7. Read Blog and Books A lot of people are writing about Tableau. It's hard to know where to start because there is SO MUCH. People are sharing their tips and stories about Tableau and general data visualization because they are passionate. A few blogs I follow are Ryan Sleeper, Interworks, and The Data School. Andy Cotgreave shares his list of the ones he follows here. He’s also a great writer himself. There are also plenty of books out there. I would suggest reading books about best data visualizations practices as well. The Big Book of Dashboards is widely popular within the Tableau Community (Andy Cotgreave is actually a co-author of that). I also suggest Cole Nussbaumer STORYTELLING WITH DATA. Ryan Sleep also has a book, PRATICAL TABLEAU. I own it, but havent dug into it just yet. The Makeover Monday folks, Andy Kriebel and Eva Murray, just came out with the a book called… you guessed it… MAKEOVER MONDAY. My first book was COMMUNICATING YOUR DATA WITH TABLEAU by Ben Jones. Oh… and TABLEAU YOUR DATA, by Dan Murray, whom I mentioned before. 8. Attend a Local or Virtual Tableau User Group I get it. Your friends just don’t understand your love of Tableau and data visualization. This can cause extreme loneliness. Buck up buddy. There’s a place for you! There are outcasts just like you who get together and talk Tableau. User groups are popping up all over the world, either in-person or virtual. TUGs can be based on locality, profession, organization, or whatever. Meetings will have trainings, guest speakers, presentations, and, the good ones will have free food. I highly recommend you check them out. I go to the DC TUG whenever I can, hosted by Britnany Fong. Yes, she has had free food. As I plugged earlier, I am a co-founder of the Military Veterans TUG. I don’t have food because it’s virtual but, you know, I think it’s pretty good. Official TUGs are listed on Tableau’s website. Britany’s is listed, mine and is not… yet. 9. Other Bits of Advice Get good at something - There are so many aspects of Tableau to learn. Trying to become really good at everything is not practical. Find something that really interests you, whether it's calculations, dashboard design, or data connections. Find what piques your interest and become the go-to person for it. Develop genuine relationships - So you are really good at one thing, now it’s time to find those that are good at everything else. Building strong relationships within the community will allow you to benefit from the expertise of others that have become experts in everything else. More than taking advantage of technical knowledge from others, perhaps more importantly, you gain inspiration and friendship. The Tableau community is one of the most diverse, nonjudgmental, and welcoming groups I have had the privilege to experience. Members come from all walks of life, from every culture. You will be driven by their stories and their energy. So start talking to people. Be curious - Tableau is all about exploring data and answering questions. The more curious you are, the more you are going to dig, the more you dig, the more you practice, and the better you become. Makes sense, right? Challenge yourself with different data and techniques - While you are being curious, make sure to get out of your comfort zone. Some data may be harder to analyze than other data, or try a technique that you haven’t done before. There are lots of ways to peel a potato (not a fan of the cat idiom). I have been challenged by some requests at work with different data sets and visualization requests. As impossible as it seemed at first, I came out on top, and better for it. Seek feedback - Like I briefly mentioned before, the Tableau community is always willing to help and always nonjudgmental. Ask for feedback as it is vital as you build your Tableau and data visualization skills. And, of course, never take it personally. Those are just a few tips to get started. The great thing about Tableau is that, not only is it fun to learn and meet people within the community, it is becoming one of the most sought after skills in the technical field. While I haven't personally been hired based on my knowledge of Tableau, I have been recognized with cash and time off awards. I was also honored with and annual peer achievement award in my organization. These were all because of my own efforts to learn Tableau. I like to compare learning Tableau to learning chess; it take a few minutes to learn, and a lifetime to master. Enjoy the process and let me know how it goes! I'll be adding to this periodically, so check back. Credits: Here is a list of those who helped me out with this. Thank you all!: Ken Flerlage (@flerlagekr), Mark Bradbourne (@MarkBradbourne), Emily Kund (@emilykund), Adam E McCann (@adamemccann), Ann Jackson (@AnnUJackson), Christina P. Gorga (@Poulincogsci), Corey Jones (@CoreyJ34), Chloe Tseng (@datachloe), Lilach Manheim (@LilachManheim), Jeffery Shaffer (@HighVizAbility), Simon Beaumont (@SimonBeaumont04), Mike Cisneros (@mikevizneros), Andrés F. Garcia Castro (@garciac_andres), Sarah Bartlett (@sarahlovesdata), Amanda Patist (@amanda_patist), Ravi Mistry (@scribblr_42), Anoop Odedra (@datavizzardry), Tim Ngwena (@TableauTim).
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I love Tableau, and I love the Tableau Community, and I REALLY wanted to be one of the cool kids. There is one problem, well, I should say, there was one problem. I was extremely intimidated by the ridiculously good visualizations produced by everyone on my twitter feed, featured as the Viz of the Day, and highlighted in the Tableau Public Gallery. Admittedly, it was a little demotivating. I felt inadequate and disconnected. However, a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to be a voice for those who want to be an active part of the Tableau Community, but may not have the skill set to match up to Tableau Zen Masters and other levels of dashboard wizards.
Here, I will talk about simple techniques, best practices, and how to get involved. There is obviously plenty of discussion in the Community about how to create visualizations, but I noticed a lack of discussion about how to create meaningful performance measures. I might try to talk a little about that as well. Disclaimer: I am not an expert at anything I will post, because I am learning right along side my readers, if there are any! Welcome to Simply Tableau. |