6 charts for lively progress visualization

There are several different charts in Excel that can help you to create a perfect progress illustration.

How to add a horizontal line to the chart

Usually, horizontal lines are added to a chart to highlight a target, threshold, limits, base, average, or benchmark. These lines, for example, can help control if a process is behaving differently than usual. Excel allows you to add a vertical line to an existing chart in several different ways, e.g., by calculating line values for a scatter, line, or column chart, but using error bars is the easiest way to add a vertical line to a chart:

How to show Likert scale chart with extra neutral

There are so many different types of surveys and polls out there. It's hard to imagine almost any type of activity without them. Collecting and properly presenting results is probably the most important part of the process.

How to create Butterfly chart in Excel

A butterfly chart is a simplified version of a diverging chart, also known as a divergent chart. Unlike a diverging chart, a butterfly chart can only compare two data sets using two horizontal bars with a central baseline.

Creating a simple competition chart

Competition is an integral part of the development of any company and community. From childhood, we compete for our favorite toys among peers, for leadership in games, and so on. Healthy competition helps to achieve many goals: from quickly solving problems to choosing the most appropriate strategy.

How to create a histogram chart by category using frequencies in Excel

There are several ways to create a histogram chart in Excel. By the moment, Excel uses two different algorithms to calculate the data for a histogram chart:

Progress Gantt chart with events

Gantt chart is a pervasive project management tool intended to reveal task management problems. Besides creating tasks on the Gantt chart, you can enrich it with additional information like project milestones, presentation dates, and similar events.

Excel 3-D Pie charts

Pie charts are often used to present various kinds of data. You can create a pie chart in Excel that looks like the ones in popular glossy magazines. In addition, using 3D effects, you can display even not very presentable data colorfully and profitably.

How to create a simple Bullet graph in Excel

A bullet graph (the name by its inventor Stephen Few) or bullet chart (in Microsoft office) generally is used to display progress towards the specific target:

How to select an invisible element in the chart

Some chart elements are hard to find for customization, or they are not visible at all. For example, added or updated data series may not be visible due to chart settings: located in an invisible data range, displayed with invisible markers, with disabled fill color, or because of the background image: