Course Overview

Tableau Data Visualisation And Business Intelligence

Tableau is the world’s leading data visualisation and business intelligence platform, enabling professionals to connect to virtually any data source and transform raw numbers into clear, interactive, decision-ready insights — without writing a single line of code.

This two-day, hands-on workshop equips participants to move confidently from spreadsheets to professional analytics. Through realistic business datasets, participants learn to prepare data, build the right chart for the right question, create calculated measures, apply advanced analytics, and assemble polished interactive dashboards that tell a compelling data story.

By the end of the Tableau Data Visualisation programme, participants will be able to independently build and publish executive-ready dashboards that turn organisational data into measurable business value.

Course Objectives

The Tableau Data Visualisation course is designed to equip participants with practical Tableau data visualisation and business intelligence skills. Participants will learn to prepare and analyse data, create professional visualisations, apply advanced analytics, and design interactive dashboards that communicate data-driven insights effectively.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this Tableau Data Visualisation training, participants will be able to:

1. Navigate the Tableau Desktop interface and understand the analytics workflow
2. Connect, join, and prepare data from Excel, CSV, and database sources
3. Build core visualisations — bar, line, scatter, maps, and combination charts
4. Organise data using filters, sorting, groups, sets, and hierarchies
5. Create calculated fields, table calculations, and LOD expressions
6. Apply advanced analytics: trends, forecasts, parameters, and reference lines
7. Design interactive dashboards with actions, filters, and tooltips
8. Build a data story and publish a professional executive dashboard

Who Should Attend

This Tableau Data Visualisation workshop suits any professional who works with data and needs to communicate it clearly. This includes:

• Analysts, data executives, and reporting specialists across all industries
• Finance, accounts, and procurement teams building management reports
• Sales, marketing, and business development professionals tracking performance
• Operations, supply chain, and project managers monitoring KPIs
• Human resource and administrative professionals presenting workforce data
• Managers and executives who consume and present data-driven insights

Prerequisites

• Basic familiarity with spreadsheets (entering data, simple formulas, navigating worksheets)
• Tableau Desktop installed — a free 14-day trial or Tableau Public is acceptable for the workshop
• Laptop with administrative rights to run Tableau Desktop (Windows or macOS)
• No prior Tableau, coding, or statistics knowledge required

Methodology

• Live Demonstration: Trainer demonstrates each Tableau feature in real time using practical, industry-relevant datasets.
• Guided Hands-On Practice: Participants replicate each task immediately after the trainer’s demonstration on their own machine.
• Real-World Exercises: Module activities are built around realistic scenarios from sales, finance, HR, and operations.
• Visualisation Design Lab: Structured lab sessions where participants choose, build, and refine the right chart for each business question.
• Group Discussion: Scenario-based Q&A connects Tableau skills to participants’ actual job roles and reporting workflows.
• Capstone Project: An end-to-end build where each participant produces a publishable executive dashboard from raw data.

Course Format

The Tableau Data Visualisation course consists of formal content presentation interspersed with content quiz sessions. The presenter’s style involves intensive participant participation.

Course Content

Day 1 — Foundations, Data Preparation & Core Visualisation

1. Tableau Foundations & The Analytics Mindset

• The Tableau ecosystem: Desktop, Public, Server, and Cloud
• Touring the workspace: Data pane, Shelves, Cards, and Show Me
• Understanding dimensions vs. measures, discrete vs. continuous
• The analytics workflow: connect → explore → visualise → share

Hands-on: Connect to a sample superstore dataset and build your first view

2. Connecting & Preparing Data For Analysis

• Connecting to Excel, CSV, and database sources
• Joins, relationships, and unions explained simply
• Data interpreter, pivoting, and splitting fields for clean data
• Managing data types, aliases, default formats, and folders

Hands-on: Combine multiple sales files and clean a messy dataset for analysis

3. Building Core Visualisations

• Bar, line, and area charts for comparison and trend
• Scatter plots, highlight tables, and heat maps
• Combination (dual-axis) charts and synchronised axes
• Applying colour, size, labels, and the Marks card effectively

Hands-on: Build a set of core charts answering real sales-performance questions

4. Organising Data — Filters, Sorting, Groups & Sets

• Dimension, measure, and context filters; filter scope and order
• Interactive filters, “Keep only / Exclude”, and wildcard filtering
• Sorting, grouping, and creating hierarchies for drill-down
• Building static and dynamic sets to isolate key segments

Hands-on: Filter and segment a regional sales dataset to surface top and bottom performers

Day 1 Consolidation Lab — Guided Build

• Apply Modules 1–4 end-to-end on a fresh business dataset
• Trainer-guided clinic: troubleshooting joins, filters, and chart choices
• Peer review and quick feedback on each participant’s worksheets

Hands-on: Produce a clean, multi-chart worksheet ready for tomorrow’s dashboard

Day 1 Recap & Q&A

Day 2 — Calculations, Advanced Analytics, Dashboards & Storytelling

5. Calculated Fields & Table Calculations

• Writing calculated fields: logical, string, and date functions
• Quick table calculations: running total, % of total, rank, YoY
• Customising table calculations with Compute Using / addressing
• Building reusable KPIs such as margin %, growth, and ratios

Hands-on: Create profit-margin and year-over-year growth measures for a sales report

6. Parameters, LOD Expressions & Advanced Analytics

• Parameters for dynamic, user-controlled what-if analysis
• Level-of-Detail (FIXED, INCLUDE, EXCLUDE) made practical
• Trend lines, forecasting, reference lines, and bands

Hands-on: Add a parameter-driven target and a forecast to a revenue trend view

7. Maps, Geospatial & Time-Series Analysis

• Building filled and symbol maps from geographic fields
• Custom territories, map layers, and geographic roles
• Date hierarchies, continuous vs. discrete dates, and date parts
• Time-series techniques: moving averages and period-over-period

Hands-on: Map regional sales performance and analyse monthly trends over time

8. Interactive Dashboards & Data Storytelling

• Dashboard layout: containers, sizing, and device preview
• Dashboard actions: filter, highlight, URL, and parameter actions
• Designing tooltips, legends, and a clear visual hierarchy
• Building Stories to guide an audience to the key insight
• Publishing and sharing to Tableau Public / Server / Cloud

Hands-on: Assemble an interactive dashboard with cross-filtering and a guided story

Capstone Project — NovaTrade Executive Dashboard

• Scenario: NovaTrade Sdn Bhd, an FMCG distributor, needs a one-page executive dashboard for its quarterly business review
• Connect and prepare the raw sales, product, and region data
• Build KPIs (revenue, margin, growth) and the supporting visualisations
• Design an interactive dashboard with filters, actions, and a story point
• Present insights and recommendations to the “management” group

Hands-on: Deliver a publishable, decision-ready executive dashboard end-to-end

Wrap-Up & Action Planning

• Session recap and key takeaways across both days
• Open Q&A and dashboard design best-practice clinic
• Personal action plan: 3 dashboards to build at work this month
• Post-training resources and recommended next steps (Tableau Prep, certification)