QUICK SUMMARY: Despite the rise of countless modern organizational tools, spreadsheets remain an essential resource across industries. Berlin explores Benefits of spreadsheets for business how spreadsheets continue to offer a dependable and versatile foundation for tasks ranging from engineering to creative design.
Part of me can’t believe I’m writing about spreadsheets. Normally, I dive into applying the insights of visionaries like Leonardo da Vinci or Saul Bass to web design. But sometimes, you have to advocate for the simple things—because spreadsheets deserve a champion.
Throughout my diverse career—spanning copywriting, journalism, engineering, and teaching—I’ve seen firsthand how incredibly powerful and versatile spreadsheets are. The reality is that you, yes, you, stand to gain a lot by mastering spreadsheets. More importantly, learning how they can serve your needs can unlock their true potential.
This article is a call to action. We’ll explore the countless ways spreadsheets can enhance your work, from practical uses to becoming the foundation of innovative, even inspiring, outcomes.
Cellular Organisms
Spreadsheets have been a part of human history for thousands of years. Records dating back to 4,600 BC show early forms on papyrus. The shift to digital spreadsheets in the late 1970s played a key role in the growth of personal computing. While the printing press is often credited with revolutionizing society, the impact of digital spreadsheets is often overlooked.
For as long as people have needed to organize data and manage projects, spreadsheets have remained essential. In fact, they were the first databases.
In today’s digital landscape, spreadsheets often take a backseat. For managing organization and workflows, many of us gravitate toward tools like Trello, Jira, or GitHub Projects. Meanwhile, datasets are typically housed in systems like Oracle or MongoDB. While there are valid reasons for the popularity of these specialized platforms—each tool has its unique strengths—I can’t help but feel that we overlook the remarkable flexibility and capabilities that modern spreadsheet applications offer.
This tendency is particularly noticeable in smaller projects or those still in their initial phases. While there are times when a robust database is essential, in many cases, spreadsheets can more than adequately meet our needs.
Benefits
What makes spreadsheets so powerful? We’ll dive into real-world examples shortly, but certain traits consistently stand out:
Collaboration
Cloud-based tools like Google Sheets allow teams to work together seamlessly on shared data. They offer a common platform for those managing different parts of the same project.
Structure
Spreadsheets naturally encourage you to consider the ‘shape’ of your data. Just as a blank page invites creativity, tables help you build frameworks—both are essential in different ways.
Flexibility
Spreadsheets can adapt instantly, which is invaluable in the early stages of a project when your data is still taking form. You can easily add fields by naming new columns, and built-in formulas let you infer values from existing ones. With tools like the Google Sheets API, you can even pull in data directly from the sheet.
Power
You’d be amazed at what spreadsheets can do. Sometimes you don’t need custom dashboards—everything from data visualization to pivot tables is right there. These editors come packed with robust, built-in features.
Data translation
Spreadsheets can easily convert into powerful formats like CSV. When the time comes, they can transition into raw data effortlessly.
This barely scratches the surface of what spreadsheets can do. Their core strength of organizing data has made them valuable for millennia, and modern updates have only increased their capabilities.
Case Studies
Here are a few examples from my own experience that demonstrate the real-world benefits of spreadsheets. While these examples reflect my personal interests, they show how spreadsheets can be useful across various contexts.
Galaxies (at The Guardian)
As a software engineer at Guardian News & Media, I benefit from a culture where 10% of work time—one day every two weeks—is dedicated to personal learning or side projects. One of my ongoing initiatives is Galaxies (at The Guardian), a D3-powered organizational chart that visualizes departments as interconnected people, teams, and workflows.
The data behind Galaxies is stored and updated in spreadsheets. A Lambda function pulls departmental information using the Google Sheets API, then formats it in a way that Galaxies can interpret.
This method offers several advantages. The initial versions of Galaxies were made possible because a spreadsheet was already being used to track who worked where. Both technical and non-technical staff can easily update the information, and it’s accessible to everyone within the organization.
For those interested, Frederick O’Brien has written a detailed post on the Guardian engineering blog about how Galaxies operate. But the key point here is that spreadsheets were—and still are—the driving force behind the project.
Food Bank Britain
With a background in journalism, I continue to freelance, and as my coding skills have advanced, I’ve naturally leaned into data journalism, even teaching it for a year at my former journalism school.
Spreadsheets are indispensable in modern journalism—and even copywriting. The digital landscape is overflowing with data, and without a solid grasp of spreadsheets, making sense of it would be nearly impossible.
For instance, you can see here for Byline Times about UK food banks earlier this year relied heavily on spreadsheets. By compiling data from the Trussell Trust, the Independent Food Aid Network, and national census reports, I was able to map out the extensive reach of food banks across the UK.
Sure, the map itself is more visually appealing—but that’s the point. It’s the same data, just presented in a more impactful way.
There are numerous other examples of spreadsheets driving essential work at The Guardian alone. Typewriter, the newspaper’s automated style checker, originated from a subeditor’s spreadsheet. User research and bug tracking for the Feast cooking app, which I helped develop during its early stages, were all managed in spreadsheets.
And, of course, many significant pieces of journalism at The Guardian and beyond continue to be powered by spreadsheets.
Another Cell In The Table
If this article has sparked your interest in exploring spreadsheets and spreadsheet applications, you’re in for a treat. There’s an abundance of free educational resources online. Below are some fantastic beginner videos to get you started on your journey:
- Google Sheets Tutorial for Beginners
- How to use Pivot Tables in Google Sheets
- Excel Tutorial for Beginners
- Pivot Table Excel Tutorial
When it comes to spreadsheet editors, the top three today are Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and LibreOffice Calc (popular with open-source enthusiasts). While their interfaces may differ slightly, they all operate similarly. As you become more familiar with their features, you’ll unlock new possibilities.
In today’s web-driven world, data is everything, and spreadsheets remain one of the most accessible and flexible tools for organizing, analyzing, and sharing it. As the examples I’ve shared demonstrate, spreadsheets aren’t inherently dull. Sure, they can be, but when used effectively, they become the engines driving dynamic, impactful work.
Where they take you is entirely up to you.