Creating a Project Using INDEX and MATCH in Excel

Objective

To create a project management dashboard where you can retrieve project details (e.g., project name or status) based on the project ID using the INDEX and MATCH functions in Excel.

Formula Overview

The combined form of INDEX and MATCH allows for flexible lookup capabilities.

Formula Structure

The formula structure is as follows:

=INDEX(return_range, MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_range, 0))

Explanation of the Components

• INDEX: Retrieves a value from a specified range based on the row and column number.

  • return_range: The range of cells from which to return a value.

• MATCH: Searches for a specified value and returns its relative position in a given range.

  • lookup_value: The value you want to find within the lookup range.
  • lookup_range: The range of cells that contains the values you want to search for.
  • 0: Indicates that you want an exact match.

Practical Example

Setup

Assume you have the following data in Excel:

Retrieve Project Name

You want to retrieve the Project Name using a Project ID. In cell E2, you enter the Project ID you want to look up (e.g., 101).

Formula

In cell F2, use the following formula to find the Project Name:

=INDEX(B2:B4, MATCH(E2, A2:A4, 0))

Explanation

1. B2:B4: This is the return_range, where the Project Names are located.
2. MATCH(E2, A2:A4, 0): This part searches for the value in cell E2 within the Project ID range (A2:A4). It returns the relative position of the matching Project ID.
3. Combined: The INDEX function uses the result from the MATCH function to return the corresponding Project Name.

Retrieve Project Status

To retrieve the Project Status using the same Project ID, enter the following formula in cell G2:

=INDEX(C2:C4, MATCH(E2, A2:A4, 0))

Explanation

1. C2:C4: This is the return_range for the Project Status.
2. MATCH(E2, A2:A4, 0): Remains the same as above and finds the relative position of the Project ID in the lookup range.
3. Combined: The INDEX function returns the corresponding Project Status.

Conclusion

Using INDEX and MATCH together in Excel allows you to efficiently retrieve data based on a unique identifier. This approach is versatile and can be adapted for various data retrieval tasks in project management and other areas of data analysis.

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