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Lise Quinn's avatar
Lise Quinn
Copper Contributor
Oct 06, 2022

How to chart wait times over days

I want to make a chart out of this type of data to show the us and downs of wait times for our center, I cannot figure it out, I've been advised to use plot charts, but the don't plot, it's just a st...
Charting
excel
Lise Quinn's avatar
Lise Quinn
Copper Contributor
Oct 07, 2022
On the vertical axis or date column in excel, you will see dates of 7/1, 7/8, 7/15 in the next column you will see wait times for "in processing" service which lists 25:20 minutes and seconds, for 7/1. 1:07:21 one hour, seven minutes and 21 seconds for 7/8 and then on 7/15 the wait time for the same service, in-processing was 28:26 minutes and seconds.
I then have the wait times for the next service, "Out-processing" and so on.
The last two columns, total served and total turned away won't be included in this chart.
HansVogelaar's avatar
HansVogelaar
MVP
Oct 07, 2022

Lise Quinn 

In the attached workbook, I have created 5 possible charts based on your sample data. Perhaps there is something you can use.

  • Lise Quinn's avatar
    Lise Quinn
    Copper Contributor
    Oct 07, 2022

    HansVogelaar I added the rest of the info to that charts xls you sent, and it won't let me expand the data to include the new data, it says 

    All I am doing is changing the range in the right hand pane from A4 to A5
    I've attached the xlsx file

    • HansVogelaar's avatar
      HansVogelaar
      MVP
      Oct 08, 2022

      Lise Quinn 

      Don't worry about the message "The data range is too complex". Close that dialog.

      To expand the range, click o a single series in the chart.

      You will see something like this (it depends on the selected series, of course):

      You see the "formula" for the series in the formula bar.

      =SERIES(Sheet1!$B$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$4,Sheet1!$B$2:$B$4,1)

      It has four arguments:

      • The name of the series.
      • The x-values, currently A2:A4.
      • The y-values, currently B2:B4.
      • The order of the series (is it the 1st, 2nd. etc.)

      You can expand the series by editing this formula. You want to extend the range to row 13, for example. So change it to

      =SERIES(Sheet1!$B$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$13,Sheet1!$B$2:$B$13,1)

      You will see the effect in the data source:

      and in the chart:

      Repeat for each of the other series.

      It is also possible to create a dynamic chart, for example by changing the data source to a table.

      • Lise Quinn's avatar
        Lise Quinn
        Copper Contributor
        Oct 12, 2022

        HansVogelaar I ultimately converted to minutes to a number rather than a time type of item. Once I did that I was able to make a line chart, thank you for all your input and helping me think this through. I got it done in time for my presentation and my CIO was very happy

    • Patrick2788's avatar
      Patrick2788
      Silver Contributor
      Oct 07, 2022

      Lise Quinn 

      There's a few ways to update a chart's data source. You can select the chart and then click-and-drag the blue box around the data to expand the range:

       

      • Lise Quinn's avatar
        Lise Quinn
        Copper Contributor
        Oct 07, 2022
        I tried both dragging the blue box which wouldn't, but it would slide up and down with 4 selections and I tried in the properties but I get the error to complex.

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