How Leaders Use Next Level Tableau Training and Video Courses to Help Teams Learn Tableau Desktop and Build Sustainable Capability

by Fiona Crocker | Co-Founder, Dub Dub Data

TL;DR

The best Tableau training doesn’t just teach features - it helps teams learn how to build consistency, resilience, and confidence in the way they work with data. Leaders who invest wisely aren’t just buying an online course; they’re building sustainable Tableau capability and analytics skill that compounds in business value over time.

Dub Dub Data consistently recommends Next Level Tableau from renowned coach Andy Kriebel because it helps Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server users create shared mental models, reusable patterns, and confidence across mixed-skill analyst teams without slowing delivery. The result is stronger dashboard design, faster reviews, distributed expertise, and higher trust in Tableau analytics and reporting.

It’s not about learning more features in isolation – it’s about helping people learn Tableau in a structured way and building scalable Tableau capability that sticks across every dashboard and server environment.

What Leaders Are Really Asking When They Ask About Tableau Training

When leaders ask us where their teams should learn Tableau Desktop properly, they’re really asking about outcomes from their Tableau training and analytics investment, not just which course to pick.

They want to know:

• How do we build consistency across our Tableau reporting and data analysis?
• How do we develop capability and skill across the team, not just in one or two expert analysts?
• How do we upskill mixed-experience Tableau users without slowing delivery or overloading our Tableau Server?
• How do we invest in training and elearning content that compounds over time and continues to create value?

At Dub Dub Data, these conversations come from decision-makers who are accountable for Tableau capability, consistency, and business outcomes – not just whether a training course happened. They need confidence that the way people learn Tableau will translate into better data, better dashboards, and better analysis.

Our answer is consistent.

When it comes to building real Tableau Desktop capability across teams, we actively recommend Next Level Tableau.

This is not a paid endorsement. We recommend this program based on our direct experience and trust it enough to send our clients - and our own team.

What Separates Training That Sticks from Training That Fades

Most Tableau teams have talented, motivated people working with data every day. What they need is training that translates into day-to-day Tableau capability, practical skills in analysis and dashboard creation, and insight that actually influences decisions.

Here's what we've observed across teams:

• Training pitched at the wrong level leaves junior analyst hires overwhelmed and senior analysts disengaged
• Learning that feels useful in the moment often doesn’t stick or connect back to real Tableau Desktop or Tableau Server work
• Different people solving the same data and calculation problem in different ways creates inconsistency and weak governance
• Dashboards that become fragile, inconsistent, or hard to manage and maintain over time across both Desktop and Server

The downstream effects are familiar:

• Rework required during review cycles as charts, tables, and calculations are questioned
• Reliance on one or two go-to experts to manage Tableau dashboards and server content
• Inconsistent metrics that don’t align across dashboards, workbooks, and data sources
• Last-minute fixes before executive meetings as people scramble to prep and validate analysis
• Growing mistrust in reporting outputs and the value of the organisation’s Tableau investment

From a leadership perspective, this isn’t just a training issue - it’s a scalability, governance, and risk issue across your whole analytics platform.

What Leaders Actually Need From Tableau Training for Their Analysts 

When leaders approve Tableau training, they’re investing in three things that sit at the heart of sustainable data and analytics capability:

1. Consistency - teams solving data and analysis problems in aligned ways using shared Tableau patterns

2.  Resilience - dashboards that hold up under pressure, across Desktop, Server, and interactive visualization experiences

3. Confidence - people who understand why a calculation or chart works, not just how to click through the interface

Training that delivers on these fronts creates lasting value. Training that doesn't creates short-term activity without long-term capability.

This is where Next Level Tableau stands out as a practical option for leaders who want to build real Tableau capability, not just tick a training box.

Why Next Level Tableau Works for Teams

Next Level Tableau is structured around how Tableau capability develops over time, not how the content is packaged into lessons or videos. It recognises that people learn Tableau through repetition, applied analysis, and interactive dashboards.  

The Next Level Tableau learning pathway, has a structured set of video lessons with hands-on activities.  These can be completed at people's own pace.  In addition, Andy hosts live virtual classroom sessions which are recorded and available to watch-back at any time.

Virtual Classroom Sessions are deliberately framed as:

• Foundational (Beginner) - building shared mental models and core understanding
• Capability-building (Intermediate) - increasing speed, confidence, and repeatability
• Stretch (Advanced) - expanding what experienced practitioners believe is possible

This structure matters because most teams are not uniform.

In a single group, you may have:

• Graduates new to Tableau
• Analysts building dashboards weekly
• Senior practitioners with years of experience

Next Level Tableau handles this reality exceptionally well. Tableau users at different levels attend the same sessions but take different value from them - without slowing each other down. This alone removes one of the biggest barriers leaders face when approving training and choosing an online learning path for the whole analytics team.

In addition to the training content, there's a lively community where you can ask questions and meet people who are all passionate about levelling-up their capability.  It's the most interactive private community we have experienced in Tableau. 

Finally, NLT also provides a number of quick starters, templates and other useful downloads to help teams get further, faster. 

How Capability Shows Up in Practice

Rather than teaching abstract techniques, the program focuses on practical Tableau patterns teams rely on every day for data prep, calculation, and dashboard design.

Shared Tableau Thinking That Reduces Rework for Analysts

Complex logic - particularly around aggregation and metrics - is one of the fastest ways teams drift apart. Next Level Tableau focuses on building shared mental models so people approach the same problem in the same way.

For leaders, the outcome is consistency across the team. Dashboards become easier to review, maintain, and extend. Review cycles shorten. Quiet frustration reduces.

Reusable Tableau Patterns That Build Reliable Reports and Dashboards

Things like dates and time-based logic are a common source of dashboard errors and inconsistency.

Rather than teaching isolated "tricks", the program emphasises reusable patterns teams can rely on repeatedly.

From a leadership perspective, this delivers:

• Accurate, consistent comparisons
• Distributed knowledge across the team
• Reusable patterns that save time

It also increases trust - in both dashboards and the people producing them.

Stretch Learning That Builds Confidence, Not Chaos

Advanced sessions focus on thoughtful application, not unnecessary complexity.

They help experienced practitioners understand how Tableau actually works - so they can make better design decisions when default approaches fall short.

For leaders, the value isn't that teams start producing exotic visuals. It's that they gain confidence to adapt thoughtfully, rather than relying blindly on templates.

Engagement Is the Multiplier Leaders Underestimate

One of the most powerful aspects of Next Level Tableau is the engagement it creates.

The program fosters:

• Active participation
• Real-time problem-solving
• Questions asked without embarrassment
• A sense that learning can actually be enjoyable

This matters because engagement drives retention.

People show up. They build along. They apply what they learn. And the capability sticks.

Why Dub Dub Data Actively Recommends Next Level Tableau

At Dub Dub Data, we don't outsource learning casually. 

We:

• Put our own team through the program
• Send our clients to Next Level Tableau
• Use it as part of onboarding for junior hires 

If you're curious about some of the hands-on learnings, we've published some of our training onto our Tableau Public profile here. We're happy to answer any questions you have about the training, please reach out on our 'Contact Us' page.

Final Thought for Leaders

The best Tableau training doesn't just improve dashboards - it builds teams that are more resilient, consistent, and confident. That's the capability that compounds over time, and that's what leaders are ultimately accountable for delivering.

Learn more about Next Level Tableau here.