How to Build Impressive Dashboards for Data Management

The advancements in analysis technology have allowed companies the ability to measure almost anything. With so much data available, it becomes increasingly important for managers to determine what metrics meet specific needs so as to avoid drowning in an ocean of ultimately irrelevant information. The most productive way to present this information is through business dashboards, and determining the most appropriate dashboard example and template.

A dashboard is a web interface that organizes and presents information in a clear, concise manner. Business dashboards are data management tools that provide visibility into key performance indications, or KPIs, through visually stimulating and understandable graphics, bringing clarity to data.

Dashboard Examples and Development

According to Harold Kerzner, Senior Executive Director for Project Management at the International Institute for Learning, dashboards can be operational or analytical, although several dashboard examples and templates provide for both. An operational dashboard monitors performance, while an analytical dashboard focuses on data trends over time. In his book, Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards: A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance, Kerzner discusses the benefits of dashboards, the rules for dashboards and the best dashboard practices. He also provides a number of dashboard examples and dashboard templates.

Dashboard examples can include several different types of data visualization including tables to organize data into columns and rows or line charts to plot trends in spending, profit or customer satisfaction. Developing a successful digital dashboard starts with a plan, includes audience identification, KPI determination, pilot testing and tweaking, and results in a usable product for companies to understanding their business objectives and outcomes.

Phase I-Define Audience, Identify KPIs and Choose Dashboard Type

Start with identifying your key audience. Different management positions within the same company seek out different types of information, and this would determine what dashboard example and template is used. While several types of dashboard examples and templates could be utilized, executive, marketing, sales and social media are the most prolific.

• Executive Dashboard Example: An executive dashboard example would address high-level, overall information about a business that would be easily digestible, and something that a high-level executive would be able to use in explaining to potential and existing clients. In an article in ProjectManagers.org, Kerzner said, Executives are more interested in what is going to happen (KPIs) than where we are today (Metrics). So trends are KPIs. I never report time, cost or scope to executives. What executives want to see is the future, not the present.
• Marketing Dashboard Example: A marketing dashboard should utilize KPIs specific to monitoring the success, or lack thereof, of promotion campaigns. According to The Big Book of Dashboards, marketing dashboard examples and templates would include metrics like marketing costs in relation to sales, how consumer interaction affects sales, referrals from marketing campaigns or social media utilization.
• Sales Dashboard Examples: A sales dashboard should include performance-based information in real-time to allow a sales manager and their team to identify room for improvement and new opportunities. A sales manager dashboard example should include sales information, trends in products, information on what opportunities were won and lost and what employees should be commended or assisted.
• Social Media Dashboard Example: A social media dashboard looks at social media applications, such as Facebook Moment App or Instagram, to glean information on marketing, sales, customer satisfaction and more. This dashboard example allows a company to coordinate all social media into one place for data review and analysis. This tool assists companies in monitoring social conversations generally or related to specific products or marketing campaigns to understand in real-time what consumers are saying to one another.

After identifying the appropriate audience, determine what information is important to that audience. What critical information of your organization in relation to the chosen audience needs to be measured? Determining the appropriate KPIs will depend on the answer. As with dashboards in general, the KPIs should be related the strategic plan of the business, actionable, understood easily by all managers, relevant and something that can be measured easily and frequently. Keep in mind that regardless of audience, management dashboards should address progress, changes and room for improvement.

Phase II-Select Visuals and Choose Dashboard Template

Your defined audience will want current, unambiguous and easy-to-understand metrics. Several dashboard templates are available in a variety of available programs including Excel, PowerPoint, Tableau and Datapine.

For example, Excel provides free project dashboard templates. To create an eye-pleasing and content rich dashboard in Excel, the following basic steps should be taken:

• Gather and understand the information to be presented.
• Start with an Excel workbook. Review the available dashboard templates and choose one based on the needs of the company. Note two tabsone for dashboard, one for raw data.
• Import data into Excel utilizing a Live Data Connector to ensure the data remains up to date in a flat file or pivot table.
• Using tabs, create a table with raw data.
• Take time to analyze the date to determine what information needs to be highlighted, revised or removed.
• Begin building the dashboard by adding a Gantt chart.
• Continue to include information in appropriate charts and pivot tables.
• Customize the dashboard with colors, graphs, tables, etc.
• Ensure the dashboard is appropriately linked to a real-time data conduit if desired.

The ideal dashboard example or template is one that can be manipulated easily by the intended audience, with as few swipe or keyboard interactions as possible. Set up automatic reminders for notification when information changes.

Phase III-Pilot Testing and Feedback Implementation

Once implemented, a dashboard is a work-in-progress. It is important to allow members of your team to provide feedback and to take that feedback into consideration in examining the effectiveness of the dashboard. Even if the feedback leads to use of an alternate dashboard example or template, recognizing and implementing user-driven response is important to address the specific points of your intended audience.

Pilot testing should accomplish more than just finding problems, although ensuring accurate information is key, it should also highlight positives to be implemented further.