Do you actually need a dashboard for your company?
Dashboards are a huge buzzword right now for companies of all sizes and industries. It seems like everyone wants a dashboard, and they want this dashboard to display every metric possible for their company.
Here is the biggest problem when it comes to dashboards….
Yes, it’s possible to build the dashboard with an impressive interface and a massive amount of data; however, most people end up actually never looking at these dashboards. Companies invest a boatload of money and resources into creating these dashboards but they are practically useless if they are not approached in the right way in the first place.
Most of you who think you need a dashboard actually don’t…
This should be a relief as you don’t necessarily have to invest time and money as you may have thought to get the data you need to make informed decisions. The most important thing with a dashboard is figuring out what you want to be done with the information that is gathered.
Ask people what metrics they want their dashboard to display and they usually say everything…
Most people want dashboards to give them every the stat possible such as customer retention, churn rates, and all kinds of metrics that look ‘really pretty’ and impressive to view.
The question then becomes how are you going to use the information in your dashboard to make informed decisions for your company?
If you are showing revenue on a dashboard and that revenue goes up 10% what are you going to do about it? If the revenue goes down 10% what are you going to do about it? The key is to drill down and figure out what you actually want to do with the information you are collecting from a dashboard.
At the end of the day, you may find out there is simply one metric that matters most to your business more than any other…
A lot of times you are able to find one metric that drives all others. So stop and think about what metrics you really need, and then what action you would take with that data. Oftentimes there is a more efficient way to get that data and then act on it to make positive changes to your business.
