How do you know if your customer service is living up to customer expectations? The answer is in KPIs, or key performance indicators. There are plenty of different KPIs you can use to measure customer service and the success of your business’s customer service strategy. Sep 28, 2011 What I’m talking about here is a level of discipline and skill necessary to collect and analyze the relevant business data, known as metrics. Here is my selection of ten key metrics that every. Oct 12, 2014 Of the best-run community banks in the U.S., very few names may ring a bell. That’s because they’re mostly small, independently owned banks with.
Metrics are numbers that tell you important information about a process under question. They tell you accurate measurements about how the process is functioning and provide base for you to suggest improvements.
It is said that only when one can express their understanding in terms of numbers is the understanding satisfactory and meaningful.
Usually measuring results with one metric is not a good enough strategy. A combination of metrics is used to measure the effectiveness of the process.
In the end it is only an understanding of both types of metrics and what they suggest can meaningful decisions be made about the process is question.
Here are some important functions that metrics fulfil in an organization.
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An effective business dashboard is the single source for the truth for relevant information that your team or key stakeholders will want to access at any time. It should be visually clear, enabling users to easily decipher and glean key takeaways in order to make smarter business decisions. When done right, a well-designed dashboard can help to align organizational efforts, make fast, data-driven decisions, improve business performance, and increase ROI.
In this article we will take a look at what a business dashboard consists of, how to build an effective business dashboard, essential tips for defining dashboard metrics, and the features that make an ideal business dashboard software. We’ll also take a look at examples of business dashboards and the top metrics to include, by industry vertical. We’ll finish off by describing a more collaborative business dashboard in Smartsheet.
Individuals often have very different ideas of what a business dashboard is. Business dashboards, also known as executive dashboards, were originally modeled after the dashboard of an automobile. Automobile dashboards give you a view of what is going on under the hood, through a combination of visual gauges and displays, and help to provide insight to the status of the car. Similarly a well-designed business dashboard is a visual display of KPIs, metrics, and other key data points that provide the status of a business, department, or specific process.
Within this article, when discussing business dashboards we are not referring to business intelligence dashboards. Although, business intelligence dashboards are important to help businesses consolidate and gain value out of big data, we are talking to business dashboards that provide executives and key stakeholders insight into performance as compared to strategic goals.
Typically there are two types of business dashboards: analytical and operational. Determining which type of business dashboard is right for you depends on the information you are trying to present, the audience that will benefit from the information, and the timeliness of the data.
An analytical dashboard looks at large amounts of data over a long period of time to gain insights into trends. These dashboards are intended to help executives and analysts align strategic, long-term goals with performance management. Operational dashboards typically look at short-term, immediate objectives that are time-sensitive and intended for middle managers and the general workforce.
It’s possible that depending on the goal of your dashboard, it may be a mix of both an analytical and operational dashboard. Either way, it is important to determine the purpose of your dashboard to ensure that the audience gets the most out of the data included.
The intended audience for your business dashboard will help determine which metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) you should include. People often think that metrics and KPIs are one in the same. However, there are a few differences between these two types of visualization.
A business metric is a quantifiable measure that businesses use to track, monitor, and assess the effectiveness of business processes. The business metrics that you include on your business dashboard should be tailored to fit your audience. You wouldn’t necessarily include the same metrics for every area within a company.
Each area of business will want to see metrics specific to their initiatives. For example, the marketing department would track campaign success, while the sales team monitors new leads and sales to date. Ensure that when you are planning your business dashboard you consider the audience and which metrics will best fit their needs.
Additionally, providing context is essential to the effectiveness of business metrics. The benefit of tracking business metrics comes when they are compared to established benchmarks or strategic goals. This context helps business leaders to stay on track with goals, and also take action when areas are falling behind plan.
Some examples of business metrics include:
A key performance indicator (KPI) is a business metric used to evaluate the performance of specific factors and strategic goals that are crucial to the success of the organization. KPIs provide insight into how successfully an individual, team, or company is reaching their targets, and measures the performance against key business objectives.
Some examples of KPIs include:
KPI and business metrics are similar because they both measure how a business is doing, against strategic goals and initiatives. The difference lies with the generalness of each. A business metric looks at how a business process is measuring up against goals, while a KPI target critical areas of performance.
With the large amount of data that companies have access to, it is imperative that business leaders understand and use that data to help make critical business decisions. What’s more, the ability to quickly surface key data and glean insights is necessary to making accurate decisions. With a well-designed business dashboard, you have access to the most up-to-date data right at your fingertips.
Here are some of the reasons why business dashboards are critical:
Now that you’ve seen the importance of business dashboards, how do you build a dashboard that your team will actually use and that your manager considers invaluable? We have identified some key challenges and best practices for developing actionable business dashboards.
One key challenge of developing a business dashboard is determining which metrics and KPIs to include. In order for your audience to find value in the dashboard, you should include metrics that matter to them. Commonly, because individuals have access to so much data, they want to include it all on a business dashboard, thinking more information is better. Unfortunately, this is where many dashboards fall short of providing key information to its audience.
Start by thinking of your audience needs when determining which metrics to include. When designing your dashboard, be cognizant that different audiences need different dashboards. Consider what your audience needs, how often they will look at the data, what they need to learn from the data, and what they already know about the subject matter.
Additionally, you will want to determine the most important metric first, then identify underlying metrics. The most important metric should be prominently displayed near the top, with supporting metrics that provide a drill down into the details underneath. For example, within a sales pipeline dashboard, your most important metric could be total size of the pipeline, and should be displayed near the top. Then the data that underlies the sales pipeline, like the specific opportunities that contribute to the overall number, are displayed but are secondary to the primary metric.
Another key challenge of developing a business dashboard, is creating one that people will actually use. Identifying the right information to include and showing users the return on investment is important to the success of your business dashboard as an invaluable tool.
One way to do this is to keep your dashboard simple. As mentioned before, businesses have access to so much data and people often feel the need to include as much data, in as many charts and graphs, as possible. However, including too much data on your business dashboard may result in data overload for your audience. Instead, identify the key metrics to include and remove everything else. Excess information, confusing graphics, and unnecessary features make dashboards difficult to use and understand.
Another way to ensure users find the value in your business dashboard is to share it with your audience and request their feedback. The true value of a dashboard comes from the information it provides its user. And, if the intended audience is not gaining the information they need from it, then it needs to be adjusted. Continue to improve on your layout - metrics included - and formatting of your dashboard to help users find the most value.
Depending on the nature of your work and the intended audience, the business metrics you include on your dashboard will vary. To help you determine which metrics to include, we have created the following list of best practices for defining business dashboard metrics:
1. Make sure metrics are important to the business user.
In order for dashboard users to find value in your dashboard, make sure that the metrics included are important to them. What does your audience need to know and how much detail will they need are two questions you should ask yourself when defining business dashboard metrics. Providing the most relevant metrics to your audience will make a huge difference in whether they use it.
2. Include metrics that are actionable.
Actionable metrics are metrics that are tied to repeatable tasks and specific strategic goals. If the metrics you include on your dashboard cannot be improved then you shouldn’t be spending your effort on them. The purpose of a dashboard is to help improve key performance against specific goals. And including metrics that help in this process is essential.
3. Metrics should be measured frequently.
Dashboard metrics should be measured frequently to provide the user with the most up-to-date information. Part of the effectiveness of dashboards is that they provide real-time access to key insights. Determine how often your audience will need the information included on your dashboard, and make sure the data is updated accordingly.
4. Use formatting to make the metrics easy to interpret.
One common mistake people make when building business dashboards is to include a variety of colors and different types of graphs, charts, and gauges. This makes the dashboard seem cluttered and difficult to interpret. Instead, keep your dashboard as simple as possible and use color sparingly, to help the user understand the data.
5. Provide context by alerting users visually and then including a drill down if needed.
To ensure your dashboard is actionable, provide a high-level metric and then include supporting metrics so that the user may identify cause. This context will help make your dashboard actionable for the user.
6. Ensure users of every level know individual, departmental, and strategic goals.
Dashboards are important to provide insight on how performance is measuring up to strategic goals. But if the user doesn’t know what their individual, department, or company goals are, then the dashboards will be of little help to them. Make sure everyone is aware of the goals, and how the dashboard can help them achieve those goals.
Now that you have an idea of how to define the metrics that will best fit your team’s needs, you can begin identifying which metrics to include. The number of metrics to include on your dashboard depends on the amount of data you absolutely need to display to get your message across. Here is a list of suggested metrics to track, by business category:
Building an effective dashboard is as much about defining which metrics to include as it is about choosing the best tool to create it. But with all the business dashboard software out there, how do you choose the right tool for your team? We’ve compiled a list of important features that the essential business dashboard software should include.
Smartsheet is an enterprise work management platform that fundamentally changes the way teams, leaders, and businesses get work done. Over 70,000 brands and millions of information workers trust Smartsheet as the best way to plan, track, automate, and report on work.
With dashboards in Smartsheet, you’ll have real-time visibility into work progress to make better decisions and keep your teams on the same page every step of the way. The configurable, widget-driven dashboards enable users to highlight the information that’s most relevant to their business - without the need for technical support. Know the status of your business at a glance, gain insights, and accelerate your team’s innovation all in one platform.
Discover how Smartsheet dashboards will help your team make better-informed decisions, fast.
No matter what industry you are in, dashboards help give you and your team the ability to work smarter not harder. Here are some examples of ways that Smartsheet dashboards can be used to increase organizational speed and performance:
CIO Dashboard
With the CIO dashboard you get an accurate, consistently up-to-date overview of your IT portfolio. You can see if the current portfolio spend is aligning with strategic objectives, get a true check on the health of the portfolio, and see upcoming major milestones.
Program Management
The Program Management dashboard will help you stay informed on the status of any number or combination of organizational programs, or dig into the details of an individual project. You can gain visibility into all projects in the program and track how they’re performing, get an at-a-glance view of program-level performance metrics, access program documents and workspaces quickly, and drill-down to project details with just a few clicks.
HR Resource Center
With the HR Resource dashboard you can track all HR activities, projects, and timelines - in real-time - from a centralized hub. Also, create one view of all HR-related activities, check status on hiring and onboarding procedures, employee programs, and department spend, and get easy access to HR information from outside sources with quick shortcut links.
Project Management
The Project Status dashboard creates a single source of the truth for any project to make smarter, more informed decisions, faster. You can surface and share key tasks, milestones, and progress, see all project team members, both inside and outside of the company, and their roles and assignments, and track project performance metrics in real-time.
Sales Pipeline
With the Sales Pipeline dashboard you can get high-level or detailed visibility into all sales activities and progress. Track sales pipeline activity, key metrics, and status, analyze metrics by pipeline stage, product line, or sales rep to look for any potential weaknesses or strengths, and get one-click access to every opportunity in the pipeline.
Personal To-Do Tracker
Use the Personal To-Do Tracker dashboard to build a personal, centralized hub of all of the key information you care most about. You can generate a master calendar that displays key milestones, assignments, and tasks on all of your projects, get a quick view of all key metrics you’re tracking, KPIs, and campaign performance, and create a shortcut list of all frequently visited websites, folders, sheets, and files so that you quickly have access to everything you need right at your fingertips.
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Building a business dashboard that provides your team with the right amount of details, to make critical business decisions, is essential to remain competitive in a fast-paced business world. And, finding a business dashboard software that enables you to provide a well-built business dashboard, in real-time, is also important to ensure that your team actually uses it. With Smartsheet dashboards, you can create a dashboard that provides visibility into the important details from anywhere, at any time.
See what you can do with dashboards in Smartsheet.
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