What's with the pen??!!

Why have a dashboard?

It’s either expected, or unexpected, I can’t decide which, but this is one of the most common questions I get asked!.

My dashboard partner, Klipfolio, addressed this question in a good post recently. I’ve pulled out the summary below, you can read the whole post here if you’d like.

Benefits of using a dashboard for your business

Dashboards serve different purposes for different roles. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all dashboard. Well designed dashboards answer business questions and provide insights before your team even has to ask for them.

Benefits of using a dashboard for your business:

  • Monitor multiple metrics and KPIs at once
  • Easy to read
  • Save time by reducing or eliminating manual reporting tasks
  • Consistent and timely cross-functional communication

Let’s look at each benefit in a little more detail.

Monitor multiple metrics and KPIs at once

When a change happens within a department, whether it’s good or bad, it can have a ripple effect on your business. And putting your data on a dashboard makes everything a lot easier.

Use a dashboard to your advantage to dig deeper and draw a correlation between your metrics and KPIs to understand what’s working — and what’s not. Monitor your metrics and KPIs on a central dashboard, and make adjustments to your business practices in real time.

Easy to read

You don’t have to be a data analyst to use and understand a data dashboard. Dashboards should be easy to read. When you apply the principles and best practices of dashboard design, you can call-out important data points that anyone can observe and understand at-a-glance. Your dashboard should be designed so that even if you don’t work in marketing or finance, you can still understand the data being presented.

Save time by reducing or eliminating manual reporting tasks

It’s no secret: data dashboards save time. You no longer have to go to multiple services or spreadsheets to retrieve your data and put it into a report. Dashboards do all the heavy lifting for you!

Invest the time up-front to set up and design a dashboard that will pay back that time investment 10x over. Automatically generate reports with your data anytime, anywhere.

Consistent and timely cross-functional communication

Dashboards allow everyone in the business to make and validate business decisions and create greater synergy across the organization.

With the data readily available on a dashboard, executives and leaders no longer have to request information from a data analyst. Analysts can work in the background while users can access the information they need at any time. It’s a win-win!