Introduction
Performance dashboards are essential tools for organizations seeking to monitor and optimize their performance through data-driven insights. They provide a visual representation of key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling businesses to track progress, identify trends, and make informed decisions.
Performance dashboards like other types of dashboards consolidates various data sources into a single interface, displaying real-time metrics that reflect an organization's performance against its strategic goals. These dashboards can be tailored to different business functions, such as sales, marketing, finance, or employee performance, allowing users to focus on metrics relevant to their specific roles
Who is this dashboard for?
This dashboard is designed for managers and supervisors to track the performance of business metrics such as sales, profit, orders, days to ship orders, shipping costs, number of new customers, expenses, profit ratio, and order value.
The dashboard tracks each metric’s month-to-date performance against the target – flagging metrics as either above the target, on target, or below the target.
About the data
The data is simulated to mirror the kind of scenarios you will find in a normal business setup. The data contains actual performance values and monthly target values (which have been used to compute month-to-date values) for the nine Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) namely, sales, profit, orders, days to ship orders, shipping costs, number of new customers, expenses, profit ratio, and order value.
Note: The data is simulated for the year 2020. When interacting with it, choose timelines within that period.
What can you accomplish with this dashboard?
Before we look at what you can accomplish with this dashboard, lets understand how to interpret it.
Each indicator in this dashboard contains the following.
Monthly target value – target to be achieved by end of the month.
Month-to-date value – actual performance by the current date (or by the date selected on the parameter object).
Month-to-date target – target to be achieved by the current date (or by the date selected on the parameter object).
Percent change – the percent value difference between the actual performance and the target value, with shapes indicating whether the change is positive or negative.
A bullet chart – showing the monthly target value (as well as the 60% & 80% of the monthly target value), month-to-date target value, and month-to-date value (actual performance values).
(Looking at the Sales indicator in the above view, you can see that by October 14th, 2020 – the sales generated was 38,276.34 against a target of 37,032.26. Meaning as of date 14th, actual sales was above the target sales by 3.36%)
See tabulation of other indicators as of October 14th, 2020.
So, how do you interact with the dashboard?
The dashboard has important objects or features to help you interpret the information.
The legend at the top-right side - this helps you instantly spot indicators that are either above the target, on target, or below the target.
The date selector (which is a parameter) named “Choose Date” – this helps you seamlessly select the date of interest. Note, this date selector should be set to report based on the current date by default – so that the dashboard remains current but with the flexibility to view the report at a specific date of interest.
Hovering on the bars provides additional information on the tooltips.
(For instance, from the above view – users can instantly spots indicators requiring attention such as Orders, Average Days to Ship, Expenses, and Average Order Value and devise ways to address them before its too late)
With such a tool. Executives and business leaders can track important business indicators at a glance. With the ability to instantly spot areas experiencing challenges and devise ways to improve before its too late.
Conclusion
Performance dashboards are invaluable for organizations aiming to enhance their operational effectiveness and strategic alignment. By providing a clear view of performance metrics and facilitating data-driven decision-making, these dashboards empower businesses to adapt swiftly in a competitive landscape. Implementing the right dashboard tailored to specific needs can significantly contribute to achieving organizational goals.
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