How do you measure the impact and value of your team dashboard and report?

Here's a structured approach ☀️Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) ☀️Alignment with Goals ☀️Measure any improvements in team performance ☀️Use the feedback and insights

Measure the impact and value of your team dashboard and report by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and user engagement metrics, such as frequency of use and time spent on the dashboard. Collect feedback from team members on its usability and usefulness. Evaluate whether it helps in decision-making, improving productivity, and achieving business objectives, making adjustments as necessary based on these insights.

To measure the impact and value of your team dashboard and report, consider key metrics like user engagement, data accuracy, actionable insights generated, and decision-making improvements. Track the frequency of dashboard usage, feedback from stakeholders, and the alignment of KPIs with business goals. Utilize surveys, interviews, and analytics tools to gather quantitative and qualitative data. Monitor changes in performance, efficiency gains, and cost savings attributed to dashboard-driven actions. Additionally, assess the scalability and adaptability of the dashboard to evolving business needs. Regularly review and refine the dashboard based on user input and market trends to ensure ongoing relevance and value.

Be aware of the difference between assigning a purpose to your team, and listening to the purpose your team feels is important. A dashboard is only aggregating and augmenting communication that is already happening, it's not reinventing the wheel. Take the time when shaping the purpose of the dashboard to get lots of feedback from your team and their connections throughout your organization. Then, listen between the lines to what the intent behind that communication is. Here you'll find a purpose that adds value for your team instead of making an extra thing for them to check during the day.

To set up a dashboard or report, first, clearly define its purpose. Then choose relevant data like productivity or quality metrics to reflect your team’s performance. Decide how often you need to update this data and ensure it’s accurate and reliable by using dependable collection methods. This approach helps you effectively monitor and enhance team performance.

Investing quality time at this phase will ensure a well-used dashboard. Collaboration is key at this phase because people can interpret the same set of numbers very differently. So while it's important to ask who you're creating this for, it's also important to walk over to that person's desk and observe how they are currently interacting with their numbers in order to capture and display something of value to them in the final product. Keep in mind the balance between the individual in a role, and the duties of the role itself. Take note in this phase who may not be able to be accommodated in the design and what education needs to happen in order to get them on the same page as the rest of the team.

Remember garbage in garbage out. The first stage is to always make sure you have complete data! Imagine you are looking at a data field that exists on 1,000 items but is only filled out on 50. Are you able to see that you only have 5% of the data? Before trying to infer things from a set of 50, you may have an upstream process issue that you need to address.

Dashboards should have a flow to them from top to bottom. Higher level KPI type metrics at the top, details below. Ideally they are interactive meaning you can drill in up top and it adjusts down below. Don’t put too much on a dashboard. A dashboard should serve a single business purpose. Everything on that dashboard should align to the purpose and everything needed for that purpose should be on that dashboard!

The person reading the report is likely not at the same level in the organization as the person generating the numbers in the report. The language and focus are different between the inputs and outputs. Make sure you have your target audience (even if it's only one person) clearly in mind when you're writing. You're essentially translating from one set of responsibilities to another and need to provide value outside of your regular scope.

Data is objective and interpretation are subjective. Ideally you are putting in both. Reports should tell a story. They have a flow to them. If you spent 2 hours building the report, I should be able to follow it and understand both what your conclusion is and how you arrived at it in 10 minutes or less.

Good dashboards are a process to build. It’s worth investing the time because you will use them repeatedly to monitor that part of the business. Once properly finished, they allow you to step back from the weeds but keep your finger on the pulse for changing dynamics. When the dynamics change, the dashboard lets you easily figure out where and why.

Not all feedback is formal. Keep an ear to the ground outside of regular meetings and standardized surveys because you might find the biggest gem of insight when you least expect it. Many people are uncomfortable delivering negative reviews directly, and when something is working well there's often not much to say about it. Communicating informally with co-workers will help get a sense of people's day-to-day interactions with the dashboard.