How to improve your dashboard, flash report, or key performance indicator (KPI)
Most of you know people who are pilots and we sure all fly enough. You want the commercial pilot of the plane you are flying to have access to all the information they need, PRIORITIZED in some way so that they can focus on the right things in a timely manner. We think it’s okay for them to have access to a lot of information, when the big picture says they need it.
So why do too many accept suboptimal dashboards, key metrics, flash reports, or executive summaries from the board of directors?
Big data sounds great unless you drown yourself in it. Most feel they have all the strategy they want, but not enough execution. I know what I do. Who else is thinking that there are not enough hours in the day?
Considering how measuring and managing with the right dashboard can help you prioritize and focus on the right things to make your day more efficient.
The old business adage You can’t manage what you can’t measure points to the important concept of using quantifiable measures to help understand organizational performance. The measures you choose to focus on should reflect your critical success factors and priorities. A fiscal vision that links key financial measures to your strategic plan will inject a much-needed dose of reality into designing and executing a long-term master plan to allow your organization to survive and prosper.
Everything said above assumes that your organization can improve its dashboard.
Some have large, accurate, prioritized dashboards created by their people and tailored for their people. At best, they can use this as a quick refresher on that additional tuning or upgrade to gain even more competitive advantage, agility, or speed.
For the rest of us, consider where you could improve your process:
How well does the chosen set of measures provide your organization with a prioritized dashboard to measure the factors and programs critical to its success?
Where does that dashboard measure everything known to mankind and are you drowning in too many top A + problems? For your organization, surely some of the myriad of top options can move to a second level of priorities.
How well does it allow the company to see where it has been, where it is today, and where it is likely to be in the future?
Where are the pretty colors, flashing lights, and the ability to print professional-looking graphics as good as measuring the right things, accurately measuring, and presenting information on time?
The weakest link anywhere in these questions becomes the lowest common denominator that reduces the value of the entire dashboard, flash report, executive summary, or whatever version of this crucial tool you use.
Why not address your weakest link in the process to dramatically improve overall value? You deserve more and you can sixteen, with a little extra strategic work.