The Book of DASHBOARDS

Introduction

When a business is data-driven, it can operate efficiently, perform consistently and grow sustainably. Founders and leaders within the business can only make the best decisions possible if they’re informed by accurate and timely data. Teams can spot red flags and course-correct to prevent widespread disruptions in operations. And the company can continue to deliver more of what they know delights their valued customers and partners.

It should be easy for businesses to be truly data-driven. Most businesses generate countless data points that can paint a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not. But unfortunately, too often that data stays hidden, where the team can’t see or act on it – either buried in spreadsheets or scattered across different SaaS tools and databases that only select team members know how to use. And unless a business has access to an expensive data warehouse solution, a data specialist or a complex BI tool that requires months of setup and training – that’s exactly where the data stays – hidden.

Businesses that do have access to these resources face a different challenge: systems that can be slow to update, which leaves them with data that isn’t live. At a time when teams are working asynchronously, and doing business across timezones is increasingly the norm, making decisions based on data that may already be too old can cause serious problems.

Barriers to Becoming Data-Driven

That’s where dashboards come in. With the right dashboards, your teams can get the most out of your data and overcome what we believe are the three biggest barriers to becoming a truly data-driven business:

Access

Dashboards allow every team member to see the most important data for their area of accountability, as well as for the whole company. When you provide everyone in the organization access to the most relevant data at any given time, they can spend more time on focusing on outcomes rather than updates.

Understanding

When data is effectively visualized through dashboards, your team can understand the business at a glance and make better decisions faster. Dashboards present you with historical trends and highlight important – and sometimes unexpected – changes, so people can spot them and respond quickly.

Awareness

Make it easy for your teams to use the data as the jumping-off point for the most important conversations around the business. Whether through TVs at the office or via Slack, displaying and sharing dashboards throughout the company ensures that the right data stays top-of-mind for each team member, and no one gets left in the dark.

The CEO Dashboard

CEOs need to be able to focus on the big picture while keeping an eye on the details. They’re typically busy wearing multiple hats within a single day, working to move the whole business forward while considering every department’s needs and performance.

A dashboard can provide a time-poor CEO a high-level overview of the company metrics. Designed right, CEOs can use dashboards to quickly get a clear idea of overall business performance without needing to schedule a meeting or keep in touch with areas of the company that they may have become less involved in as the business has grown.

CEO dashboards often serve a dual purpose. In addition to communicating data from the business to the CEO, they also indirectly communicate the CEO’s priorities to everyone in the business. This frees up the CEO’s time and energy to focus on the most mission-critical activities that’ll move the business in the right direction.

Having these real-time metrics on display encourages and motivates my staff to do a better job. It also democratizes the monitoring of key metrics, which means everyone here feels responsible for the numbers and for improving them.
Alejandro Pérez, CEO

The CFO Dashboard

CFOs (or in some companies, Finance Directors) need to maintain a high-level overview of the company’s financial health. This involves staying on top of all sorts of metrics, like annual revenue, monthly recurring revenue and overheads.

Having easy access to this data allows CFOs to maintain operational oversight, to ensure that the business is essentially generating more income than it spends. It also allows them to make certain predictions about cash flow and profitability based on historical trends.

Track Multiple Categories of Data

CFO dashboards allow for rapid decision-making by providing a real-time overview of finances, helping to identify undesirable trends before they become an issue throughout the day.

The Sales Manager Dashboard

On the surface, it might appear that Sales Managers have a simple goal: ensure that the business is generating a steady stream of sales from new and repeat clients. But it’s a huge responsibility to drive the incoming cashflow that would allow the company to firstly continue to pay overheads and operational costs, and secondly fund further growth or expansion.

Dashboards enable Sales Managers to easily get a complete overview of the metrics they need to be effective in their role. With the right design and integrations, Sales Managers can use dashboards to assess the performance of each sales team member and encourage friendly competition among peers.

Having real-time data made our CEO so happy. It enabled us to make business decisions based on live data. We had increased the effectiveness of the daily huddle, and could start coaching using accurate data.
Michelle Jaeger, Five Doors Network

The HR Dashboard

HR teams increasingly play a much more active role in ensuring a business is equipped with talented, motivated and happy teams.

With dashboards, HR teams can easily track and visualize metrics around recruitment targets, employee satisfaction, and even Learning and Development progress or completion throughout the team. This means less time is spent on reporting and updates, and more time is spent on optimizing internal campaigns and initiatives that positively impact your people.

It’s as much about finding and recruiting highly skilled professionals as it is about making sure that employees are engaged.

The Customer Support Dashboard

Delighting your customers is a daily mission that goes well beyond the onboarding stage.

A real-time Customer Support dashboard allows you to see the number of open or live tickets, as well as track other support metrics like Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and First Response Time (FRT).

We have Customer Care dashboards up in each of our three offices around the world displaying KPIs on screens right next to the teams.
Felix Starzer, Head of Customer Care

About Geckoboard

Geckoboard is a software company that makes it easy for teams to build and share beautiful dashboards.

Since 2010, we’ve been helping businesses put data at the heart of their culture and decision making. We believe it shouldn’t be difficult or expensive for businesses to access their data and visualize it in a way where everyone can understand what’s going on.