How to get reporting dashboards right
Teams tend to reach for this after something has already gone wrong. The short answer to reporting dashboards is that it is mostly a sequence of small decisions, not one big one.
Data you do not trust is worse than no data, because it gets quoted anyway. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.
Why it matters
A dashboard nobody opens is not a dashboard. The reasoning matters more than the rule, because the rule has exceptions. The failure mode is not doing it wrong, it is doing it once and assuming it stays done.
The steps
- Establish what you have today before changing anything
- Fewer numbers, more clearly explained
- Every metric should suggest an action
- Write down the decision so the next person does not re-litigate it
Every metric should suggest an action. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. The failure mode is not doing it wrong, it is doing it once and assuming it stays done.
A reasonable first step
What this looks like day to day
Measurement is only useful when someone has agreed in advance what they would do differently. Three things worth confirming about reporting dashboards before you move on:
- Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
- A dashboard nobody opens is not a dashboard — and you know whether that is true here
- There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped
None of this needs a rewrite. Most of it is a morning's work once someone decides to do it.