Guide to Dashboard Reporting: Benefits and Best Practices

As data leads the way in most modern business decisions, it is critical to have a sound reporting dashboard. Dashboards provide a snapshot of a company’s performance and help executives make better business decisions.

However, many business owners and executives pass over this data in favor of a business intelligence solution. With many forms of data now at their fingertips, deciding between a reporting dashboard and a business intelligence solution can be challenging.

When it’s time for a company to choose a reporting dashboard and business intelligence tool, it’s important to understand a few key considerations.

In this article, we will look at these key considerations and how a reporting dashboard can improve business intelligence success.

What is a reporting dashboard in business?

In the business world, a reporting dashboard is a visual interface that displays metrics from different data sources. These data sources may include sales reports, marketing analytics, customer service records, and more.

In the past, it was difficult to aggregate this information into one central location. It has also been historically difficult to consolidate all the data needed for an intelligent dashboard that will benefit the business.

A reporting dashboard will typically display the most important metrics for your business, but not necessarily in real-time. Dashboards can be built in Microsoft Excel or other tools, and offer insight into how performance is trending and identify when there are opportunities for improving results.

Data is presented either with text or in graph form, which allows you to easily identify trends over time.

Business intelligence solution and dashboard reporting

A business intelligence solution, on the other hand, is software that consolidates data into one cohesive platform. Although BI solutions may have dashboards, they are not the same thing. 

Business intelligence solutions are typically built with an end goal in mind, whether it’s increasing sales or identifying marketing opportunities. These solutions can automate tasks and provide one centralized location for all of your business data. Dashboard reporting gathers data and compares metrics over time; their purpose is to be informative. Then, a BI solution can take those dashboards and consolidate data in order to provide an “at a glance” view of your business and include more analytics and specific goal-related suggestions. BI includes dashboards and analytics; the best BI tools also provide real-time data delivered immediately to the dashboard.

The essential elements of a reporting dashboard

A reporting dashboard offers the following essential elements that are critical to your business intelligence success:

A snapshot of how your company is performing

When designing your reporting dashboard, it’s important to include the metrics that reflect the health of your company. These key performance indicators should be automatically updated so you can monitor progress in real time and make adjustments as needed.

An “at a glance” viewing of business performance

Rather than searching through multiple reports, a reporting dashboard will present metrics in real-time and allow you to easily identify areas for improvement. You should be able to drill down into data as needed and adjust your focus as the needs of your business shift over time.

Instant access to company information

All relevant data should be consolidated on one platform for easy access and manipulation. Dashboards allow you to filter, sort, and export this data at any given moment depending on how you need to use it or what questions you want answered.

Easy-to-monitor KPIs

You should have the ability to set key performance indicators for your company so you can easily monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. Your reporting dashboard should offer pre-built reports that are tailored specifically toward these metrics.

Is a reporting dashboard right for your business? 

A reporting dashboard is a great solution for businesses that rely on real-time data. It’s also perfect for companies that want to centralize their information in one interface.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before deciding if a reporting dashboard is right for you:

Do I need to monitor key performance indicators in order to improve company operations?

A top reason to utilize reporting dashboards is to have ready-built access to KPI data. Depending on the users of your reporting dashboard, you can design specific data sets that reflect critical information that users need to monitor their performance and success.

Do I require instant access to my most important data?

One of the best reasons to invest in a reporting dashboard is that it can help you identify trends and make adjustments as needed. As a result, your business will run more efficiently and effectively.

Is it essential that all of my most relevant information is consolidated in one interface?

The reporting dashboard will consolidate all of your important data in one location. This is crucial for businesses that rely on data to drive their decision-making process.

Before committing to a reporting dashboard, however, it’s important to determine if the amount of data you need is manageable within one location. If not, it may be better to invest in a business intelligence solution that can provide more detailed information for your unique needs.

Are my reports limited without the assistance of business intelligence software?

A reporting dashboard is an intuitive software that allows you to monitor your company’s performance in real time. It is great for scenarios where immediate information is needed or where having all data centralized into one interface would be beneficial.

If the amount of data you require exceeds what is possible with this type of platform, it may be time to invest in business intelligence software that can provide you with deeper analytics.

Is it easy to see where my business is excelling and where areas for improvement are?

When designing your reporting dashboard, be sure to include metrics that will allow you to easily identify both areas for improvement as well as times when your company is performing well. If this information is not readily available, it will be difficult to adjust your company’s strategy when necessary.

A reporting dashboard is crucial for making business decisions in real time. It can help you monitor key performance indicators and allow you to access important data immediately when needed. A reporting dashboard also makes it easier to see overall progress when utilizing your information to drive decision-making throughout your organization.

When assessing whether or not a reporting dashboard is right for your business, consider how much data you need to access in one location and what metrics will be most valuable for your decision-making process.

Keep in mind that when it comes to developing reports with instant results, a dashboard can’t always compete with the insight provided by business intelligence software.

Benefits of dashboard reporting

Dashboard reporting offers companies a number of strategic and operational benefits. When you implement dashboard reporting, here are some of the advantages your company can gain: 

• You get more value from your data. Make sure you don’t miss important metrics; include all the essential KPIs on your dashboard. Dashboards can also compare data sets so you can identify trends, monitor performance, and put results into context. 
• Team members work more cohesively. Dashboards update in real time, so you and your team are always working from the same set of data. You can make better business decisions when you and your team understand the trends from the dashboard and have access to the same insights. 
• You get stakeholder buy-in faster and more often. Dashboards are excellent proof points. If you want executive buy-in or stakeholder approval, show them a dashboard (or, better yet, share it with them) to offer solid evidence to back up your proposal and get the green light from them. 

Real-time vs. static reporting 

Dashboard reporting updates in real-time, so you’re always seeing the latest changes. How is this different from static reporting? Static reporting is a single, unchanging report that captures a snapshot in time. Static reports might look like a real-time dashboard—they both have numbers, graphs, charts, and other visualizations—but unlike dashboard reporting, static reports are not interactive. The report was generated once and is designed to stay that way. 

What’s the difference between a dashboard and a report?

The major difference between a dashboard and a report is that reports are usually sent out on a regular cadence (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.). These reports are typically sent out to a select group of users who access them manually. However, these reports are static, and by the time users open them, they may already be out of date. It’s useful historical data and it’s good to know for benchmarking purposes, but that’s where its possibilities stop. In contrast, real-time dashboards are interactive. You can see and modify the data whenever you want. People who have access to the real-time dashboard can access it anytime to see the latest information. 

Another difference is that dashboards are broader. All relevant information is visually displayed on the screen so you immediately get a high-level overview of trends. Reports tend to be more in-depth, but they require you to scroll through the longer, more detailed information. 

Four main types of reporting dashboards

There are four main types of reporting dashboards in business. Depending on your role, your company, and which campaigns you are currently involved in, you may use different dashboards at different times. Here’s an overview of each type:

Analytical dashboards

Analytical dashboards are designed to help users interpret data. These dashboards usually collect large amounts of data from various sources and then compile the results into simplified visuals. The data in this dashboard is heavily historical so users can focus on identifying past trends. 

Strategic dashboards

Executives and other major decision-makers in a company will get a lot of mileage out of strategic dashboards. These dashboards include high-level, business-wide data. Their main purpose is to track how the company is performing compared to its goals. 

Operational dashboards

Typically used by business intelligence (BI) teams, operational dashboards are heavily metrics-focused and tend to center around short-term operations. These dashboards usually include a lot of predictive analytics to understand the probability of hitting goals and run “what-if” scenarios. 

Tactical dashboards

Tactical dashboards fall somewhere between strategic and analytical dashboards. They’re designed to help middle managers make decisions for tactical execution. Since middle managers are responsible for most of the tasks that move the company along, tactical dashboards are useful for project managers, HR teams, IT teams, and marketers. These data-heavy dashboards offer a blend of strategy and metrics to help middle managers thrive in their department-specific goals. 

Best practices for creating a reporting dashboard

Dashboards can hold a lot of data. How do you know which metrics to include? Here are some best practices for creating a reporting dashboard so you actually know what to do with the data you see on your screen. 

The first recommendation is to know what you’re trying to accomplish. Think about the purpose of the dashboard, what you’re trying to measure, and who else will be seeing it. Once you have the data, what do you want to do with it? What do you want it to tell you? This will help guide you and give you purpose as you create your reporting dashboard. 

The second consideration for your reporting dashboard is to simplify. Only include metrics that are important to your purpose; don’t include anything extra. Visuals can get overwhelming quickly with lots of colors, a variety of different types of charts, and lots of comparisons. If you have too much information, consider separating the data into different dashboards. Remember, dashboards are designed to be high-level. Templates can be useful for helping you design a dashboard that’s clean, easy to understand, and only includes relevant KPIs. 

We also recommend being careful with comparisons. To make sure you’re truly comparing apples to apples, use the same type of charts and the same time frames for each data set. The data you include in your dashboard comparisons should include information from the same sources and categories too. 

Possible limitations of a reporting dashboard

Although there are many benefits to utilizing this type of solution, there are also some possible limitations.

Reporting dashboards are not well-suited to provide in-depth analysis across a variety of channels.

If you need a more detailed picture of your business, you should invest in a platform that offers intelligent analytics, such as the information provided by business intelligence software.

A reporting dashboard is very easy to use. However, if there are multiple people using the same interface it may be difficult for them to navigate their way through the software.

It may be necessary to invest in business intelligence software if you require more detailed metrics than what can be offered by a reporting dashboard.

Tips for utilizing this data to improve your organization’s operations

When using the information provided by both business intelligence solutions and reporting dashboards, consider these tips:

• Create customized reports that are easily accessible

By streamlining your reporting processes, you will be able to incorporate data into your decision-making process more efficiently.

• Identify the metrics that are most valuable for your unique needs

For example, if you are a fast-food chain, one of your key performance indicators may be employee turnover rate because this impacts your customer service.

• Ensure that you are making the right decisions for your unique situation

Not every solution will work well for all types of businesses, so make sure to measure how these solutions impact your operations.

When deciding whether or not a reporting dashboard is a right choice for your business, consider how much data you need to monitor in one location and how quickly you need access to this information. If a reporting dashboard won’t be able to give you the insight necessary for your decision-making process, consider investing in business intelligence software instead.

Remember that these solutions work best when used together, so if one isn’t giving you the information you require it may be beneficial to combine them. This way, you will be able to access the information you need in one convenient location.

Conclusion

A reporting dashboard is one of the most effective tools for monitoring key performance indicators and keeping up with your business information.

It can give you real-time insight into how well your company is performing while also allowing you to utilize data more effectively when making business decisions.

When deciding whether or not a reporting dashboard is right for your business, consider the amount of data you need to access in one location and what metrics are most valuable for your needs.

Make sure to assess the limitations of this type of solution so you know how best to harness its benefits.

When you have access to your most critical business data in one convenient location, you will be able to make smarter business decisions and improve your organization’s operations.