What is a KPI Dashboard

A KPI dashboard is simply a collection of charts and reports presented in a format resembling a dashboard. With a KPI dashboard some of the charts and metrics associated with the dashboard, known as "key performance indicators" or KPIs, will often be set up to update in or near real time. KPI dashboards have become increasingly prevalent in businesses over the past decade. In order to create a KPI dashboard there are a number of key steps and procedures required to ensure the KPI dashboard is providing useful and relevant information.

Getting Started with a KPI Dashboard

Before getting started with a KPI dashboard it's important to begin by understanding what is important to your business. This part of your process will most likely involve multiple people and will focus on a discussion around key metrics that your organization should or should not track. The critical part of the discussion is that there are no "rules" for KPI dashboard metrics and each organization will have it's own set of KPI dashboard metrics that will be more or less important. working with KPI dashboard metrics that are relevant to your organization is critical in ensuring that you are getting the most from your business intelligence investment.

Key Elements of a KPI Dashboard

Once you are ready to start building your KPI dashboard there are a number of critical elements that are associated with building the KPI dashboard. First and foremost will be your data. Your business will need to understand where the data needed for each KPI dashboard is located and how to get to it. A key step in this is to understand if the data needed for a single metric is in one system or in multiple systems; this will dictate how much work will be required in building your KPI dashboard.

Creating a KPI Dashboard

In order to create the KPI dashboard getting the data to your business intelligence systems is but the first step. At some point during the KPI dashboard implementation you will need to consider a number of issues including: security - who should have access to each KPI dashboard? How much information should they be allowed to have? How frequently should the data behind the KPI dashboard be refreshed? Does your KPI dashboard need conditional alerts that will allow the users to see that data is changing and to understand how it's changing? Ensuring that you have put some thought behind the behavior and security elements of your KPI dashboard is a critical part of your plan.

Using a KPI Dashboard

Even once the KPI dashboard has been published there are other considerations to keep in mind. Chief among them is the question of usability. Is the KPI dashboard created in a logical, flowing manner? Do the various parts of the KPI dashboard make sense together? do the metrics provide a cohesive set of information or is the data not related? Understanding usability of your KPI dashboard will give you great insights into understanding why a KPI dashboard might be underutilized.