Organization systems in the current economic world have a substantial amount of information or data to assemble and process in a manner that enhances their efficacy in the decision-making process. The implementation of business intelligence (BI) is an approach that aims to improve a business’ decision-making process through the use of fact-based support systems. BI tools play a critical role in the transformation of raw information into smart data and knowledge by reporting, analyzing, and presenting data in different forms (Ferretti, Parmentola Parola, & Risitano, 2017). BI further fosters our capacity to understand an organization’s external and internal vulnerability and strengths. Digital KPI tracking dashboards are a form of BI tools which aid in the collection, grouping, organizing, and visualizing of a firm’s essential metrics thereby, providing a smart overview of the performance of a business and its expected growth; they aid in the monitoring of the most critical performance metrics of an organization (Ferretti et al., 2017).
KPIs commonly referred to as business indicators, performance ratios, or performance metrics are measurable or quantifiable metrics that assess factors critical to attaining a firm’s goals and maintaining its growth (Kerzner, 2017). An expertly formulated KPI helps a company’s managers to navigate amid significant business procedures and demonstrates a company’s capacity to achieve its primary objectives. Low-level performance metrics center primarily on more narrow objectives or goals of a company such as sales. High-level business indicators demonstrate an organization’ overall performance (Kerzner, 2017). Project KPIs, on the other hand, demonstrate the performance of specific departments in an organization. Some of the regularly monitored KPIs include net profits, PSV (Project Schedule Variance), average customer revenue, churn rate, customer lifetime value, and the growth rate of a company’s revenue (Kezner, 2017).
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Various characteristics typify a well-designed digital KPI dashboard. A digital dashboard ought to be synergetic; this means that the presented data should be visually and ergonomically integrated or coordinated on a single screen to enhance its effectiveness to the user (Weiner, Balijepally & Tanniru, 2015). The dashboard design ought to demonstrate its efficacy in monitoring a company’s KPIs; it should display the KPIs required in the process of decision-making. Incorporating many indicators on the dashboard compromises the ability of the user to monitor the requisite KPIs effectively. Thirdly, KPI dashboards should display accurate data. The presented data should be accurate to enhance the validity of the data, especially during the evaluation process (Weinner, Balijipally, & Tanniru 2015). Fourthly, a KPI dashboard should respond to the defined or established thresholds by displaying the different types of user alerts, for instance, emails; this will foster the ability of the user to react or respond to the crucial changes on time. Lastly, the dashboard should display or show the most recent data to enhance its relevance and effectiveness in decision-making procedures (Ferretti et al., 2017).
Dashboards comprise of organizationally or institutionally identified indicators that assist in the benchmarking, evaluation and betterment of a firm’s affairs. Dashboard KPIs require organizationally accepted or recognized definitions, accessible sources of information, and standardized calculation formulas (Kerzner, 2017). Dashboard designs depend on the specific needs of the organization. Dashboards may be designed for various purposes; these purposes include management, analysis, and monitoring (Weiner, Balijipally, & Tanniru, 2015). A dashboard whose intended purpose is to monitor processes relies on information updated near real time or in real time to enhance the users’ capacity to track ongoing activities and process associated with the institution’s strategy and solve issues as they arise (Kerzner, 2017). Dashboards designed for the purpose of analysis typically have the access to a variety of historical information across different categories; this enables the user to drill down or up for a comprehensive evaluation. Lastly, dashboards may serve a company’s management by displaying the objectives and goals linked to the levels of achievement and performance measures. There are various digital KPI dashboard types; they include analytical, operational, and strategic dashboards (Kezner, 2017).
Operational dashboards are effective in the monitoring of situations and processes that require a timely response (Ferretti et al., 2017). The dashboard’s design should be simple and clear to allow the easy identification of alerts that require attention. The data or information should be actionable with no interpretation, and it should be updated in actual time to allow the immediate conveyance of alerts and responses. Operational dashboards’ functionality ought to be dynamic and live. Managers and analysts utilize analytical dashboards to optimize procedures and compare outcomes over time in reference to the company’s strategic objectives and goals (Weiner, Balijepally & Tanniru, 2015). The design for this particular type of dashboard is very complex, and it incorporates drop-down menus or portals that allow access to data or information derived from various sources regarding different sectors of the organization. The refreshing of data occurs less frequently on analytical dashboards than on operational dashboards. The dashboard’s functionality should permit longitudinal and categorical comparisons of various layers of data, typically in the form of tables or charts that users can subsequently manipulate to determine how specific actions impact outcomes. Executive-level employees or managers utilize strategic dashboards to review and document progress and develop prospective plans (Kerzner, 2017). The dashboard’s design is relatively simple and requires high-level data. According to Kerzner (2017), a spreadsheet which enumerates objectives and goals, performance outcomes, and performance metrics with a section to delineate plans may act as an appropriate strategic dashboard.
KPI tracking dashboards have significant advantages in the world of business. Digital KPI dashboards typically aid in displaying a company’s key performance indicators (Ferretti et al., 2017). The most important value of a contemporary business dashboard rests upon its capacity to provide or present actual-time data regarding an organization’s performance. The data presented by these digital dashboards, in turn, help project teams and business managers to implement goal-oriented and drill-down decisions associated with aspects such as risk management and the efficiency of a particular marketing strategy because they act on real data as opposed to their gut feeling. Additionally, a timely and well-designed KPI dashboard fosters the ability of a company’s managers to identify problems in various fields instantly and initiate an appropriate approach to address the issue (Kerzner, 2017). Managers who utilize KPI dashboards regularly are in a better position to quickly identify the areas that require significant levels of attention and the need to improve or better a poorly performing process within the company. Some of the best digital KPI dashboarding software includes Geckoboard, Smartsheet, Scoreboard, Cyfe, SiSense, Grow, Databox, Tableau, and Domo.
References
Ferretti, M., Parmentola, A., Parola, F., & Risitano, M. (2017). Strategic monitoring of port authorities activities: Proposal of a multi-dimensional digital dashboard. Production Planning & Control , 28(16), 1354–1364.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: A guide to measuring and monitoring project performance . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley et Sons, Inc.
Weiner, J., Balijepally, V., & Tanniru, M. (2015). Integrating Strategic and Operational Decision Making Using Data-Driven Dashboards: The Case of St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital. Journal of Healthcare Management , 60(5), 319–330.
