Decision Making
Why Dashboards Are Not Enough!
You’ve most likely heard the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, I'm here to tell you why your static dashboards are holding you back!
Here Are The 5 Reasons Why Dashboards Fail You!
Dashboards are great tools to use right up until they fail you! Here are 5 top reasons why dashboards fail you and what you can do to prevent them from happening.
Nicolo Palos
Mar 1, 2019
First, let's establish why dashboards exist in the first place and I'm not talking about your car dashboard. The purpose of a dashboard is to visualize the data you or your business has gathered in order for management and/or executive-level decision leaders to make informed decisions. As a decision leader in a business, dashboards help you understand where you've been, what's going on today, and where you want to go next. The tricky part of this initiative is the implementation.
1 - Lack of Executive and Stakeholder buy-in
Dashboard initiatives work best when you have buy-in from the top of your organization as most dashboards are meant to inform those executives and stakeholders.
2 - Going beyond the budget
Technology Advice said it best, it's easy to stick to your project budget, but getting off course is a guaranteed way to never get the dashboard initiative off the ground. (Technology Advice) Here are three ways you can go over budget:
- Software Cost per user is too high
- Development time is too long
- Deploying the wrong software
3 - Lack of Communication
During the dashboard implementation, the user's wants, and needs should be carefully examined and taken into consideration for the design of the visual structures in order to tailor the software correctly. Without proper communication, between Business and IT, the initiative is doomed to fail.
4 - Lack of Breadth and Depth
Without a purpose for the visualizations, the data story can't be fully developed and can lead to erroneous data. It also leads to improper design and functionality as it isn't tailored enough to the needs of the user.
5 - Data Latency
"Dashboards are not data exploration tools, they are tools to monitor and take action" when implementing dashboards, it’s important to maintain and keep accurate and as real-time data as possible to allow for a cohesive data story. (Bartlett System) Stagnant and old data can lead to missed opportunities and higher costs.
Finding and implementing the right software can be made easy if you focus on the needs of the users and what KPIs that matter the most. Rather than focusing on visualizing your data for the sake of visuals find the software that helps showcase actionable insights relevant to your decision leaders. As there may be more reasons your dashboards fail you these 5 factors can make the difference in your success.
If you want to learn more about how to handle these issues, check out our blog where we discuss these topics and provide industry insight. Drop a comment down below or comment on our social media to let us know what you would like to hear more of!