Business Intelligence (BI) is a term that refers to technologies, applications and practices for the collection, integration, analysis and presentation of business information. The purpose of which, is to support better business decision making.
But even with the most robust BI infrastructure in place, if it isn’t easy to access, understand or analyze, then it is useless. So, when it comes to business intelligence, data dashboards play an essential role.
There are hundreds of variables that can impact your organizations overall performance. Dashboards simplify your most pertinent data into manageable pieces of visual information that enable you to see what you need at a quick glance. They offer centralized means of monitoring, measuring, analyzing and extracting critical business insights in a way that is both intuitive and visual.
Optimize Time & Resources
The use of dashboards boosts the optimization of daily routines. With it, the time spent on manual and complex activities, such as updating spreadsheets and reports, is reduced, allowing those resources to be directed to the most relevant tasks, with the most importance to the company.
Implementing dashboards is the most efficient way to view multiple data sources because it provides a central location for monitoring and analyzing. When customized based on individuals or departments, it enables users to adjust their activities based on real-time data without waiting for direction or traditional reports.
Creating reports in Excel or other formats can be time consuming and costly. Any report that is created more than once should be automated and easily accessible. Traditional reports and spreadsheet tools also have limitations. In additional to the challenge of pulling together information from multiple sources, the process of manipulating and formatting data into constructive reports can be a resource intensive process. Even more concerning is the high risk for errors from the manual input, gathering and upkeeping of reports, which are often shared across multiple departments, further increasing the risk of errors from modifications. Dashboards are the ideal solution for managing, creating and sharing reports.
Whether it be operational, strategic or analytical, another benefit of measuring performance is to identify problematic areas or weaknesses within the operation. Once identified, you can focus on implementing solutions to remedy the issues and strengthen your business. Consequently, when you can identify areas of optimal performance, you can utilize that information to further pursue opportunities.
Improve Communication
Healthy communication is the best foundation for any business. Lack of efficient communication leads to misunderstandings, frustrations, decreased performance and reduced profits. Effective communication in the workplace is key to establishing strong relationships and getting important projects done. In addition, companies that communicate effectively are more likely to retain employees in comparison to industry average.
Every organization has a primary goals and objectives. In order to ensure everyone is on the same page, those need to be clearly outlined both on a global and individual scale, so all team members are always working towards the same goals and objectives. Dashboards make it easier to integrated participation of work teams as well as enhance individual productivity. When teams use tools or processes that make communication more efficient, individual goals are accomplished faster and with increased accuracy.
Dashboards make it easy to view the efforts of those involved in the project, enhancing the senses of responsibility, accountability and collectivity. As communication and collaboration improves, so does the ability to handle challenges, change and reinforces a culture focused on performance and productivity. When all the elements of a project are displayed with the progress status, it enables the team to be more agile, stay proactive and quickly respond to situations keeping projects on task.
Efficient collaboration results in less but more efficient meetings. When teams are proactive with engagement, support and communication on projects, the need for meetings is reduced. When held, they are much more constructive and productive, focusing only on those areas that need attention and not day to day communication and information.
Reduce Costs and Increase Profits
Dashboards have been implemented by many different industries and departments within. From HR, marketing, sales, logistics, operations, management or IT, all can glean the benefits of dashboard implementation to reduce costs and increase productiveness of their respected business. When utilized properly, dashboards help you make informed decisions that dramatically impact business performance and your bottom line.
Sales, overhead, debt, marketing, customer service, receivables and costs are just some of the many areas that impact your bottom line. While focusing to improve some areas may have a positive impact, comprehensive and continuous improvements throughout various areas will result in increased profits.
For any organization that is striving to maximize results and revenue, there are numerous tangible benefits to implementing dashboards.