The Dashboard is an often overlooked, simple tool, that can provide a wealth of information.
But why do I need Dashboards…? I know my business inside out…?
Ask yourself, would you drive a car with no dashboard? Would you fly a plane with no dashboard?
Well, you might…but how long would it be before your intuition began to let you down? How long until you begin to lose control of what was happening around you? Until you can’t keep a check of all the variables?
So what information do you need to monitor to run your business? That’s often specific to the individual and the business. But implementing a daily/weekly Executive [Business] Dashboard gives you both a daily pulse on the key metrics that matter to your business and a wider appreciation of other key levers. They act as beacons and indicators of trends good and bad.
The Executive/Business Dashboard provides numerous benefits including the following:
- Visibility: An executive dashboard gives you great visibility and insight. You know exactly what’s going on in all aspects of your business. This allows you to better manage it.
- Ongoing Improvements: One of Peter Drucker’s most famous quotes is, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Executive Dashboards allow you to measure your performance throughout your organization and thus improve it.
- Time Savings: Many executives spend countless hours logging into business systems and running reports. Conversely, the right executive dashboard always shows you the latest results from each report you need. This saves precious hours each month.
- Accountability: Many executives spend time creating a business plan for their organization to follow. However, that’s the easy part. The hard part is making sure your company is performing to your plan’s expectations. Your Executive Dashboard could do just that. That is, you can automatically show your progress against plan versus your actual, real-time results.
- Employee Performance Improvements: When employees know their performance is being judged in a dashboard, and can see their results, they innately start to improve their work.
What is your No.1 business metric that sets the pulse of your organisation?
At Your Finance Dept we can give you the financial visibility and understanding you need to maintain and grow your business. Call us now for a confidential and obligation free discussion.
