In a webcast hosted by Stacey Barr, "The Performance Measurement Specialist", three dashboard implementation insights resonated with my personal experience with organizations engaging in performance measurement for the first time.

The first may sound pedantic, yet it is crucial for successful reporting and not widely understood.  Dashboards are performance monitoring tools meant to provide quick access to important leading indicators of success, often containing drill-down (or drill-through) ability, enabling the user to identify and understand problems and allow for course correcting action.  By contrast, Scorecards are static performance reports, using lagging indicators of success to summarize how well an organization has performed against expectations.  Both are valuable, but they are different tools and should not be used interchangeably.  Be thoughtful about what you want to do with your "dashboard" or "scorecard" and design it accordingly.

Secondly, when designing a dashboard or scorecard, engage the end user in the design.  Too often, organizations assume that data is the realm of IT and delegate the responsibility of design to technical staff who emphasize "neat" functionality and dense data displays.  Alternately, some organizations engage a software vendor whose primary concern are aesthetics rather than utility.  While an IT colleague or software vendor might ultimately be needed to create the dashboard, they may have an incomplete picture of why the dashboard is needed and how it will be used at the end of the day.  These things must drive the design of the dashboard for it to be useful -- if it's not useful, it will not be used.  Thoughtful design goes beyond putting a bunch of charts and graphs on a page and plugging in the data.  It goes beyond creating shiny gauges and color pie charts.  The end user can tell you want they need and how they'd like to see it.  Let them.

Finally, consider using the dashboard or scorecard as a training tool.  At its best, a dashboard or scorecard is a succinct summary of your organizational priorities.  While any new employee will read your strategic plan and learn how you intend to create impact, a dashboard or scorecard can quickly communicate the goals you value most and bring to life what success looks like in your organization.

Thanks to Stacey Barr and Jarmo Rasi for these helpful insights.