How do you use project dashboards, metrics, and indicators to visualize and communicate project performance?

Project dashboards are important elements of keeping stakeholders informed and monitoring progress. Having access to dashboards allows project managers to easily provide status updates, which are part of every communication and stakeholder management plan.

In my experience, Project dashboards are graphical displays that show the status of a project attribute, such as scope, time, and cost, or their derivatives. First identify, define, interpret, and prioritize the critical success factors (CSFs) that are related to the project. Then define, review, and evaluate the key performance indicators (KPIs) for each (CSFs). Choose the right for your project set of KPIs metrics that you want to track. Throughout the project, KPIs may change. Therefore, we should periodically check and assess the actuality and relative importance of the KPIs and – when necessary – make the required changes to sustain success. The project-controlling dashboards are strategic and operational dashboards.

Dashboards provide a centralized location where project stakeholders can access up-to-date information about the project's progress. It allows everyone involved to have a clear understanding of the project's current status, key metrics, and any potential issues or risks. This visibility helps ensure that all team members are on the same page and can make informed decisions based on the latest data.

Project dashboards, metrics, and indicators visually communicate project performance. They display relevant metrics in a clear and intuitive manner using charts and graphs. Real-time updates keep stakeholders informed. Visuals track progress, trends, and comparative analysis. Interactive features allow drilling down into specific areas. Dashboards generate reports for effective communication. In meetings, charts engage the audience. People love charts for their simplicity and clarity, making them essential for communicating project performance. In essence, people love colors as it simplifies the data.

I agree with Aleksandar. In addition, you need to consider regulatory compliance in the project cycle management. This is a key component often forgotten in project management in highly regulated industries.

Product Management, Finance, and Customer Success teams all will have unique needs. For CS, Gainsight, Planhat or ChurnZero can host the usage metrics for customer success visibility on active users or product adoption. PM's can capture a ton of deep insight with Pendo, Heap or Redash. Finance just may want some raw CSV data or a Salesforce report tied into customer contract data. Just be aware to not cause analysis paralysis!

I'd be very careful about letting your tool of choice drive your dashboard creation. Instead, identify what you want to measure based on your industry, strategy, drivers, etc. Look at what benchmarking data is available, and whether it is possible to gather and organize your data similarly for easy comparison. Identify gaps in the data you have vs. the data you want. Consider how each data point is best visualized and absorbed. Then, pick a tool with enough configurability to develop the dashboard that's right for you. I see too many companies buy a software system because of the robust (read: "pretty") visualization capabilities, only to find out that those visualizations are highly superficial and limited in what they can communicate.

If you don't have strategic objectives identified for your project (it happens) and you have to define your dashboard, it is important to know the message you want to pass to your audience. Start by the end. What do I want to achieve? What is the message I want them to grab? From there the relevant metrics will be deducted from the lessage you want to pass. If you have strategic objectives, your dashboard will be easy to define as the measures are probzably defined in the objectives. You additions measures will be simply deducted from these. Additions measures can also be added according to the issues you are encountering in your project at the moment.

Choosing the right dashboard content can be as much an art as it is a science - as mentioned, they KPI's reported need to be relative and meaningful (and avoid being "watermelon KPI's") Tools are not always our friends in this endeavour as they can "mask" the truth by an overload of data and visuals. Keep it simple, keep it clear and it will be much more believable

The best dashboards allow users to know within seconds if the project is on track or off track. Users can then dig deeper into the off track areas to find solutions. Balancing the right info with the right level of detail to give users the ability to see the status in seconds is a challenge. It's so rewarding when you find that balance and have a useful dashboard people love.

@Mark A Anderson: It's nice to have "instant data" but as I mentioned elsewhere, I always caution about getting swamped with information. My first project planning tool was LEGO - a wall of it set up as a GANTT... Visual, tactile interface and no batteries required. What was required was the need to gather data and challenge it - just because a metric pops out of a tool, the PM should validate the integrity before reacting

Usability is the key for me for any report. Just like a book or a presentation who is the audience and what are they looking to get from it. The balance between providing sufficient information and keeping the clarity is a difficult balancing act

Well I configure what is to be displayed - if that function isn’t available, then, I align the measures the team has to what is configured. It’s all in the display as well. The PMI Stop Light approach still seems to be effective for color schemes. You can’t give that functionality to just anyone either. These metrics drive teams - let me know how I can help if you’re struggling!

This is a key point in the creation of dahboard. You can have the best indicators and not having the skill to present them correctly to management. I have seen several times interesting numbers poorly presented to Management. Focus shifted from content to look, and the whole interest of the presentation was fading away. The PM was unable to pass the messages. Just like communication is an important skill for the Project Manager, having the ability to have attractive slides and Dashboard is a crucial skill.

Storytelling is also an important skill necessary for PMs. However this is far too often considered as "non professional" by some old fashioned managers, passing the righ message is way more than just giving numbers, conclusions and boring people with info. Storytelling techniques and public speaking techniques can grab the attention of the audience and give them the wish to know more. Humor, anecdotes and metaphores are great way to impact the audience and ensure their buy-in. It can also refocus the audience on the message instead of the messenger if the messages are difficult to pass.

By continuously improving project dashboards and metrics, you can give stakeholders a clearer and more comprehensive view of the project's progress, performance, and key indicators. This increased visibility allows stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the project's status, trends, and areas that require attention. Improved visualization and presentation of data can make complex information more accessible and easier to interpret.

Seek user user input and create a task force to identify areas of improvement. Implement an evaluation system to monitor performance, accuracy, and insights. Utilize data collected from evaluations to make process improvements and to generate a user experience that exceeds expectations. In addition, creating and maintaining a manual or guidebook that outlines the dashboard context and adjustments made over time will aide with succession processes if turnover occurs on the team.

I like to align any metrics to the organization's vision, mission and purpose in some level. The audience, yes, it is very important to determine what type of dashboard one can use to convey an accurate story to help the decision makers. In my opinion, the simpler the better but always very professional.

Fantastic point, Belem Zapata. Tying metrics to the organizations vision, mission, and purpose allows users to better understand the "why it matters" behind the metric. This helps bring focus and energy to tracking and improving the metrics.