Does your data tell you a story?

There’s an old saying that if you interrogate data long and hard enough, it will admit to just about everything. While it is meant to be taken in a lighter vein, it also reflects how data forms the backbone of informed decision making and our proclivity towards digging deep for, at times, beyond what is necessary. Raw data is everywhere. There are different kinds of information available in the form of huge data volumes. “The amount of data in the world was estimated to be at 44 Zettabytes at the start of 2020. To put things into perspective, one zettabyte has 21 zeros.” (total amount of data generated each day by social media sites, financial institutions, medical facilities, shopping platforms, automakers, and others, as per World Economic Forum. ) Many analysts point out that the amount of data is doubling every three years… but as the Americans say – “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet” 

A data dashboard is an information management tool that visually tracks, analyzes, and displays KPIs, key data points, and metrics. These metrics help in monitoring the health of a business unit, or a process, or even the entire organization depending on who the users are. It can be customized depending on the need. For instance, a CEO will look at data from a strategic vantage point and may not be in great need of real-time information which may be most critical at an operational level. 

How should your data dashboard look like?

There are three angles to it – the kind of business questions that dashboards need to answer; the type of data being tracked; and, of course, the interactivity. 

Behind the attractive visualization (tables, graphs, charts, etc.) a dashboard connects with disparate data lying in files, web servers, IT systems and numerous attachments. Raw data lying in a vast array of sources is consolidated to present in a customized format (depending on who is viewing it) to answer the most burning questions. Specific KPIs that align with business goals can be drilled down which also double up as benchmarks. 

Data dashboards play an important role in Business Intelligence (BI). They are tools that enable BI practices and provide deep insights that can be used for performance management. Additionally, dashboards are equipped with predictive analytics and are often used in forecasting. 

Earlier, when mainframe computers were in vogue, it was much harder to grasp “business intelligence” and it often required IT professionals to prepare reports. At that point, the human in the loop, was a critical element in the entire data value chain. Let’s look at an example. A spreadsheet captures all the sales data of the past quarter and it runs into hundreds of lines. The data dump is overwhelming and retrieval of information can be a daunting task which is why human intervention was required in order to make sense of it. 

However, using a sales report created with a dashboard, the information can be customized down to sales rep level showing deal closing rates, average order size and lifetime value of customers, and such like. This is, of course, a rather simplistic example. Today dashboards have become even more comprehensive. They come with interactive features that have adopted the style of storytelling, offering real-time information depicted in info-graphic style reports. Unless one is exceptionally numerically-oriented, bland numbers fade away with time but powerful narratives scripted from raw data remain firmly entrenched in the mind much longer. It’s very common to see cartoon strips from Dilbert or Peanuts being featured in corporate decks – even those presented to board members. This idea of copious amounts of data that segues into a powerful narrative has now become commonplace.    

What are the different types of dashboards available?

Based on the end-user and his/her specific data demands below is a variety of dashboards available:

Strategic/Executive

Typically, these reflect a high-level overview of KPIs and metrics that senior leaders within the organization can monitor regularly. The aim is to provide strategic guidance on the performance of business functions with specific thresholds acting as alerts. 

Analytical/Tactical

If the dashboard provides more in-depth information and allows users to drill down to slice and dice to reveal trends and insights, then it’s said to be a tactical dashboard.

Operational 

This kind needs almost real-time data so things can be monitored on spot and actioned the moment there’s a discrepancy. These kinds are viewed multiple times a day and monitored keeping the hurly-burly of the target always in mind. 

Then we have based on information hierarchy dashboards:

KPI Dashboards

They contain specific KPIs that executives get informed about (once a day, perhaps). It isn’t required to be granular and focuses on what’s important in the current month, quarter, or the year.

Q&A Dashboards

Insights such as the top sales per sales rep, department, or region (for instance) can be sought here. This kind helps to uncover specific business objectives. 

Top-down Dashboards

The hierarchy is as the name suggests. It shows a high-level overview of specific KPIs and drills down to more details through visualization – charts, graphs, etc. 

Bottom-up Dashboards

Exactly the opposite, starting with granularity and then goes on to summarize the information to align with specific KPIs.  

One Big Chart Dashboard

It’s usually seen as one big chart (e.g. map, organizational chart, etc.) and a mouse-hover on a specific item will lead to greater functionality and drill-down. It gives a macro view of things and is ideal for analysts and economists who are tasked with direction-setting. 

One mustn’t get carried away by the optics of it all. Story-telling is a very powerful way of communication and increasingly it is becoming the norm. We must bear in mind that dashboards do tell a story and in a fanciful way but ultimately, the insights have to be acted upon. That’s where leadership counts. There may be instances where data reveals a certain insight that may be at loggerheads with traditional “gut-feel” and is nudging the business unit towards a direction which may even be unprecedented. 

The question is, what do leaders do? Do they have the wherewithal to change direction or should they wait for a longer time till the thumping on the door gets louder? These questions are not easily answered and are always situational. But what we can and must ensure is that data available is clean. Data-driven decisions can alter the fate of an organization and we simply cannot afford to have inaccurate data, telling us a riveting story!