Exec-Level Metrics

The chart above has been called the best chart ever on the internet. It sure cracks me up but if you are presenting to an executive audience, it probably won't be effective

At Box, I led executive reporting for Customer Success and Marketing. Early in my time there, the chief of staff to the COO shared some great insights on the most impactful way to communicate metrics to eStaff. These insights stuck with me and I have continued to refine them through experience.  

While executives appreciate the power of data, they have limited bandwidth to dive deep into reports to glean the key insights and trends. Your goal should be to, as intuitively as possible, share the key drivers of your business and focus the executives you work with on areas of most leverage.

• Consistent formatting:  It sounds simple but you would be amazed at the variety of chart types / slide formats… are in most executive metrics readouts/dashboards. By providing a consistent slide format and using just a few charts you can minimize the context required by your audience and instead allow them to focus on the insights.  
• Show trends over time:  While funnel and pie charts can show interesting data, as a general rule they don’t belong in exec decks (especially not the one I used for the image on this article;). Instead, show historical comparisons over time to allow your audience to spot trends and issues with a glance. Ideal date range from my perspective is 24 months to allow comparisons to prior periods.
• Define what good/bad is: Wherever is reasonable, show targets. This clarifies for your audience what you are reasonably working to achieve and how far from that target you are.
• Focus on metrics that drive the business: Try to avoid vanity metrics (see terrific article from First Round Capital on vanity metrics). Here are some of my favorite GTM metrics.
• Consistency and constant improvement:  The best companies I have observed have a regular cadence of reviewing metrics at a management level. Ideally you have a feedback loop where input from one meeting is rapidly incorporated into the next review