Dashboards ARE TOO part of Performance Management

Building on Nic's post from below on the lens through which dashboarding is being viewed these days. I had an interesting discussion with some business colleagues the other day about the use of dashboards in performance management projects and whether they were really a "part" of the performance management equation. Camps quickly divided into the typical “yes they are,” “no they aren’t” sides of the question, and there are cases on both sides.

If you DO think that they are, there’s compelling evidence on your side. Dashboards are the way that most people digest their key performance indicators and information these days—they look to see what their dials tell them, then go and take action or go get a cup of coffee—the choice is theirs. Just the fact that they are seeing the important aspects of their business is propelling them to take action, which at its essence is managing your organization’s performance.

Additionally, with the cost and heavy footprints associated with most performance management solutions these days, often times dashboards are an inexpensive and fast way to start proactively managing your business. With the wizards and do-it-yourself capabilities of many products today, you can be connecting to data sources and understanding tolerances in no time. This is especially true for small and mid-sized organizations, who don’t have a big budget for a full-on performance management system, but do have a few hundred dollars around to play with some visualization and data.

So there you have it—compelling evidence that dashboards are part of performance management. Everyone agree? I thought so.