Enhance Business Productivity Through Excel Dashboards

Introduction

An Excel dashboard is a powerful tool that can help you gain insights about your data and the actions you need to take for success. With a dashboard, you can take your data and visually display it in a way that easy to understand and communicate. Additionally, it allows you to track and measure your progress towards certain goals, quickly compare trends and spot any areas of improvement.

This blog post aims to provide 10 best practices for making Excel dashboards a success. It will cover topics such as data visualization, user experience, and data accuracy. By the end of this post, you should know the key elements necessary for creating an effective dashboard.

2. Planning Ahead

Before creating an Excel dashboard, it is important to ensure that you have a solid plan in place. Having a well-thought-out strategy for making the dashboard a success will increase your chances of achieving the desired outcome. This section outlines some of the best practices for creating successful Excel dashboards.

a. Understand Audience

Before creating an Excel dashboard, it is important to understand the audience that will be viewing the dashboard. Consider what type of data and information the audience will be looking for and tailor the dashboard accordingly. Gathering feedback from the intended audience is also a great way to ensure the dashboard meets the needs of its users.

b. Consider Data Sources

Once you have identified your audience, it is important to consider the data sources that will be used to create the dashboard. Make sure you have access to the necessary data and that it is of good quality. A failed dashboard often results from a lack of usable data so it is important to take the time to properly vet any data sources.

c. Identify Goals

Before creating a dashboard, it is important to identify clear goals for the project. This will help ensure that the dashboard is designed correctly and that it achieves the desired outcome. Take the time to clearly define the expected outcome for the dashboard, as this will make it easier to track progress and measure success.

3. Create a Stunning Visuals

Creating a beautiful visual that can help get your point across quickly and effectively is an important part of creating a successful Excel dashboard. Here are three best practices for making sure your visuals stand out:

a. Choose the Right Charts

The type of chart you use can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of your visual. Before you begin building your dashboard, take the time to choose the right chart type to get your point across.

For example, if your data set is comparing actual values to target values, a bar chart would be a great choice, as it allows you to quickly and easily compare the two sets of numbers.

b. Design an Intuitive Layout

In addition to choosing the right chart type, a great visualization also requires an intuitive layout. Your layout should be focused on ease of use so that viewers can take in the information quickly and easily.

To do this, be sure to:

Group related visuals together in the same area of the dashboard
Leave plenty of white space to keep the dashboard from feeling cluttered
Choose a visual hierarchy that guides viewers to the most important information first

c. Utilize Data Filtering

Data filtering can be an effective way to focus viewers on a specific set of data related to their request. For example, if you want your dashboard to focus on sales for a particular month, you can use data filtering to eliminate any data not relevant to that month.

Be sure to use data filtering in a way that is simple and intuitive. For example, rather than giving the user a drop down list of months, consider having them click on an icon that brings up a calendar where they can select the month they want.

4. Build Usability into Dashboard

Usability is a vital factor in creating Excel dashboards that will ensure their success. Building usability into dashboards can help make data analysis easier by providing insights that are easily understood and interacted with. Here are some of the best practices to increase your dashboard's overall usability.

a. Incorporate Interactivity

Incorporating interactivity can greatly improve the user experience and the amount of insights that can be gleaned from the dashboards. Using interactivity allows users to see the data in their own way, with the ability to explore it further. This also allows them to customize their dashboard to meet their own needs in terms of data analysis. For example, providing the ability to filter, sort, or graph different data points will allow users to quickly and accurately uncover insights from the dashboards.

b. Present Succinct Narration

Using clear and concise narration to explain the insights on the dashboard is also crucial. This will help users quickly understand the data and allow them to analyze it in a timely manner. Try to provide specific explanations, such as percentage or ratio changes that highlight the data’s trends, as well as directional context to the insights. Additionally, include other factors that could explain the data, such as prior results or external influences.

c. Optimize for Speed

Another important factor to consider is optimizing your dashboards for speed. Loading up your dashboards with large amounts of data can cause them to be sluggish and slow to display information, which can be frustrating for users. To ensure your dashboards are running quickly and efficiently, you should use caching for frequently used calculations and pre-calculate formulas where possible. Additionally, look for ways to reduce the amount of processors or memory being used and aim to limit the number of queries or external sources being utilized.

5. Automate the Process

One of the most important best practices when it comes to making Excel dashboards is to automate the process whenever possible. Automating the process can help you save time and make your job easier in the long run. Here are a few ways you can automate the process:

a. Simplify the Data Entry

Make sure all of your data entries are simplified by using tables and sets of cells. This will make the data entry process much easier and more organized. This can also help you streamline the process when it comes to sorting and manipulating data.

b. Populate Cells with Formulas

Populate cells with formulas so that you don’t have to manually enter data into each cell. This can also help save a lot of time and make the dashboard update automatically when you make changes to the data.

c. Create Pivot Tables Wisely

Pivot tables are indispensable when it comes to Excel dashboards, but it can be tempting to go overboard with them. Make sure you create pivot tables wisely so that your dashboard stays clean and organized without becoming too cluttered.

6. Deliver the Best Performance

Excel dashboards are useful tools for conveying key business performance insights, but like any other tool, there are certain steps you can take to ensure these dashboards are working at peak performance.

Here are 10 best practices you can follow to make sure your Excel dashboard is always delivering the best performance:

a. Protect Your Dashboard

Protecting your Excel dashboard is important in order to keep it safe from any kind of malicious attempt to alter or damage it. It’s recommended to shield the dashboard against accidental user changes and unauthorized access by password-protecting it.

b. Monitor Critical Cells

Keeping an eye on your dashboard’s critical cells is essential. With enough time, most cells within a dashboard gets modified, making it hard to track the changes that took place. To avoid any confusion or misunderstanding, it’s safest to constantly monitor these cells to ensure all the relevant data is in the right place.

c. Save as a Static File

Though some dashboards are built using dynamic data, it’s better to save the dashboard as a static file. This eliminates the need to update the dashboard with new data every now and then and also reduces the chance of any accidental changes to the data.

Conclusion

Excel dashboards are powerful tools for analysis, data visualization and decision-making. By utilizing the best practices outlined above, you can make sure your dashboard will be a success.

Recap

In this article, we examined 10 tips and strategies for improving your Excel dashboards. These techniques covered topics such as identifying goals, formatting, layout and design, data sourcing, custom visuals, user experience, and mobile accessibility.

Tips for Success

When creating an Excel dashboard, establish a clear purpose and design before starting. Take time to organize your data and consider the context it will be viewed in. Consider how well users can interpret the data and how easy it is to use. Make sure the dashboard is optimized for mobile viewing and takes accessibility into account.