I haven’t come across much research on the effectiveness of dashboards for organizations. So I thought I’d share this one with you from MIT. Okay, it’s from the for-profit sector. BUT, it does give you something to chew on. Based on a survey of 1,311 companies, the researchers found that those that were better at using data dashboards were also better at other things like innovation and growth. If you are thinking, “Well, that’s correlation rather than causation,” then I’m glad. Maybe these data tips are making an impact.
However, their research does suggest that something about using dashboards could be paying off for companies. Based on their analyses, which included a case study of one company, the researchers suggest that one reason "dashboarding” appears effective is that:
“Everybody in the company gets to see how it is doing against agreed-upon metrics and works together to make course corrections when necessary.”
The process of getting everyone on board with using a dashboard, they note, can take awhile. They also contend that the best dashboards focus not only on what value is created but also on how that value is created. So although their findings are only suggestive, they do jibe with common sense.
Many nonprofits have shifted their data collection to focus on metrics that help to asses their processes and impacts. Fewer, it seems, are effectively using dashboards to look at those metrics everyday and discuss patterns, trends, and benchmarks, and make course corrections along the way.
Creating customized interactive dashboards isn’t as hard as it sounds and can even be created with free applications like Tableau Public. If you’d like to set up a free consultation to explore this idea with me, please do.
To see past data tips, click HERE.
Let’s talk about YOUR data!
Got the feeling that you and your colleagues would use your data more effectively if you could see it better? Data Viz for Nonprofits (DVN) can help you get the ball rolling with an interactive data dashboard and beautiful charts, maps, and graphs for your next presentation, report, proposal, or webpage. Through a short-term consultation, we can help you to clarify the questions you want to answer and goals you want to track. DVN then visualizes your data to address those questions and track those goals.
