Using Custom Dashboards is a critical part of maximizing your return on investment in AchieveIt. Custom Dashboards let you transform complex sets of plan data into visual, easier-to-consume reports that are always current. Custom Dashboards help eliminate manual report-building and upkeep so you can remain focused on the higher value work that allows your organization to deliver on their most important goals and initiatives.
Best Practices for Dashboards
Automate & Save Time
By creating and using dashboards instead of manually aggregating plan data each update cycle, you automate report generation and distribution, ensuring key insights are shared across teams quickly and accurately for quicker decision-making.
Tailor to Audience & Frequency
Quarterly, monthly, weekly, or even daily dashboards can be built to match how often your audience needs updates (e.g., team leads, executives, or plan administrators). Consider your specific audience's needs: executives may want high-level KPIs, while operational teams may need granular status updates.
Focus on Key Metrics
Limit your dashboard to 1–3 critical metrics per area. Too many items can overwhelm users . Combine leading indicators (predictive measures) and lagging indicators (historical outcomes) to provide full context .
Tell a Story
Don't assume others will always immediately interpret a dashboard the way you see it. Include extra context: customize headings for clarity, add introductions to sections of widgets or additional notes with Custom Content widgets to explain what each widget represents and why it matters. Without it, viewers may misinterpret data and draw incorrect conclusions .
Embrace Transparency
Don’t hide setbacks—use your dashboard to share challenges and how you’re addressing them. Transparency builds trust and makes you able to execute upon your plan more effectively.
Integrate into Workflows
Embed dashboards into your existing internal processes - use them to drive meetings, include them in update emails, or embed them into internal sites and applications. The more you use and reference them, the more visibility and impact they’ll have .
Use Cases for Dashboards
Quarterly Reporting
Quarterly dashboard that features performance for the quarter for department or team leads
- You can build a dashboard that gets monthly and communicates the progress towards the current quarter’s goals
- You can build a dashboard that goes out quarterly and only communicates the quarter’s final results
- You can compare the current quarter’s results with the prior quarter’s results
- You could also show the current quarter’s results with a quick overview of how you’re progressing towards annual goals
Monthly Reporting
- Monthly dashboard status review of a portfolio of projects by the Project Management Office
- Monthly dashboard to review progress with strategic plan for senior executives
Weekly Reporting
- Weekly dashboard for plan administrators and champions to more closely monitor activity
Daily Reporting
- Daily dashboard that summaries updates for critical operational metrics from the previous day
General Purposes
- Dashboard that monitors return on capital initiatives/investments
- Dashboard built for a specific executive, that focuses on items that have been assigned to their team
- Dashboard for Department Heads to see how they and their counterparts in other departments are progressing
- Dashboard for a service line across all hospitals within a service networkDashboard of KPIs for a specific department or service line
- Year-end summary dashboard that highlights successes, progress, and challenges for senior executives and everyone in the organization
- Dashboard focused on a single, critical, long-term initiative with many moving parts
- Dashboard designed to be an interactive agenda for specific meetings
Want to learn more?
Read this article to learn how to Create Custom Dashboards
Read this article to learn how to Add Widgets to a Custom Dashboard