Is anyone out there using a dashboard solution to keep resources and especially stakeholders updated? I manage multiple projects across several tech departments, and believe it would be more efficient to have some basic project status info on a dashboard. It would not replace regular meetings and communications, but could be helpful in giving everyone an easy method for getting the latest and greatest project news.
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Andrew BallSenior/Head of PMO| a3g LtdAshford, United Kingdom
AAs PMO Manager I have explored dashboard reporting for both internal and external customers/stakeholders. Sadly I found the benefits were minimal when compared with the 'cost'. I know executives see them as pretty pictures, and so 'love them'.
I once had a Senior Operations Exec whose ideal was a screen opposite his desk with a dashboard that was provided real time information, ie RAG status moving from green to amber to red. When this happened he wanted was to see everyone running around dowsing fires and when he didn’t it gave him an opening to beat his reports up on, it encourages or promotes micromanagement hence my reservations.
Another concern is to have real punch they need to provide a comparative, ie plotting one or more entities against others, difficult to achieve in a project world.
If you can consolidate progress reports safely they can provide a useful standard agenda to follow at weekly meetings however their distribution need to be watched as there is potential to share Project information to those not involved, or responsible and possibly breaking commercial sensitivities.
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Joe MooneySenior Technology Project Manager| Independent ConsultantOviedo, Fl, United States
We develop many PMO type dashboards to keep stakeholders, resources, and executives apprised of what is going on with projects. In some cases these include public facing information for high profile government projects.
Our users have found them very useful and they are becoming a key tool fed by collaboration tools for project submittals. In many cases these are custom .Net solutions using a SharePoint backend with data feeds from Primavera, MS Project, and Meridian and they are quite successful. We also are using WebFOCUS, a BI tool from Information Builders.
If you would like additional information about these dashboard solutions, please let me know.
The software itself is very easy to use and allows you to quickly create slick looking dashboards that impress even the most seasoned executive.
I have been able to create weekly status reports based on project or client that are much easier to read than trying to display information in Excel or PowerPoint.
The main thing to look for is the ability to distribute your information to the right audience in a way that makes it easy for them to read and pay attention to the numbers you provide!
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These dashboard systems are only as good as the data that feeds up into the dashboards.
A reporting system which is decoupled from the underlying work, might look pretty, but will not be useful.
The kind of metrics that are useful for project risk management are PMBoK type of data, which show how planned and actual Requirements, Cost, Schedule and Quality evolve over the life of a project.
To get accurate PMBoK (or similar) type of metrics provided up to dashboards, then the team members on each project, working with the various types of work products, need to be supported by an end to end ALM solution, which includes Requirements Management, Source and Configuration Management, Test Management and Deployment Management. The project metrics need to be captured where and when the work is done, in order for them to be useful, and so a suite of fragmented tools just won’t do the job.
There is no band aid type of solution for useful and quality project metrics. You need use ALM, and get your “shop floor” team to understand its benefits for them and the organization. It’s not an easy change, but the rewards are significant.
Hope this helps, David Jones, MKS Software Pte Ltd.
(submitted by Julie Vaishnav on behalf of David Jones)
