Better manage your business with dashboards
Managing a company's business means bringing together scattered data to assess the overall situation. Dashboards, business intelligence tools, are useful for the manager and the various business units, for a more effective collective intelligence.
CONTENTS
The need for a cross-functional management tool
Whatever the size of the company
While large companies systematically allocate resources - entire departments or specific posts - to analysing their performance, very small businesses and SMEs all too often neglect this task. And yet it is essential to study their results in order to guide their strategy. But because of a lack of time, resources or qualified profiles, management is done on sight.
System D quickly reaches its limits
The most widely used tool is, of course, Excel. But as the data grows, it becomes difficult to manage. You have to check that the links between the sheets are updated: it's a static tool that's very hard to keep up with.
Viewing data in silos blurs the overall picture
The first tools to be adopted are generally business software, which each department uses to monitor its own activity. Management is then divided into silos, with each division producing its own dashboard. And the manager, to get an overall view, has to bring them all together.
A tool for centralising and sharing data
While business software is good, it lacks cross-functionality. Departments belong to the same structure and are interdependent. Data overlaps and intersects, and the benefits of analysing it in a common tool are palpable.
Choosing your management solution
Business intelligence software packages gather your data and analyse it.
A global dashboard that centralises business data
There are external software packages that you can simply connect to obtain a cross-functional view. This is the case with Vizzboard. It plugs into all kinds of connectors, including JSON, Elasticsearch, Excel, Dropbox, Google Drive and CSV format. It feeds data directly into the system, allowing each department to keep its own business tools and habits. Dashboards are a datavisualisation tool that is both ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing. As a result, they can be used to clearly present the results of the analysis, at meetings or general assemblies for example, with no need to be a statistician to understand them.
A management tool integrated into your ERP solution
For companies wishing to standardise their tools by deploying an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) within their structure, the dashboard functionality is a key criterion of choice. With software like IOvision, each division can fill in its own section. Gateways and connections are made within the tool: certain data is shared, analysis zones overlap. And management has an instant, global overview of the situation at all times.
Expert advice to identify relevant KPIs
While the visual aspect of monitoring is important, its analytical basis remains essential. Analyses are based on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). We can consider any KPI or link it to another, but which ones will be relevant? Sometimes we'd like some guidance. That's what happens when you deploy an ERP system. The publisher provides you with a contact person responsible for implementation. An expert in the field, this person can identify the KPIs that are relevant to your business.
Better management to anticipate and coordinate efforts
Real-time management with dynamic data
Basing your analysis on dynamic tools is more qualitative. Accounting statements are too static. They only provide an analysis after the event. By the time you are alerted, the wrong turn has already been taken. What's more, it's difficult to identify the source of any malfunctions using accounting data. Finally, their analysis at a given point in time does not include flows and physical notions such as stock shortages, quality problems, payment deadlines, etc. By cross-checking accounting data with other company data, a dashboard gives a more complete picture and enables forecasts to be made: these are known as forward-looking or predictive dashboards.
Sharing data and reducing errors
The desire to unify the management tool reduces the risk of misunderstandings between departments. The solution breaks down silos, brings information together and re-establishes overall consistency. Shared data is more reliable, and dialogue is initiated across all departments.
Making all divisions aware of overall progress
This is known as internal management dialogue. Each department prepares its own reports, but has access to the reports of others. This helps to raise awareness of the consequences of each department's actions. This in-depth understanding of the effects encourages the delegation of management and the implementation of a new form of governance. The divisions are more involved and play an active part in meeting the organisation's overall objectives.
You need to be reactive in your management. You can't wait until you notice problems before dealing with them. By providing you with a real-time analysis of the company, dashboards enable you to react as quickly as possible and to anticipate. Their business intelligence dimension helps you to highlight trends, threshold figures and significant milestones in your company's development. A wealth of decisive analysis to help you make the right decisions.
Article translated from French