Three reasons why you need a centralised dashboard to get your team through Covid-19

Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown has fragmented teams and put pressure on existing systems of collaboration and communication. This creates the risk that companies could fall behind their competition due to inefficient processes and slow reactions to changes.

Since the way that a business’s data is collected and centralised defines the smoothness and agility of internal processes, traditional reports and spreadsheets aren’t always enough to meet the needs for the fast and nuanced analysis across multiple streams.

That’s where centralised dashboards come in

Centralised analytics dashboards are information management tools that track, analyse and display key metrics in order to monitor the health of a business and its separate departments.

The challenge for many businesses is that their data sits in systems that do not talk to each other. If there are no connectors to a dashboarding system or the data comes from offline sources, getting this information to be accessible requires significant effort. Dashboards, however, bring a business’s data to the cloud, providing a central, virtual location where KPIs are accessible to multiple teams across desktop, mobile and other platforms, improving communication between departments and drastically reducing the number of hours spent analysing data.

They allow a broader view of all aspects involved in a project, making them an important solution for efficient management, even when workers are in different locations, teams or time zones. In fact, centralised dashboards provide a number of benefits for a company.

Here are three major benefits:

1. Better decision-making

Dashboards centralise all the important information about projects, brands or campaigns, allowing for a much more comprehensive view of a situation and all its separate variables. They also allow for the evaluation of performance against objectives – it’s far easier to make well-informed decisions and achieve strategic alignment, quickly and efficiently. There’s also a significantly lower risk of making errors, particularly those caused by oversight, since each user has a clear view of all information in one place. Data experts can produce dashboards that have components and filters, meaning decision-makers are able to segment their dashboards to get the information they need.

Dashboards can simplify the whole process of decision-making, saving valuable time and reducing paperwork. For those whose data flow was interrupted by lockdown, they’re a great and efficient solution.

2. Participation and collaboration

Covid-19 changed how we approach projects, collectively, now that many teams are no longer working in the same physical space.

Centralised dashboards make it easier to have integrated participation between work teams, meaning a greater commitment to objectives and a better focus on performance and productivity. When all stakeholders and employees have access to dashboards, everyone can stay on top of developments at a granular level. Plus, there is less time wasted on compiling and presenting reports. Everyone has first-hand access, and everyone is given the opportunity to get excited about data when they can see the real-time results of their efforts.

3. Time efficiency

After the initial time investment in getting them set up, data dashboards are tools that save time and optimise daily routines. Users no longer need to track their data through multiple disconnected sources and spend time formatting them into reports. Time spent on manual jobs like updating spreadsheets is also reduced, allowing for greater focus on tasks that have real importance to the company and its growth.

Finding focus and organising is one of the best ways to navigate the uncertainty of situations like a lockdown, and to make sure that data is being used in the best way possible for your business. Flexible working means time is more fluid and employees have more freedom to shape their workday as they see fit. Keep sight of your objectives through centralised dashboards and eliminate all those hours spent slogging through data sets.

Digital strategy operates across multiple channels, from social media, SEO, lead generation and more. Keeping track of the real-time progress and performance of these channels, in order to make better decisions, improve collaboration and save yourself time, will vastly improve the health of your business.