4.3Dashboards & indicators (KPI)
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Dashboard: like a car's, a few key indicators (KPIs) giving at a glance the state of the business (turnover, margin, cash, order book, costs, deadlines).
- Qualities: synthetic (the essentials), readable (visual) and action-oriented (you can act on them).
- Golden rule: a few relevant indicators beat dozens drowning information — tracked over time and against targets.
Running mini-case — Rachid and the dashboard nobody reads
To track his costs and budget, Rachid built a 40-indicator dashboard in Algiers: nobody consults it any more, not even him. He decides to sort everything: which figures really change his decisions? He keeps only a handful of KPIs aligned with his objectives — margin per product, budget variance, cash — tracked against targets. We do that sorting with him.
Sequel of cases 4.1-4.2 — Rachid turns his figures into steering.
1. The car dashboard
Steering requires measuring with the right instruments: the role of the management dashboard. Like a car's, it brings together a few key indicators (KPIs) giving, at a glance, the state of the business: turnover, margin, cash, order book, costs, deadlines.
A good dashboard is synthetic (the essentials), readable (visual) and action-oriented (indicators you can act on). Rachid learns it: 40 indicators kill attention, a handful guides it.
2. Choosing the right KPIs
The choice is decisive: a few relevant indicators beat dozens drowning information. They are chosen aligned with objectives and levers — financial (margin, cash) and operational (deadlines, service rate) — tracked over time and against targets.
If an indicator changes no decision, it leaves the dashboard: each KPI must earn its place. The meeting point of finance and management: making figures speak and act.
3. Excel or Power BI
These dashboards are often built with Excel (PivotTables, charts) or Business Intelligence tools like Power BI, automating collection and visualisation — hence the link with the portal's Excel and Power BI guides.
Rachid starts simple with a kept-up spreadsheet, before considering automation: what matters is not the tool but indicator relevance and tracking regularity.
Did you know? — the dashboard diet
A dashboard goes on a diet too: less but better.
🔎 Concrete example — Less but better (Rachid's case)
Rachid sorts his indicators.
Temptation: 40 indicators → drowned information, dashboard no longer consulted.
Good reflex: a handful of KPIs aligned with objectives, actionable.
→ if an indicator changes no decision, it leaves the dashboard.Result: a short, readable, truly used dashboard.
Reflex: every indicator must earn its place.
Section vocabulary
- Management dashboard
- Synthetic set of key indicators giving, at a glance, the state of the business and its activity.
Simple example: Rachid's one-page dashboard: margin, budget variance, cash vs targets.
What it is not: an exhaustive 40-figure report nobody opens.
Reflex: fit on one page readable at a glance.
- KPI
- Key Performance Indicator: numerical measure of an essential aspect of steering.
Simple example: Rachid's margin per product, tracked monthly.
What it is not: a decorative figure changing no decision.
Reflex: attach a possible decision to each KPI.
- Relevant indicator
- KPI aligned with objectives and action levers, on which you can really act.
Simple example: Rachid's average deadline, linked to his service objective and actions.
What it is not: a figure tracked “because we always tracked it”.
Reflex: ask “what can I act on if it moves?”.
- Target
- Objective value against which the indicator is compared to judge performance.
Simple example: Rachid compares his actual margin with his target margin monthly.
What it is not: a figure with no reference, impossible to judge.
Reflex: set a target for each kept KPI.
- Business Intelligence
- Tools (e.g. Power BI) automating collection, analysis and visualisation of steering data.
Simple example: Rachid will automate later; he starts with a well-kept spreadsheet.
What it is not: a magic tool choosing the right indicators for you.
Reflex: automate only when the manual spreadsheet gets too heavy.
In practice — Building a management dashboard (Rachid's case)
- Start from objectives and levers to choose a few relevant KPIs (financial and operational).
- Build a synthetic, readable, visual dashboard (the essentials, not everything).
- Track each indicator over time (trend) and against a target.
- Remove any indicator changing no decision; automate afterwards if needed.
Ready-to-say script — announce the indicator sorting (1 min)
“Our 40-figure dashboard is no longer read. I propose keeping only a handful, aligned with our objectives — margin, variances, cash — each with its target. If a figure changes none of our decisions, it leaves. We track that monthly, on one page.”
To say to the team: observation, sorting rule, tracking rhythm — short and visual.
Copy-paste template — one-page dashboard
DASHBOARD — MONTH: _______________
KPI 1: _____ / TARGET: _____ / TREND: _____
KPI 2: _____ / TARGET: _____ / TREND: _____
KPI 3: _____ / TARGET: _____ / TREND: _____
DECISION TAKEN THIS MONTH: _______________Small business / small budget
Three KPIs on a wall-posted page: margin, cash, one deadline — re-read monthly.
SME Algiers
Adapt to the recipient: management (few figures) vs operational staff (action indicators).
Remote / hybrid
Dashboard shared online, updated before the meeting: the meeting decides, it does not hunt figures.
Management beginner
Start with already-tracked KPIs (budget, costs) before adding new ones.
✓ Best practices
- Choose few indicators, but aligned with objectives and actionable.
- Track each KPI over time and against a target.
- Adapt the dashboard to the recipient (management vs operational).
✗ Common pitfalls
- Overloading the dashboard (information drowns, nobody looks any more).
- Keeping an indicator that never changes any decision.
- Believing the tool matters more than indicator relevance.
Key takeaways
- The dashboard brings together a few key KPIs giving, at a glance, the state of the business.
- A good dashboard is synthetic, readable and action-oriented.
- Choose few but relevant indicators (aligned with objectives and levers), tracked over time and vs targets.
- Built via Excel (PivotTables, charts) or Power BI: link with the portal's Excel and Power BI guides.
48h challenge — apply tomorrow
List your current indicators, remove 1 that changes no decision and reshape your dashboard on 1 page with targets (template above). Test it for one month.
- I can name the 3 qualities of a good dashboard.
- I can apply the rule “if it changes nothing, it leaves”.
- I have sorted (or scheduled) my dashboard on 1 page.
Frequently asked questions
How many indicators should you put on a dashboard?
Few: the temptation is putting everything measurable, but an overloaded dashboard drowns information and is no longer consulted. Like a car's (speed, fuel, alerts), a good dashboard focuses on the KPIs that matter — a handful by level. The criterion: is the indicator aligned with an objective? can you act on it? If an indicator never changes any decision, it has nothing there.
Do you need tools like Power BI, or is Excel enough?
Excel is very often enough, especially in small organisations: PivotTables, charts, formatting. Move to Power BI when needs grow: large volumes, multiple sources, automated refresh, large-scale sharing. Start with Excel and migrate if manual preparation gets too heavy. What matters is not the tool but indicator relevance and tracking regularity.
Rachid has stacked 40 indicators: nobody opens the dashboard and no meeting ends with a decision. What is the golden rule?