Dashboards are selects sets of measures designed to provide managers with an ability to quickly assess operational performance. They differ from Balanced Scorecards which are usually established at the higher or highest organizational level. While dashboards seek to depict performance “real-time” they often include lag (retrospective) and lead (predictive) measures, either by necessity or design.

Dashboard development requires a thorough understanding of both supplier(s), processes, and customer(s) needs. The customers can be external, or internal as in the case of a “back-room” operational function such as finance or purchasing. Value Stream Mapping is an effective precursor to Dashboard development to gain insight into critical measures for suppliers, process and customers.

In larger organizations, Dashboards are developed at multiple “levels” of the organization, from the most detailed (e.g. work group) to the highest (e.g. Division). The work at all levels can be effectively “connected” to broader, higher level priorities by including select measures from the “next level up” Dashboard in a lower level Dashboard.

SCS can assist with Dashboard development and maintenance, contributing key design knowledge and drawing on experience working with a wide variety of organizational types and levels, goals, and measures.