Few project managers have the time to hunt down the wildly disparate software necessary to track a project from buy-in to completion. You need a dashboard—an all-in-one command center that communicates precisely where a project stands.
Dashboards take information from a variety of other applications (Microsoft Project, Excel, database exports, etc.) and integrate it into one easy-to-understand reporting screen. Like a traffic light, most use red, yellow and green as a signature element to indicate a task's status. Done right, using a dashboard can mean the difference between delivering on time and not even knowing you're woefully off schedule.
An effective project management dashboard should include the following elements:
EASY-TO-USE INTERFACE
1 Just as a car dashboard has a visible speedometer and turn signals, your project management dashboard components should be simple to interact with.
CenterView dashboards from Corda allow you to customize preferred view settings so you can get to relevant information fast, without wading through screens of statistics you don't need. Or you can opt for a web-based all-in-one project management package that includes its own dashboard. Zoho Projects, for example, uses Twitter-like status updates and activity streams. 37signals's Basecamp boasts a clean and simple interface, virtually eliminating the need for training or ramp-up. Projectmanager.com offers an all-in-one service (at various price points based on usage) with an excellent option that offers drag-and-drop customization, multiple dashboards and a “summary” dashboard to manage them all.
ALL-ACCESS
2
A good dashboard should enable users to gather the info they need securely from a laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Opt for one that's server-hosted, such as CenterView, or web-based solutions like Google Sites. Corda offers an iPhone app, and you can access a mobile-friendly Basecamp layout from your Blackberry.
SIMPLE SHARING
3
You may have the most elegant Microsoft Project file sitting on your laptop in a Singapore hotel. But if you can't share its results in real time with your team members in India and the executives in Brazil, what's the point? Look for tools that allow you to set up groups with varying levels of access so team members see only the necessary details, while project stakeholders and senior managers get the big-picture view.
EARLY WARNING SIGNS
4
Even the best dashboard can't speed up a weather-related project delay or fix commodity prices, but it should tell you clearly and immediately if these sorts of issues are affecting your project. Projectmanager.com's offering depends on team members to enter risks (ranked low, medium or high) and automatically issues e-mail alerts if the connected tasks slip.
Just as the dashboard on your car gives you all the information you need to get where you're going, the right project management dashboard can help get your project to its final destination, safe and sound. PM