Reporting vs. Dashboarding

We'll review strategies for collaborating with stakeholders to prevent disappointment and exceed expectations.

We'll try to transform data into tangible wisdom, showcasing the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of reporting and dashboards.

…and review why an apple is not always an apple.

Steady yourself for invaluable insights as we navigate the complexities of data demands and unlock the power of genuine wisdom (not mine, yours).

Is a dashboard a report, or is a report a dashboard, or are they just the same? Does it matter? This fundamental question drives much confusion around the delivery of data and insights – even around the nature of dashboards: does a dashboard have to be built in a tool like Data Studio and auto-update to be a dashboard, or can it be a collection of graphs and metrics in Google Sheets or static in PowerPoint?

After years of building reports and dashboards for many different stakeholders, I've learnt that it is always best to clear this up before starting anything. Here's my understanding of the issue and the various types of reports and considerations to ensure everyone has the right level of information.

So, a dashboard, by definition, is not reporting; it's something you might report on.

The key considerations are to plan and agree on before building a dashboard or writing a report:

We need to tailor our delivery to each requirement. To do that, we need to ask lots and lots of basic questions and sometimes explain to our audience why what they think they want is not actually what they need. Let's start with the DIKW Pyramid.