What does GPS has to do with your Dashboard?
Do you have a GPS in your car? Great ! I don’t. At least not yet. But soon I will need to get one. But why do I ever need a GPS if I already know my way around town or familiar with the places I wanted to go?
You are absolutely right! As long as you are familiar with the places you wanted to go, there is really no real need for a GPS. As long as you are familiar….but wait ! Even though I am familiar with the roads, I may not be aware there could be another short cut!
What Does A GPS Have To Do With Managing My Business?
In the business world, GPS is your Dashboard. It can tells you where you are heading, at which stage you are in. Helps you to answer question such as, are we on track? Are we efficient in our A&P? What should we do next?
And most importantly, even if you are very familiar on running your business, but what’s the harm to use the Dashboard to gain a different perspectives that may not be so obvious?
While GPS able to point you to the right direction to your destination, just like an effective Dashboard can suggest next course of action to take, GPS or Dashboard, by itself will not guarantee that you will arrive your goal on time, at least.
Why is it so?
It will not guarantee you results because, knowing where you are heading is good. But many businesses had challenges in meeting organization goals because managers did not focus on doing things that drive their business.
Just like when you are driving with the help of your GPS, you will still needs to step your foot on the gas pedal. Yes, you need to drive your car.
While it may seemed obvious and common sense, the fact is that it is not common practice.
So, what do we need to do?
Managers need to “Drive” the business towards the goals. They need to take action, fast action. By taking ownership, by taking accountability, managers make things happen. The Dashboard served as their GPS – providing insights, offering tips and track their progress.
Dashboard is a tool that works best with the manager who focus on driving the business.
But I don’t have budget to afford a Dashboard!
Well, you do not need to invest into any business intelligent or data mining tools that can cost you a fortune. Because we are not talking about analyzing your entire company business transaction here.
Nowadays, it maybe useful for you to know that you can simply use Microsoft Excel as the tool to create a Dashboard reporting system that suits your needs. You only want to capture essential information for your analysis.
Many organizations has started to realize that they can use Excel to the fullest to build a Dashboard to help their business to achieve their goals.
You can too!
Creating your vary own Dashboard is the start, but your managers will still needs to drive their business as they always do. The only difference, is that now at least, they are equipped with a “GPS” to ensure they are heading in the right direction!
Visit http://www.francischin.com for more info on how to create your first Business Dashboard!