At RescueTime, our small however mighty staff represents greater than a handful of US states. Georgia. New York. Illinois. Kentucky. Texas. Washington. North Carolina. Tennessee. We work throughout 3 totally different time zones and a variety of almost 3,000 miles.
At this level, an expanded staff is the norm, not the exception. Greater than 80% of remote-capable jobs are both absolutely distant or hybrid. Sharing a digital workspace is a wholly totally different expertise from seeing one another Monday-Friday within the workplace. We love distant work—and we wouldn’t even take into account shifting to an in-person mannequin—however it could be deceptive to say {that a} distant or hybrid staff doesn’t expertise its justifiable share of challenges.
Profitable, long-term collaboration throughout a number of areas and numerous departments takes intentionality—and the fitting instruments. Shared staff dashboards are one solution to bolster communication and eradicate a number of of the highest challenges skilled by distant groups. Right here’s precisely how this technique of reporting advantages your staff.
9 methods shared staff dashboards improve staff collaboration
Distant roles include benefits like higher work/life stability, much less burnout, and better productiveness, however workers are additionally practical concerning the draw back of being bodily separated from all of their colleagues. A few of the prime challenges related to distant work embrace:
- feeling much less linked to the corporate tradition
- decreased collaboration together with your staff
- much less entry to work assets
- decreased cross-functional communication and collaboration
These points are the place a staff dashboard is available in. Having a shared information location for the complete group is without doubt one of the best methods to eradicate most distant work woes. We rounded up 9 causes your organization ought to use a collective reporting system to maximise your collaborative success.
1. A shared staff dashboard creates a single supply of fact.
Groups typically function from conflicting information sources even in case you’re all working for a similar firm. Gross sales refers to at least one set of numbers whereas advertising and marketing makes use of one other. That inconsistency creates pointless friction as a result of one individual sees a six whereas the opposite sees a 9, they usually each have proof that they’re proper.
Shared dashboards set up agreed-upon definitions, measurement methodologies, and commonplace information throughout the corporate, in the end constructing belief in organizational metrics and belief between departments.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Schedule a cross-functional “metrics alignment workshop” earlier than you launch your dashboard. Ask representatives from every division to attend and collaboratively outline key metrics so everybody agrees on calculation strategies and terminology. Hold the definitions in a shared glossary that’s simply accessible.
2. You’re capable of break down data silos.
The opposite evening my 5-year-old opened up a well-loved copy of Dr. Seuss’s Oh The Locations You Will Go and began reciting a well-recognized web page.
It describes the Ready Place, the place everyone seems to be simply ready.
“Ready for the fish to chunk
or ready for the wind to fly a kite
or ready round for Friday evening…”
The Ready Place is principally the Whoville model of an data silo. You’re caught till the fitting circumstances come alongside. On this case, till you get the knowledge you could transfer ahead.
Info silos are a pure results of specialised groups, however they turn out to be an issue once they forestall worthwhile insights from reaching those that may benefit. Thirty-six % of individuals have needed to take care of lacking or misplaced information at work due to communication challenges. When you’re one in all them, you understand how maddening that have is.
Shared staff dashboards enable for visibility throughout a number of groups so information doesn’t slip between the cracks or take three full enterprise days to switch. As a bonus, upon getting staff reporting in place you’ll be able to lean into the employee-driven part of data sharing. You would possibly take into account scheduling rare cross-departmental conferences to eradicate gaps that come up, designating a consultant from every staff to attend, and ensuring everyone seems to be on the identical web page.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Fully eliminating data silos requires a mixture of human collaboration and technological parts. It received’t occur all of sudden, so begin with the high-impact data that’s inflicting unfavorable buyer experiences or tanking your group’s effectivity.
3. You’ll be able to speed up decision-making.
Eradicating bottlenecks empowers groups to reply to altering circumstances extra shortly. When you’ve eliminated data silos and established a single supply of fact, groups are higher ready to make knowledgeable selections based mostly on the real-time insights of your dashboard.
Shared staff dashboards additionally present context that’s vital for making savvy selections. As an alternative of simply getting the gross sales numbers from Q2, you’ll be able to see the gross sales numbers from Q2 during the last 8 years. With that data, you perceive that gross sales traditionally take a dip every spring and there’s much less cause to panic than you initially thought.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Whereas making faster selections affords clear benefits, quicker isn’t robotically higher. A well-designed dashboard is nuanced sufficient to stability pace with acceptable diligence. This helps groups work shortly with out sacrificing high quality.
4. Groups align round frequent objectives.
In organizations with out shared dashboards, particular person groups see solely their phase of the enterprise ecosystem, making fast judgments based mostly on restricted views.
Advertising focuses on lead era, gross sales works towards shut charges, and buyer success prioritizes retention—every working inside their departmental silo. Nobody is being significantly self-centered, they’re simply targeted on what’s proper in entrance of them.
Shared dashboards change this dynamic by creating visible connections between departmental actions and broader organizational objectives. When everybody can see the identical measures of success, conversations shift from defending departmental territory to collaborative problem-solving round shared challenges.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Design your dashboard to incorporate a visible of how every division’s metrics connect with the general organizational targets.
5. Distant and hybrid staff coordinate with ease.
Right here is a method ChatGPT describes shared staff dashboards:
“deliberately designed data environments.”
Certain, nobody talks like that in actual life, however the characterization is fairly spot-on.
Distant groups don’t have the identical context that’s offered by sharing bodily workplace area or chatting about shoppers when you drink your third cup of espresso for the day.
The asynchronous information swap by shared dashboards turns into a vital collaboration software. It minimizes the disruption of a number of time zones and numerous working hours so staff members are capable of make knowledgeable selections with out ready hours (and even days) to have their questions answered.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Select a platform that enables notes to be hooked up to information factors. Having conversations inside the information itself retains misunderstandings to a minimal.
6. Information is democratized however stays safe.
Managing information to make sure that everybody has what the knowledge they want however no more than they need to is usually a full-time job inside some organizations. Shared dashboards mix open data entry with information safety to simplify the method.
Implementing user-appropriate views and permissions supplies vital data with out exposing delicate data. You’ll be able to decide permissions based mostly on elements like:
- function
- mission involvement
- information sensitivity
- enterprise function
Right here’s what that may appear to be: If full information entry isn’t acceptable, management can go for settings that present what data exists and who has entry to it, so staff members know who they need to attain out to for sure metrics.
7. Workforce dashboards help a data-driven tradition.
It’s time to say goodbye to instinct and hi there to information, as a result of, consider it or not, your intestine will steer you unsuitable.
My intestine says I’m an amazing multitasker, however the info say that shifting between duties decreases my productiveness by as much as 40%.
Dashboards encourage groups to shift from intuition-driven to data-informed organizational practices. With full entry to all of the pertinent metrics, there’s no cause to not lean into the info for every determination.
As well as, shared dashboards dismantle hierarchical data entry patterns that historically focus information on the prime, whereas everybody else capabilities on a need-to-know foundation. This displays organizational values that encourage transparency and evidence-based determination making.
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Begin conferences with a 5-minute share the place totally different staff members take turns highlighting a sample they’ve observed within the shared dashboard. The dialog shouldn’t be complicated—the aim is to normalize data-related observations as a part of on a regular basis work conversations.
8. Reporting and conferences turn out to be extra environment friendly.
What number of of your inner conferences are well worth the time they take?
Based on one research, conferences are ineffective 72% of the time. Shared dashboards streamline assembly effectivity so groups spend much less time debating what occurred and extra time deciding what to do subsequent.
Right here’s what that may appear to be:
- Implement pre-meeting information overview protocols the place attendees overview related metrics the day earlier than a scheduled assembly so they arrive knowledgeable and prepared for significant dialogue.
- Design shared staff dashboards with threshold alerts that robotically flag metrics falling exterior anticipated ranges. As an alternative of reviewing all metrics, you’ll be able to dedicate problem-solving efforts to your areas of concern.
- Implement communication options that enable staff members to connect feedback and context on to information factors, creating an asynchronous dialog round metrics earlier than face-to-face conferences.
- Design focused dashboard views that align exactly with particular recurring conferences. Nobody is desperately scrolling to search out the related data throughout discussions.
- Exchange weekly standing updates with dashboard-based asynchronous communication channels and eradicate recurring conferences.
In 2023, Shopify canceled all recurring conferences that concerned greater than three folks in favor of extra intentional conversations, saving an estimated 322,000 hours throughout the corporate. How a lot money and time may you save by utilizing a dashboard to eradicate pointless information swaps?
9. Proactive drawback fixing is inspired.
A well-designed dashboard helps groups handle points earlier than they influence outcomes. You’ll be able to embrace parts that predict future challenges based mostly on present patterns, equivalent to:
- clusters of help tickets round particular options that product engineers could must tweak
- frequent references to the identical documentation, signaling that workers have coaching gaps and want further help
- a slowing pipeline velocity that indicators new clients are taking longer to accumulate
Right here’s what that may appear to be: Implement triggers inside your dashboard that robotically provoke a response when metrics attain a sure quantity. A proactive strategy prevents smaller points from snowballing so that you’re not always working in disaster mode.
Hold your staff linked once they’re miles aside
Shared dashboards spotlight the connection between particular person efforts and collective outcomes. It’s the most effective of each worlds— autonomy meets organizational alignment.
RescueTime’s shared staff dashboards promote openness by permitting staff members to view collective progress, fostering a tradition of belief and mutual accountability.
Our staff reviews are a software for the complete group to see how they’re working as a staff. As such, they’re out there to all members. It lets people see staff benchmarks and helps them perceive their place within the group. Particular person information isn’t accessible within the group report, so nobody can view a person’s non-public particulars or actions.
Extra teamwork. Much less stress. It’s time to provide your staff a lift.
