Dashboards and Scoreboards
Balanced Scoreboards and Dashboards have been linked together as if they were interchangeable. However, although both visually display critical information, the difference is in the format: Scoreboards can open the quality of an operation while dashboards provide calculated direction. A balanced scoreboard has what they called a “prescriptive” format. It should always contain these components (Active Strategy)…
• Perspectives – groupings of high level strategic areas
• Objectives – verb-noun phrases pulled from a strategy plan
• Measures – also called Metric or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Spotlight Indicators – red, yellow, or green symbols that provide an at-a-glance view of a measure’s performance.
Each of these sections ensures that a Balanced Scorecard is essentially connected to the businesses critical strategic needs.
The design of a dashboard is more loosely defined. Dashboards are usually a series of graphics, charts, gauges and other visual indicators that can be monitored and interpreted. Even when there is a strategic link, on a dashboard, it may not be noticed as such since objectives are not normally present on dashboards. However, dashboards can be customized to link their graphs and charts to strategic objectives.
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