Project dashboard

Coordination and management of projects can be a complex task as there is a great deal of information and data which requires communication to various stakeholders. The larger the projects, the higher the complexity, thus making project management more difficult (Lamptey & Fayek, 2012). Project dashboard can be an efficient tool to communicate the most essential information for project stakeholders to im-prove project efficiency as the project management team does not have to review a large number of re-ports to determine the status of the project.(Kerzner, 2017).

A project dashboard is a visualization of central project data, which ideally includes key performance met-rics which are customized to specific projects. These metrics should track performance and progress of the project such as deadlines, budget, deliveries, and other necessary insights into the project. To succeed with project management, it is imperative that project progress and performance is communicated. Also, project results should be shared (American National Standard, 2008). This should be done to encourage and motivate stakeholder of the project. Furthermore, the information is critical for project manager as without the necessary information the manager will face difficulty in managing the project.

To gain most value of project dashboards it is imperative to include only the necessary data which is to be communicated to the project stakeholders. Occupying the limited space on the dashboard with unneces-sary information will lead to the dashboard becoming redundant. Furthermore, a poorly visualized dash-board will result in a cluttered mess. Thus, a project dashboard should be well presented with necessary data to be an efficient mean of communication (Few, 2006).

This article will give and introduction to dashboards and their purpose with a focus on how they are valu-able for project management. Furthermore, the application of project dashboards is presented and how data for project dashboards should be evaluated. Finally, limitations of project dashboards are discussed.

Annotated Bibliography

Harold Kerzner, Project Management Metrics, KPIs, and Dashboards - A Guide to Measuring and Monitoring Project Performance, 2011, John Wiley & Sons This book provides knowledge on how dashboards can be implemented into the Project Management framework. Furthermore, it elaborates on the role of proper metrics and KPIs.

Stephen Few, Information Dashboard Design, 2006, O'Reilly This book describes best-practices regarding designing proper dashboards. It is quite technical but can still be useful to a project manager who wishes to understamd what makes a project dashboard work and what does not.

American National Standard, ANSI/PMI 99-001-2004, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 3rd Edition This book desribes a standardized method to project management. It is recommended that project managers use this book to understand the monitoring and control processes and their context within the project work. This is an important foundation to understand how dashboards can properly be integrated into these. The same applies for other project management frameworks, e.g. PRINCE2.