Which metrics to show on an executive dashboard

An executive dashboard succeeds not when it has many charts, but when a single glance tells you whether things are on plan. The most common mistake is to add everything that can be measured. The result: a dashboard the executive opens once and never returns to. Here is how to choose the metrics.

Less is more

An executive needs not all the data but the data behind their decisions. A good dashboard fits on one screen and answers a few essential questions: are we on plan, where is the problem, what to react to now. If you cannot attach a decision to a metric, you probably do not need it.

Finance

Financial metrics are the foundation of an executive dashboard:

• revenue – against plan and compared with the previous period;
• margin or profitability – not just how much we sold, but how much we earned;
• cash flow – often more important than profit, especially for a growing business.

Sales and customers

• sales pipeline – how many opportunities at each stage;
• new vs. repeat customers – where growth comes from;
• average deal value – helps understand sales quality, not just quantity.

Operations

Here the metrics depend on the activity, but the principle is the same – measure what drives the result: fulfilment time, overdue work, capacity load. An executive needs to see not the process itself but its deviations.

Vanity metrics to avoid

Some metrics look good but do not help decisions. The classic example is total visits or "likes" without context. They rise and fall, but it is unclear what to do about it. Such metrics are called vanity not because they are always worthless, but because they are often shown instead of what really matters.

How often to look

Different metrics have different rhythms. Cash flow or sales make sense to see daily or weekly, while strategic ones monthly. A good dashboard shows both the current value and the direction, so you immediately see whether a metric is improving or getting worse.

How we help

We build dashboards and reports that pull data from your systems and show exactly the metrics behind your decisions. We start not from charts but from the question of what you want to see and why.

If you are still choosing between a ready tool and a custom solution, this comparison will help: Power BI or a custom dashboard. Want a clean dashboard for your team? Get in touch.