One place to see whether your programme is working
Ant Davis
Building a metrics dashboard that actually helps you make decisions
A metrics dashboard should do one thing. It should make it easy to understand how your programme is performing at a glance.
Most don't. They're collections of numbers that need explaining, colourful charts without context, and data that answers questions nobody is actually asking.
Let's talk about what a genuinely useful dashboard looks like and how to build one.
Start with the audience
Before you decide what goes on the dashboard, you need to decide who it's for. A dashboard for your own programme management looks different from one you present to your CISO or to a business risk committee. The data might overlap or even be the same, but the framing, the level of detail, and what you lead with should change. Presenting to different audiences is covered in the next piece in this series, so for now let's focus on the underlying design.
The test for what belongs
The test for any metric is simple. Does this tell me whether my programme is working, and would a change in this number cause me to do something differently? If the answer is no to either question, it probably shouldn't be on your main dashboard. Put it in a supporting view if you need it, but don't clutter the primary one.
Most effective awareness dashboards track four to six core metrics consistently. That's it. The depth you need comes from how well you track those few things over time, not from the volume of numbers on the page.
A useful starting structure
I've found a good way to think about it is breaking things into four layers.
First, reach and engagement. Are you getting to the right people? Training completion by target population and content engagement where you have it.
Second, behaviour signals. Reporting rates, simulation results over time, and near-miss data if you're collecting it.
Third, culture indicators. Survey scores and trend direction. Not just the latest numbers but whether there's movement.
And finally, a risk-focused view. How are your highest-risk populations performing? If you've got data broken down by department or role, a simple RAG view here is more useful than a single organisation-wide number. RAG is Red, Amber, Green. A status indicator that shows at a glance where things are healthy, where they need attention, and where there's a problem.
Design matters
A cluttered dashboard is a useless dashboard, so focus on clarity over comprehensiveness.
Trends matter more than point-in-time numbers, so always show the direction of travel rather than just the latest figures. Context matters too. A 70% reporting rate means something different if it was 50% last month after being flat for two years.
Use colour meaningfully, not decoratively. RAG status works where it genuinely reflects risk, not just to make a chart look more interesting. I once worked with someone whose spreadsheets looked like a rainbow and it wasn't at all clear what was going on.
Keep it alive
A dashboard only works if it's kept current. Stale data do damage quickly. Build your data collection into a regular rhythm so the dashboard updates without manual heroics. A simple, regularly updated dashboard is far more useful than a sophisticated one that runs six months behind.
The point of a dashboard isn't to impress anyone. It's to help you and your stakeholders understand what's happening and what needs attention. If your current dashboard requires a five-minute explanation before anyone can read it, it needs a redesign. Start with what decisions you want it to help you make, and work backwards from there.
