Excerpt: Data Interpretation is a very essential part it comes to have key information about a company and its statistics at a glance. I’ve made an effort to pen down a few goo Data presentation practices.
This part is the concluding part of Better Data Presentation. Read Part 1 before go further 
Installing a Dashboard
Installing and operating dashboard software is not easy. A lot is dependent upon the kind of IT infrastructure the organization has installed and whether there is a common software platform for all departments or individual sections use customized software. If it is the latter scenario installing a dashboard could cause great confusion. In such scenarios it is recommended that a completely new combined solution would have to be developed to bring all employees under one dashboard.
There are several important aspects to be looked into before commissioning dashboard software. It would be ideal if one person is given the task of liaising with all the department heads and staff to find out the kind of data they require on dashboards to enable them to produce better results. The findings of this interaction could be a good starting point for the dashboard. Then comes the commonality question. How many elements need to be common across all the departments, how much customization is to be allowed for each section of your employees, so they can modify it to suit their needs and produce best results. It is best to introduce the dashboard concept slowly and with minimum and most necessary data on screen. Bombarding your employees with too much information may confuse them and sometimes scare them. Once the executives start getting used to the new platform you can continue providing them more data access and improve the software.
One of the vital aspects of the dashboard is to use real-time information databases as back end information providers for the front end. One of the common errors by executives is to take faulty data out of the primary database and modify them on their own computers. This makes your database and the dashboard useless. Ensure that any data copying should follow a proper procedure which ensures that the modified data should be reloaded into the main database. Also one trustworthy executive should be delegated the task of constantly monitoring data so that it remains clean, correct and current.
Remember that by investing in IT infrastructure you are enabling your executives to gain access to information and not just fancy machinery. It is important that the primary aim of any investment in IT is to enable better and clearer access to information and not just swank machinery and great brand names. Most importantly the database at the backend of all your software and dashboards should be con-current and accurate. This is one of the best ways to speed up processes and enhance decision making processes in your company.