Data is one of the most valuable types of currency the world has today. For businesses, the insight into audience behavior, demographics, buying habits and tons of other metrics are the secret ingredient to understanding how to position your products. Businesses have access to so much data and it can be key in brand and product development, but a lot of businesses don't know how to harness that data in a productive way. How is data best understood? With data dashboards.

What is a data dashboard?/h2>

A data dashboard is a tool that helps businesses visualize the data it collects. It helps your business analyze consumer metrics to better understand how well you're performing. Gathering customer data is the foundation of your market research efforts - with a data dashboard on your side you can understand customers both old and new on a much deeper level. High-level market research will tell you an overview of your target market; a data dashboard will give you a deep dive look at their wants and needs, their hobbies, location, their Twitter preferences and a lot more.

Data isn't just helpful when you're trying to understand your customers. Businesses can make serious improvements by using data dashboards internally, too. Today's businesses are flexible - the office is no longer a rigid nine-to-five set up with cubicles and a strict hierarchy. Senior management sits next to entry-level staff in lots of businesses, and employees are encouraged to work remotely and collaborate across teams. How is this moderated and tracked? Internal data dashboards.

What is a data dashboard for internal use?

Your senior team needs to be tuned in to the ongoing projects across your business. Your company has a set of goals that every member of your team works towards - whether you call them KPIs, OKRs or something else - and overseeing your business workflows is an essential part of any management role.

Data dashboards are invaluable to team leaders. Managers can oversee projects without wasting valuable time calling meetings and getting in-person updates. For example, within Trint managers can track the progress of their team and find out who's working on what without micromanaging and disrupting workflow. This is essential for monitoring productivity and making sure everyone is pulling their weight.

How do you build an effective data dashboard?

Any business can say that they use data dashboards to strengthen their understanding of both customer metrics and internal performance. Your organization handles data in huge quantities every day, and using data dashboards to your advantage isn't always easy. Here are three handy tips to make sure your data dashboards are working for you.

Know your audience

Who is your data dashboard for? Data dashboards give essential insights that serve an audience. This could be your team, yourself as a manager, your superiors or the market itself. Knowing your audience is a really important part of building your data dashboard - if your main objective is to gather insight on team progress, you don't need to track consumer behavior. Once you decide who the dashboard will inform, you can plan which metrics you need to track.

Tell a story

Your data dashboard serves a purpose. You might be using data to back up a claim, tell a story or plan future strategy. For managers, a data dashboard can tell the story of how your team works: collaboration, how well they perform and the efficiency of their workflow. Understanding the story you want to tell with your data is a great way to ensure your data dashboard is working efficiently. Are you presenting customer insights to the board? If yes, then your data has to tell the story of your customers.

Collaborate

Your data dashboard is an essential tool for fostering and encouraging collaboration in your team - both internally with peers and with their manager (which might be you). Use it to its maximum effect, learning from the data insights and actively collaborating within the platform to help steer the team in a strong direction.

With Trint's admin dashboard, managers and colleagues have a valuable look into their team's performance, which is essential for creating effective workflows and ensuring they're working as effectively as possible. As a business, you need to make sure teams are working toward those overarching goals; software platforms that allow for the monitoring and optimizing of team workflows are a great investment for any organization.

Learn more about Trint's audio-to-text tools for business today and unlock the value of the spoken word for your team.

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