Executive Dashboard

Metadata

• - Name: executive-dashboard
• Description: KPI framework for executive performance monitoring
• Triggers: dashboard, KPI, performance metrics, executive reporting, scorecard

Instructions

You are designing an executive dashboard for $ARGUMENTS.

Create a KPI framework that provides visibility into critical business drivers.

Framework

Dashboard Design Principles

1. 1. Strategic Alignment - KPIs tied to strategic objectives
2. Leading + Lagging - Mix of predictive and outcome measures
3. Actionable - Each KPI has an owner who can act
4. Limited - 5-10 KPIs maximum per view
5. Drill-down - Can explore details when needed
6. Real-time or Near Real-time - Timely enough to act

KPI Categories

Category	Purpose	Examples
Financial	Profitability & health	Revenue, margin, cash flow
Customer

Market position | NPS, retention, share | | Operational | Efficiency & quality | Cycle time, quality, utilization | | People | Human capital | Engagement, turnover, productivity | | Growth | Future performance | Pipeline, innovation, launches |

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

Type	Definition	Example
Leading	Predicts future performance	Pipeline, bookings, web traffic
Lagging

Measures past performance | Revenue, profit, market share | | Coincident | Current state indicator | Backlog, inventory, headcount |

Traffic Light System

• - 🟢 Green = On track (within tolerance)
• 🟡 Yellow = At risk (outside tolerance, needs attention)
• 🔴 Red = Off track (significant deviation, action required)

Output Format

CODEBLOCK0
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD │
│ [Business Unit] │
│ As of: [Date] │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ REVENUE MARGIN CUSTOMER OPERATIONS │
│ $50.2M 22.5% NPS: 72 98.2% SLA │
│ 🟢 +8% YoY 🟡 -1pt YoY 🟢 +5pts 🟢 +0.5pt │
│ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ CRITICAL METRICS │
│ ┌──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐ │
│ │ ARR: $45M │ Churn: 5.2% │ CAC: $2.1K │ LTV: $15K │ │
│ │ 🟢 +12% │ 🟡 +0.5pt │ 🟢 -10% │ 🟢 +20% │ │
│ └──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘ │
│ │
│ 🟢 6 Green │ 🟡 3 Yellow │ 🔴 1 Red │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

### KPI Definitions

#### Financial KPIs

| KPI | Definition | Target | Current | Status | Trend |
|-----|------------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **Revenue** | Total revenue (monthly) | $50M | $50.2M | 🟢 | ↑ |
| **Gross Margin** | (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue | 65% | 63% | 🟡 | → |
| **Operating Margin** | Operating income / Revenue | 25% | 22.5% | 🟡 | ↓ |
| **Free Cash Flow** | Cash from operations - CapEx | $10M | $12M | 🟢 | ↑ |
| **ARR** | Annual recurring revenue | $40M | $45M | 🟢 | ↑ |

#### Customer KPIs

| KPI | Definition | Target | Current | Status | Trend |
|-----|------------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **NPS** | Net Promoter Score | 70 | 72 | 🟢 | ↑ |
| **Customer Retention** | % retained customers | 95% | 94.8% | 🟡 | → |
| **Churn Rate** | % customers lost (annual) | <5% | 5.2% | 🟡 | ↑ |
| **Market Share** | % of market | 25% | 23% | 🟡 | → |
| **CAC** | Customer acquisition cost | <$2.5K | $2.1K | 🟢 | ↓ |

#### Operational KPIs

| KPI | Definition | Target | Current | Status | Trend |
|-----|------------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **SLA Achievement** | % of SLAs met | 99% | 98.2% | 🟢 | ↑ |
| **Cycle Time** | Avg. time to complete | <5 days | 4.8 days | 🟢 | ↓ |
| **Quality Score** | Defect-free rate | 99.5% | 99.1% | 🟡 | → |
| **Utilization** | Resource utilization | 85% | 82% | 🟡 | ↓ |

#### People KPIs

| KPI | Definition | Target | Current | Status | Trend |
|-----|------------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **Engagement Score** | Employee engagement | 80 | 78 | 🟡 | → |
| **Voluntary Turnover** | % leaving voluntarily | <10% | 8.5% | 🟢 | ↓ |
| **Productivity** | Revenue per employee | $300K | $315K | 🟢 | ↑ |

#### Growth KPIs

| KPI | Definition | Target | Current | Status | Trend |
|-----|------------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **Pipeline Value** | Weighted pipeline | $100M | $85M | 🔴 | ↓ |
| **Win Rate** | % of deals won | 35% | 38% | 🟢 | ↑ |
| **New Product Revenue** | % from products <2yr old | 20% | 18% | 🟡 | → |

---

### Trend Visualization

**Revenue (12-month rolling)**

$60M ┤
│ ╭───●
$55M ┤ ╭────────╯
│ ╭──────╯
$50M ┤ ╭─────────╯
│ ╭───────╯
$45M ┤──────╯
│
$40M ┤
└───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───
J F M A M J J A S O N D

**NPS Trend**

80 ┤ ╭───────●
│ ╭───────╯
75 ┤ ╭───────╯
│────╯
70 ┤
│
65 ┤
└───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───
J F M A M J J A S O N D
CODEBLOCK3

Tips

• - Less is more - only critical KPIs
• Each KPI should have an owner
• Mix leading and lagging indicators
• Make it visual - trends, not just numbers
• Exception-based reporting - focus on what's off track
• Can you act on this? If not, why track it?
• Review and refresh KPIs quarterly
• The dashboard should tell a story

References

• - Kaplan, Robert & Norton, David. The Balanced Scorecard. 1996.
• Few, Stephen. Information Dashboard Design. 2006.
• Parmenter, David. Key Performance Indicators. 2015.