One of the things many of our clients talk to us about is how to make data from their Smartsheets visible in a single place. Enter the Smartsheet Dashboard/Portal.
Smartsheet’s Dashboards have an array of options to display Grid, Metrics and Chart data, as well as a whole lot more, so that your team and stakeholders can access some key performance indicators at a glance and in real time.
You might however be wondering what the difference between a Dashboard and a Portal is.
While they are often very similar and may even draw upon the same set of source data, they each fulfil a unique role. Below is a short overview, which will hopefully help you determine how to provide the best source of information to your audience.
Dashboards – Giving a top-level overview
A good Dashboard is a fantastic way of giving management level executives key data and metrics in a concise and visual format. Whether you need to show the overall health of a project or month-on-month sales data, this is easily done using Smartsheet’s Metric and Chart Widgets.
Make important summaries available in a single view by adding a roll-up Sheet or Report to the Dashboard, rather than having to visit multiple Sheets to get key statistics.
Using a Dashboard for your management team will help you cut down on your monthly reporting requirements too as the Dashboards are updated in real time, meaning you will no longer need to spend times in advance of a meeting gathering data to present.
Ensuring that the data is there for you to add to the Dashboard will need some preparation time, as you build relevant Sheets and Reports to drive the visual elements of the Dashboard. Of course, should you need some help getting your Sheets and Reports set up to populate the Dashboard, we are here to help.
Portals – Resources at your fingertips
While a Portal may include some key performance indicators depending on who it is aimed at, the primary function of a Portal is actually to provide team members with a central place to go for necessary resources or links.
Use a Shortcut Widget to provide them with links to important Sheets or company web pages, or add a Form, allowing them to easily submit project ideas.
The Web Content Widget is the ideal way to make a recording of a recent company announcement accessible, while a Report which gives them immediate visibility of upcoming deadlines could help the team stay on top of the workload.
Having an informative and interactive Portal that you can direct your team to not only places resources at their fingertips, but saves time otherwise spent in forwarding this kind of information. To avoid a Portal becoming overcrowded and unusable, you may wish to build multiple Portals. Each one would cover different aspects of the team’s interaction with the company, whether that is for their department’s work, or human resource matters. However, as you can link from one Portal to another, all the underlying Portals can still be grouped together in one place. This helps keep everything nice and neat for future reference.
Which one is right for me?
To best answer this question, we suggest you consider who the audience of your Dashboard or Portal is going to be and what information they will want or need to see.
Need a place for your executive team to get some vital key metrics for a monthly shareholder meeting? A Dashboard would be ideal.
Looking for a way to help new starters within your organisation get familiar with internal processes? Build a Portal and help facilitate a smooth onboarding process.
The scenarios are endless and with Smartsheet’s powerful Dashboarding solution you have the tools you need.
Not sure where to start? Call us on 01889 280010 or email hello@zephi.co.uk. We would be delighted to support you.
