Old news? When not to put data in a dashboard or report.

Some information can be essential to know on a second-by-second basis (heartrate, stock prices or altitude) other information is naturally slower to change; staff survey results, seasonal totals or audit results, for example.

A quick way to devalue a dashboard or report and to turn off readers is to put data in the report that moves more slowly than the frequency of the report.  Readers will quickly get used to ignoring that part of the report.

There is one word of caution – Some things should move between reports but don’t. These are things that have become “stuck” for a whole variety of reasons. Do not leave these off as they are normally your prime improvement opportunities!

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