As a freelancer, I was never one to work with a project management dashboard. I was on my own, working from project to project, meeting deadlines, and moving on to the next item. However, it wasn’t until I joined an agency that used these dashboards as the primary driver of their business tracking that a door was opened to me, and a new world was spread before my eyes.

In all honesty, I felt like something of a marketing newbie for not knowing about the glory that was a project management dashboard. Furthermore, I was embarrassed that I was not using them for my freelance projects. So if you are like me, and know nothing about project management dashboards, don’t feel left out. I have been in the business for over a decade and recently started implementing specific dashboards within both my freelance and agency life.

In this article, I will walk you through everything you need about a project management dashboard. We will discuss what they are, their benefits, and how to create the perfect dashboard that functions seamlessly within your workflow. If you don’t use these dashboards yet, I think it’s about time you start! You won’t look back – trust me!  

What Are Project Management Dashboards?

Project management dashboards are visual tools that help project managers track project progress, identify project risks, and efficiently assign tasks to team members. In addition, these dashboards have custom reports that allow you to quickly check project status, making it easier to optimize resources and time check your usage.

Your project management dashboard can be built any way you like. Still, they typically contain graphs, charts, and other visual representations of project data that can be used for project tracking and reporting. 

But where does this data you are pulling come from? Simple. This data is pulled directly from the project management system you work in (like Hive). Built with time-tracking tools, project planning software, and other project management tools, your dashboard works within the confines of the project management tool you use daily. It is a simple way to make any project overview more comprehensive and easier to read than looking at multiple separate reports.

Why Use Project Management Dashboards?

Project management dashboards are vital when it comes to managing projects effectively. Before I used my dashboard in Hive, I was manually pulling out spreadsheets in Excel and writing text manually in word documents to cross-reference. (Yes. This was both awful and time-consuming).

Using a custom project management dashboard, I can get a clear view of what is happening on any project in real-time instead of manually creating multiple reports—which can take hours or days depending on the number of tasks involved.

Dashboards also make it easy to identify potential issues early on as project performance is displayed in an easy-to-read visual format. And project managers can quickly assign tasks and request progress reports from team members using the tools available on project management dashboards.

How To Create The Perfect Project Management Dashboard

While this can be subjective to the project you are looking to track, there are a few key steps to follow when creating the perfect dashboard. Landing on the ideal dashboard to measure the metrics you want for your project is going to take some time and practice, but here are some tips to get started:

1. Keep your project management dashboard focused on project objectives. Your project goals should be clearly stated in your project dashboard, so everyone knows what they are working towards.
2. Choose a software program or project management tool that best fits your project needs. This will make it easier to track progress and assign tasks within the same platform. In other words, don’t use Hive for half of your projects and Excel for the other. Create all your projects in a single project management tool and save yourself the headache of working on multiple platforms. The chance for human error in transposing numbers and graphs is also going to lessen as well.
3. Utilize graphs, charts, and other visual tools to display project data in real time. This makes it easy to identify potential issues quickly and accurately assess project performance at all stages of the project lifecycle.
4. Focus on project scalability. As project goals and objectives change, you may need to adjust your dashboard. Make sure your project dashboard is flexible enough to accommodate changes in project scope and requirements as the project progresses.
5. Don’t forget about security! Your project management dashboard should be secure so that only authorized team members can access it—this is essential for protecting sensitive information and confidential project data like budgets or customer information.

Creating the perfect project management dashboard can be challenging, but it’s an important step in effectively managing projects and ensuring they are completed on time and within budget.

Use Hive For Your Project Management Dashboard

There are many project management platforms to choose from, and any tool worth its salt will have a project management dashboard section. Save yourself the headache of trial and error, and select a platform that is, at a minimum, going to offer the following options:

• project timeline view
• project Gantt chart view
• project workload capacity planning
• project tracking
• project reporting

Hive is one of the most comprehensive project management dashboards for project teams of all sizes. With Hive’s project dashboard, you can easily track project status in real-time, assign tasks to team members, keep up with progress reports from each task owner, and monitor milestones. The dashboard also offers a great visual representation of your project, so it’s much easier to read than looking at multiple separate reports or spreadsheets.

Whether you’re managing a straightforward project or a large-scale initiative that requires multiple stages of approval and execution, Hive is the perfect platform to get started on creating the ideal project management dashboard for your freelance projects or agency life.