Marcie Jones

Balancing simplicity and complexity in dashboards hinges on an effective feedback loop. Start by engaging users with surveys and interviews to gather insights on usability and effectiveness. Conduct user testing sessions for real-time feedback on new features. Use analytics to monitor dashboard usage and identify problem areas. Establish a dedicated feedback channel, such as a portal or focus group meetings, for ongoing input. Incorporate feedback into iterative development cycles to address concerns and enhance functionality. This continuous feedback loop ensures the dashboard remains user-friendly and efficient.

As a former Amazonian, I can't help but contribute with the Working Backwards method. Begin with the end goal in mind: draft a mock press release announcing the successful implementation of the dashboard, highlighting its key benefits and the problems it solves for the organization. Understand how often and how deeply different user groups need to access the data. Develop user personas to represent the primary users, mapping out their specific needs and interactions. Create a prototype based on this detailed understanding and gather feedback from actual users to refine the design. By working backwards, you ensure the scorecard is purpose-built to meet the needs of its audience, resulting in a tool that is both effective and user-friendly.

To align the organization you need to first be ready to foster continuous improvement. Unless your organization is a dictatorship be less focused on the consistency and more on teh feedback loops. - Consistency: Instill a culture that values continuous improvement and learning, ensuring that everyone is committed to the strategic goals. -Flexibility: Encourage experimentation and innovation, allowing teams to try new approaches and learn from failures.

One major component of empowerment involves creating transparency to the framework for decision making. -Consistency: Develop a decision-making framework that aligns with the company’s core values and strategic priorities. -Flexibility: Empower employees at different levels to make decisions within this framework, allowing for quicker responses to changing conditions.

By establishing clarity at the top level and ensuring it permeates throughout the organization, you lay a strong foundation for balancing flexibility and consistency. This approach not only aligns everyone towards common goals but also empowers teams to make informed decisions and adapt strategies effectively. -Consistency: Establish clear, measurable objectives that align with the overall strategic goals of the organization. -Flexibility: Allow teams to determine their own key results and how they plan to achieve the objectives. This enables adaptation to specific team contexts and challenges.

While I know the intent of this point is for empathy to the individual you are providing feedback too, I feel the same approach can apply to the impacted party. Feedback is often applied when the individual you are coaching has done something of challenge with another individual, let’s call them the third party. Examples; missed a deadline, didn’t produce quality work, used inappropriate tone. Etc The key to using empathy in this approach is to ask the individual you are coaching to reflect on their actions and how they landed on the third party. Have them reflect on the feedback from a the point of view of the result. Removes their personal feelings and drives impact and empathy for the outcome of the corrective behaviour.