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Top 6 project dashboard tools for agencies in 2024

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Updated on:
September 15, 2024
September 15, 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A project dashboard is among the most important instruments in project management. They offer live updates of the actual data on the running projects such as the tasks done, the expenditure, the time of the project, and even the cost. This enhances the visibility of project progress and performance hence providing insights into what needs to be improved.

The dashboards are in fact imperative in project planning and allow project stakeholders to monitor the project portfolio comprehensively. The key project details can be noticed at once, and the projects’ status/health can be evaluated shortly, while the project reports are created as soon as possible, which promotes effective decision-making.

Introduction to project dashboards

A project dashboard is essential in managing projects especially when it comes to the health of the projects, which tasks are there, and the advancement of the projects. It compiles and presents information relating to the project in real-time through pictorial or graphical forms; this enables project managers and the stakeholders to have a real-time view of how a project is performing it contains information such as project schedule, the project budget, and the project cost.

It helps in keeping information structured in a manner that can easily be understood and therefore; it is highly important in project planning as well as decision-making processes. It can also create project status reports so that stakeholders can be well aware of a portfolio of the entire undertaking.

Bonsai provides a complete solution designed specifically for agencies. It helps in tracking projects efficiently, assigning tasks easily, and monitoring progress in real time. Its user-friendly dashboard offers an overview of the project’s status, making it simple for stakeholders to access essential information. Thanks to its intuitive design and advanced automation capabilities, agencies can effectively manage project schedules, budgets and deliverables without the confusion often associated with generic tools.

What is a project dashboard?

A project dashboard is a tool that is used in managing projects to effectively display project information in a graphical way in order to give an overview of how the project is performing. This consolidated display enables the project stakeholders to assess and comprehend the project tasks, project schedule, project costs, and the project health status without going through several reports.

Which in turn contains key project measures, the project dashboard offers live information regarding the project cost, identification of possible risks, and more concerning project scheduling. Finally, the project dashboard is used to enhance the decision-making process and to ensure that the progress of the given project is being informed to all of the relevant stakeholders.

The importance of project dashboards in agency work

Project dashboards are arguably must-have enablers in agency work more so in light of their capacity to provide an up-to-date status of key project details. These dashboards offer an instant board perspective of project analytics, project updates, and project expenditures. There is a great opportunity to enhance project management by raising an understanding of the discrete tasks of the particular project and the timeline of the project within the organization.

Also, the data shown on the project dashboard makes it easier and quicker to give project status updates. This will go a long way in helping the project stakeholders communicate effectively and also understand the health and performance of the project- thus aiding in efficient project planning and control in the management of the project’s budget. Keep in mind the following things: 

  • Project dashboards are important indicators of the project’s performance and current status.
  • They enhance the communication process with regard to their ability to provide and receive fast status updates.
  • Finance and cost control can be easily maintained through the help of dashboards.

Key features of effective project dashboards

Due to its importance, project dashboards are some of the most vital elements of project management that allow one to track and present a project’s data proficiently. They provide a single source of project-related information such as project activities, project status, and project expenses. This in turn assists in monitoring the project schedule and project cost thus leading to the improvement of project performance and overall project health. In addition, they promote an understanding of the project portfolio and can become a basis for presenting the status of the project. This in turn helps in project planning as well as in measuring various parameters of a project that help the project stakeholders make the right decision at the right time.

Real-time tracking and reporting

Real-time tracking and Reporting in project management help to get imperative project details like project data, project tasks, and project progress. The help of project accounting, allows the managers to have updated knowledge regarding project portfolio, project budget as well and project costs. This enhances decision making thereby improving the performance and health of a project. Further, real-time positioning of project information saves time, refines planning, and keeps project stakeholders informed contemporarily. The other related advantage is that the application of project metrics for tracking and reporting allows the detection of schedule variances and performance trends hence Allowing corrective actions to be taken soon.

With Bonsai’s real-time monitoring and reporting functionalities in place, agency owners are able to obtain an overview of project advancement and financial status. It also provides a summary of task accomplishment without the need to toggle between various platforms. Bonsai’s automated reporting system enables project stakeholders to promptly receive updates—streamlining the decision making process and enhancing efficiency significantly. 

Task management and scheduling

One of the functions that have well-elaborated sub-processes within project management is a function of task management and scheduling. They include the coordination of tasks in the project as well as working on which aspects of the project, monitoring of project execution and also working within the deadline and cost of the project. The management of tasks and the planning of tasks for a project demands the use of project data as well as project information. A project status report prepared, and revised frequently, gives an overview of project status and progress. Not only does it help in the dissemination of information to stakeholders, but it also helps in the cost control of a project as well as in portfolio management.

Collaboration and communication tools

Effective project management as we have seen, requires effective use of collaboration and communication tools. Such tools help in the dissemination of information for the projects, tracking of tasks within the projects, and creation of project overviews respectively. They help ensure that everyone is well informed and updated on the progress hence eliminating the chances of misunderstanding.

Bonsai is also great at fostering collaboration by providing shared work areas where teams can coordinate their tasks and timelines efficiently while also sharing responsibilities effectively. With project information centralized and updates happening in real time, Bonsai breaks down communication hurdles to keep all team members and stakeholders informed and connected. 

These tools are also very useful in communicating changed information to the project stakeholders, time management, and cost control. However, present-day software solutions are capable of automatically producing status reports in a given project to inform about the health conditions in the same project, and even address the issue of project portfolio. They all play a major role in improving the performance of the project as a whole. With these tools, teams can work on the project data in real-time and can plan and modify it according to the existing situations. It contributes to the general formation of a collaborative, productive, and successful project milieu.

Resource allocation and budgeting

This entails areas such as the use of project data in running the project, project activities scheduling, and continual monitoring of the progress of a project. It’s all about respect for the adequate management of resources, as well as concrete budgeting for sustaining the project.

Key elements include:

  • Project planning: The basic in allocating what is scarce in times where it is most required.
  • Project budget: The financing scheme of the project indicates all the costs that will be required in the project.
  • Project status report: An information reporting system for managing the recording of the project progress and status to the project stakeholders, as well as, a communication system used to report the amount of accomplishments of project goals.

These factors are combinative and hold relevance in the context of the project schedule, the project information that has to be relayed, and the overall diversification of the project portfolio. This in turn also enhances the project metrics and supplements the overall project control aspects.

Benefits of using project dashboards

Project dashboards are one of the essential tools for a project manager since they offer an integrated view of the project status or project activities and data. They facilitate proper control of the expenses of the project and the overall budget of the project which helps control the planning and implementation of the projects. Through the consolidation of the relevant details about the project in the corresponding online platform, the relevance of the project output is increased by offering simple and more efficient decision-making, and by showing the project schedule and the project’s health status. 

From experience, project transparency proves useful for the stakeholders involved in a project because it helps ensure that a project’s KPIs are followed and enables the frequent reporting of project progress. Meaningful and effective use of a project dashboard can significantly enhance the delivery and efficiency of a project portfolio.

For agencies looking for a solution, Bonsai streamlines project management by combining task organization, budgeting and monitoring progress in one place. The user-friendly interface helps teams maintain productivity while concentrating on their goals as Bonsai takes care of the behind-the-scenes tasks to ensure the project stays on course. 

Enhanced project visibility

Improved Project Awareness can be achieved through project management practices where the project tasks, the project status, and the general health of the project are made easily visible. This is important in order to manage the data effectively as well as in measuring and reporting the progress of a project. It enhances transparency and also helps in the planning of projects since all of the relevant information is easily accessible. It also helps in managing the time schedule of the project and monitoring any extra costs that are to be incurred in the project. It also fulfills the needs of project stakeholders as it updates them on all the real project information. Therefore, an increase in visibility is a crucial step that can help in managing an organized portfolio of projects and increase the performance of projects.

Improved decision making

Project management involves crucial points which are critical in charting the course of development for the project. Incorporating the use of project data, to have a detailed overview of project tasks and how far a project has been accomplished can also be of great help in decision-making. Optimization of tasks within a team can help them to address the tasks in the right manner to correspond to the performance of the project; this improves the health of the project.

The control of project budget and project costs is useful in ensuring changes to the project schedule in order to avoid costs that are unnecessary. This paper presents the project status report as an information tool used in managing a project and reporting to the project stakeholders. Thus, by adopting project metrics and project portfolios, the project information can be utilized for building up strategic and operational decisions. This also improves not only the manner in which a project is executed but also the final outcome.

Increased efficiency and productivity

The management of the project is very critical as it determines the rate of production in a team. This efficiency is achieved through proper arrangement of the project information efficiently completing the project activities and managing the project efficiently. It assists in maintaining the timeline of the project and utilizing the funds in the most efficient manner. In addition, it offers a regular project status report and balances the project costs properly. Overall project health is maintained through effective management of the project portfolio to produce finer results that help the project stakeholders update themselves on important project information. The project metrics enhance the project results making project planning more reliable and efficient.

Top project dashboard tools for agencies

It is important for agencies to manage their projects in a more efficient manner and certain tools can help in this regard. Here, one can also use Asana, Trello, or Monday.com to capture all those tasks. The companies that work on the addresses of the domain com are famous for a wide range of project management. These tools offer options to follow the project tasks, project status, and performance indicators of different projects. With these tools, agencies can handle their project portfolio and get the relevant project information as the following suggests. They can be useful in providing detailed status reports on the project, addressing issues of project planning, and controlling the costs and the budget of the project well, besides ensuring that all the stakeholders are informed on the progress of the project. They improve the project's health at large since they ensure that there is an increase in the level of transparency and communication.

Bonsai: All-in-one project management for agencies

Bonsai provides a project management dashboard tailored for agencies to use effortlessly in overseeing tasks. This includes budget tracking and time management all in one place. The platform simplifies project details in a user interface that offers a live snapshot of your agency’s workload. With its built-in client management tools and automated invoicing and contract creation capabilities, Bonsai goes beyond being a project dashboard; it serves as a complete package, for managing an efficient and well-coordinated agency. Managing clients and internal teams can be a breeze with Bonsai. It helps you keep track of project progress and resources while boosting teamwork and communication at every step of the way. 

Asana: Streamlined task management

In dealing with projects, Asana enhances project management where project proprietors can easily allocate project tasks, monitor projects, and even evaluate project performance. It gathers all project information in one spot thus ensuring that all project stakeholders can readily access accurate project data. As for the project, Asana helps to improve its planning as well as the management of the project schedule, the update of the project budget, and control of project costs. It displays project health by means of a number of project portfolios so that it becomes very convenient for project managers to produce a concise report on the current status of the project.

Trello: Visual project planning

One of the most impressive with Trello is that it can be used as a versatile project planning tool to organize all the project-related tasks, monitor the project’s progress, and assess the general status of the project. This user-friendly interface enables the various investors on the project to access the latest information on the project, which in turn enhances transparency and thus effective decision-making.

It draws upon boards, lists, and cards to showcase the project portfolio and give an easy-to-understand UI of the project timeline. Other Trello features are that it allows easy integration with project data to track project progress, budget, and costs.

Basecamp: Comprehensive project management

Basecamp is an all-encompassing tool that allows users to plan projects and all project tasks through an organized checklist. It also helps in planning projects better by giving an even better framework for monitoring the progress, schedules, and costs of projects.

To that end, what distinguishes Basecamp is a systematic work environment where all project data are compiled with reference to project costs and project health. The tool also addresses project status reports and measures concerning the project status, thus enabling the smooth management of projects and communicating information regarding the projects to all parties of interest.

Monday.com: Customizable workflow automation

Monday. com provides the ideal solution for effective and flexible working automation to effectively track your project’s assignments. It allows easy monitoring of the project’s progress, thus boosting the health of the project. By means of this tool, changing one’s status report or analyzing project metrics appears to be an easy task. On Monday the students are expected to effectively plan the project. com is also useful in the effective control of the project budget that is, all the costs that are associated with the project. These robust tools help in providing real-time project data to the stakeholders of the projects. Therefore, the management of project planning is done through this efficient system whereby you can conduct your whole project portfolio.

Smartsheet: Advanced reporting and analytics

These are the tools in Smartsheet that help enhance the amount of data, information, and knowledge required for project management by improving the advanced reporting and analytics aspects of Smartsheet. It provides online values on project progress, project performance, and project health so that managers can make suitable decisions. Besides, it gathers extensive project data that assist in monitoring the expenses within the frame of the project. Looking at the Smartsheet, one is able to manage project schedules seamlessly. One way of doing this is by using a tool that helps automate the various activities of the project and keeps the various stakeholders of the project informed of the most current information available. Managers can prepare reports on the status of individual projects without much difficulty and facilitate clear planning of the projects within the portfolio.

Choosing the right project dashboard for your agency

Selecting the appropriate dashboard for the project is very important in order to manage the agency projects well. It should provide detailed information on segments carried out as tasks under the project, data on the project's progress, and performance information. This may assist in defining your project schedule which will help to stick to the project timeline and manage the project expenses effectively.

An effective and good-looking dashboard will also give a summary of your project portfolio and project health along with the Project status report. It enables obligation-free project definition, quantifies project information, and guarantees that all project stakeholders are armed with accurate project information.

Bonsai is an ideal solution for agencies looking to balance simplicity with functionality. With a clean interface and customizable features, it enables agencies to manage multiple projects and clients with ease. Its pricing model is flexible, making it accessible for teams of all sizes without sacrificing essential project management capabilities.

Understanding your agency's needs

Thus, the identification of requirements is a critical first starting point for all agencies that are seeking to embark on project management. As part of this, it also involves recognizing the need to preserve project information and perform project activities in a proper manner. Moreover, the continual assessment of the progress of projects can gain benefits for both the schedule of the project and the project’s financial aspect. Effective project management leads to cost control of project expenses while regular status reports enable an understanding of the project’s health. Stakeholders need information to be up to date and this is why project metrics are of great importance in the determination of project performance. Finally, effective management of the project portfolio is also required to prioritize the available resources and the project portfolio with the strategic goals of the firm.

Evaluating features and pricing

There are features contained in project management tools that are used in the management of data belonging to a certain project, management of tasks, and tracking of the progress of the project. Some of them include rich project planning and scheduling features, project portfolio management, generation of project status reports as well as provisions for monitoring project performance. These come with features such as Project health status in the form of dials that one can easily interpret to know the stand of the project. Pricing of such tools is determined by features like the number of stakeholders in the project, project size, and type of customization done in the tools. It is crucial to find the right tool where needed features are modulated with the overall project budget.

  • A project is a planned undertaking that comprises managing different tasks, tracking project progress, and also overseeing the data that belongs to the project.
  • Some of the pricing strategies include pricing based on the stakeholders in the project, the complexity of the project, and the requirements of the features to be included.
  • However, it is important to balance between features of the tool and the cost of the tool in relation to requirements.

Considering user experience and support

Significantly, in the aspect of user experience management, there are several important information that include; project tasks, project progress, and project portfolio. To obtain an optimum UX, precise monitoring and evaluation of the health of a project and project milestones should be done so that every project deliverable is completed according to the timescale of the project. 

Support, in particular, is one of the strong sides that have to be mentioned when it is a question of project management. One of these is to properly monitor the project costs in order to strictly maintain the affordability limit that was set for the project. Project status reports can assist in understanding the project performance and thereby assist in decision-making, especially when done in the right frequency.

Conclusion: Maximizing the potential of project dashboards

Project dashboards are not only elemental to project management, as their capabilities may cover a broad array of applications. There are important parameters of a project that help in the effective planning of a project and also assist in tracking the tasks of a project, the progress of a project, and the performance of a project. In addition, it provides an understanding of project health, project budget, and project costs leading to better management of project portfolio. Important stakeholders of the project would be able to get status reports of the project in progress which would enhance accountability and decision-making. Hence, adopting project dashboards as a component of project management is known to serve as a precursor toward raising the performance bar on projects.

Start using Bonsai today to streamline your agency's project management.
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