Driving down the road our eyes frequently scan the vital instruments on the dashboard that monitor speed, fuel level, coolant temperature, and oil pressure. The modern vehicle also has many more devices that constantly monitor various systems for fuel mixture, exhaust gasses, timing adjustment and others. If there is something amiss, sensors trigger the check-engine light. As long as the instruments register within their normal range the check-engine light stays off and we drive along confidently that we will reach our destination safely and without problems.

Just like an automobile, a business is a complex system with many factors to be monitored. Sales volume, past-due accounts, cash-flow, employee turnover, new customer acquisition, inventory turns, margins, balky vendors, and quality measurements are just a few of the endless number of systems vital to the health of a company. It is difficult, if not impossible to watch all these systems constantly so I advise business owners to create a few, vital measurements to scan daily in the same manner we scan our cars dashboard, then delegate a second set of items that others monitor. When things go outside normal levels they are instructed to inform you in the same way the computers in your car turn on that check engine light.

Of course each business is unique. Each has different needs and different items to monitor. Ask what is vital to the safety of the company, to smooth, efficient administration, and to increased customer satisfaction. Determine the factors that measure these important aspects of your business.

Design a dashboard to measure activities and tasks that are vital to your business. Monitor the delegated systems that alert you to matters that suddenly become abnormal. With a dashboard and delegated monitoring systems your business will arrive at its destination safely and profitably.

You dont want your car to run out of gasoline or your business to falter by running out of a vital resource so keep looking at your dashboard.