The #1 mistake: dashboards without ownership
Leaders don’t need “sales is up/down” charts. They need a daily view of execution: exceptions, bottlenecks, aging, and responsibility. If your MIS cannot point to ownership, it becomes a slideshow.
The 4 questions every MIS must answer
- What is stuck? (pending, aging, overdue)
- Why is it stuck? (reason codes / exception types)
- Who owns it? (role + person + escalation path)
- What is the impact? (₹ value, delivery risk, SLA risk)
Rule: A chart is acceptable only if it drives an action. Otherwise, show an exception list with drilldown.
Best-practice dashboard structure
Use 3 layers:
- Layer 1 (Executive): KPIs + exceptions + top risks
- Layer 2 (Manager): bottlenecks by department + aging + accountability
- Layer 3 (Operator): task queue, next actions, approvals, due items
Drilldowns that build trust
Every KPI must be clickable to the record level: orders, invoices, leads, tickets, purchase files, etc. Leadership trusts dashboards when they can verify the underlying records.
MIS is not reporting. MIS is “decision visibility”—the ability to see issues early and act with confidence.
High-impact dashboards by function
- Sales: pipeline aging, stage conversion, follow-up overdue, lead source quality
- Purchase: approval aging, vendor turnaround, price variance, PO pending
- Store/Inventory: stock exceptions, negative stock, slow moving, expiry risk
- Production: plan vs actual, WIP aging, rework trend, capacity risk
- Dispatch: dispatch readiness, commitment risk, pending invoices, route delays
- Service: SLA breaches, ticket queue aging, AMC renewals, customer risk
Checklist
- Each KPI has a clear definition (no ambiguity)
- Each KPI has a drilldown to records
- Exceptions are highlighted (aging/risk)
- Ownership is visible per exception
- Alerts/escalations exist for overdue items
Need MIS dashboards for your ERP/CRM?
Share your KPIs and we will recommend dashboard layers + drilldowns with an estimate.