Project Portfolio Dashboard: In-depth Guide with Free Template and Examples

Handling multiple projects at once can be overwhelming. But a project portfolio dashboard can help. It keeps tabs on the key metrics and gives you a bird’s-eye view of everything that’s happening.

For a practical guide to running portfolio Kanban across multiple projects in one board, see our portfolio Kanban overview.

This guide will break down what to include in a project portfolio dashboard. We’ll also look at some examples from real projects to help illustrate the point. And to get you started, we’ll include a free template!

Key Takeaways

• A project portfolio dashboard is a tool that helps teams and managers monitor the core information from multiple projects.
• Project portfolio dashboard includes information like start and end dates, budget, current cost, status, etc. about multiple projects
• Portfolio dashboards allow managers to save time and place focus on the right priorities.
• Free resource: download Teamhood template to start today.
• 15 Project Management Dashboard Examples

What is a Project Portfolio Dashboard?

A project portfolio dashboard is a tool that helps teams and managers monitor the core information from multiple projects.

With such a tool, the responsible person does not need to go to each project for the required information and can instead find everything in one place. The information contained in the dashboard may differ depending on the projects in the portfolio. The dashboards themselves vary in size and shape depending on the selected tools to combine them.

Nonetheless, all such dashboards are created with the same goal in mind – summarizing the most important information in one place. Learn more about the process of project portfolio management.

How do Project Portfolio Dashboards differ from traditional project reports?

Many think project reporting is only about documentation. They view it as updating stakeholders with static slides or long PDFs. And for a long time, that was true. Traditional reports were the gold standard for demonstrating control and accountability. But they’re built for hindsight, not decision-making.

That’s where dashboards come in. They represent a shift from documentation to dynamic visibility. A project portfolio dashboard isn’t just a prettier report-it’s a real-time command center. It updates automatically, surfaces what matters now, and empowers you to respond before issues escalate.

Dashboards won’t replace reports completely. Relying only on static reports in fast-paced settings is like using an old map. People who use real-time, visual portfolio management can handle uncertainty and complexity better.

Understanding that difference isn’t just about tech-it’s about mindset.

What Are the 3 Main Project Portfolio Categories?

There are three main project portfolio categories to look for:

1. Compliance Projects are mandatory projects often required by regulations or legal obligations. Examples include implementing safety protocols, adhering to government regulations, and updating systems to meet new standards.
2. Operational Projects focus on improving existing processes, systems, or infrastructure to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Examples include upgrading software, streamlining workflows, and optimizing resource allocation.
3. Strategic Projects: These align with long-term organizational goals and drive growth, innovation, or competitive advantage. Examples include launching new products, entering new markets, or investing in research and development.

What to Look for in a Project Portfolio Dashboard?

A portfolio dashboard should give you a clear view of how your project portfolio is performing. Here’s what it should cover:

Main Elements of a Project Portfolio Dashboard

As mentioned, project portfolio dashboards differ depending on the projects, industry type, and the tools used to combine them. However, some common elements are found in most dashboards.

Here is the list of the common inclusions along with their provided value:

1. Timelines for the different projects. This element can consist of a graph or simple start and end dates to let you know the duration of each project in the portfolio.
2. Overall status marker. Usually depicted as a marker of color that lets the viewer understand the project status at any given moment.
3. Budget tracker. Compares the planned and actual costs of the project that have already accumulated.
4. Schedule Performance Index (SPI). Indicating if the project is still on schedule, ahead, or behind.
5. Risk overview. A list of risks that are in play at the given moment or a visual marker noting the risk level of each project.
6. Resource utilization metrics. Allows to see if there is a space to use more of one or several resources.
7. Comparison of completed vs remaining tasks. To show how much of the actual work is yet to be done.
8. Overdue tasks. Indicating the work which is lagging behind and needs to be addressed or reevaluated.
9. Planned vs actual hours spent. A metric to oversee the progress in terms of the work hours in the project.

These are the essential components typically found in most project portfolio dashboards, helping managers stay on top of key metrics across projects. Depending on what you may need to track, all or just a few of them could be included in your chosen solution.

Benefits of a Project Portfolio Dashboard

While it may seem like the project portfolio dashboard is just another tool in your larger project management arsenal, it is quite different when you look at the reason behind its usage. Designed for managers overseeing multiple projects, the project portfolio dashboard offers a comprehensive, real-time overview, allowing you to quickly identify which projects need immediate attention based on key performance indicators (KPIs).

While there are quite a few benefits of using such solutions, the main ones can be summarized into these points:

• One-stop overview of multiple projects
• Live data pulled into the reports without a manual interference
• A beneficial guide for where your focus should be placed
• Easier understanding of process efficiency

To get the most value from your project portfolio dashboard, customize it to reflect your team’s or industry’s specific needs. For instance, specialized filters can be added to track resource allocation or the display can be adjusted to prioritize critical milestones. This will ensure the metrics depicted in it are valuable and provide insights into the process.

In case you are unsure what should be included in your dashboard, start with a basic setup offered in your project management software and then adjust according to your needs as they occur.

Common Types of Project Portfolio Dashboards

Project portfolio dashboards help to track and manage multiple projects. But there are different types of dashboards that focus on various aspects of a project like performance, such as timelines, budgets, resource allocation, and progress.

Project Portfolio Dashboard Examples

Here are a few real-world examples of project portfolio dashboards, showcasing how they can be tailored to track different metrics and goals across industries, such as budget, timelines, and resource allocation.

1. Project Portfolio Management Dashboard

To start off, this first example depicts a portfolio overview that overlooks several projects and visualizes their data. In the example above, you can see:

• The start and end dates for each individual project
• The budget allocated to each of the projects
• SPI (Schedule Performance Index) which gives a valuation if the project is still on schedule, ahead, or behind. Values below 1 indicate the project is behind, and values above 1 indicate that the project is ahead of schedule.
• EV (Earned Value) indicates how much value the completed project phases have already created
• Progress percentage indicates how much of the project has been completed.

Each project can be marked with a customizable color indicator, helping managers quickly assess the status of individual projects at a glance. This feature can be adjusted to reflect project priorities, timelines, or performance levels. It is assigned manually and is a quick status marker that allows you to define the project’s progress. Such a project portfolio dashboard template can manage several projects in various fields, allowing you to track the key metrics.

2. Cost and Performance Project Portfolio Dashboard

If you need to track the budget as well as the cost of your project, this next one of the project portfolio dashboard examples will prove to be of use. In the picture above, you can see a portfolio dashboard that displays:

• Current status of the project – how many tasks are yet to be done, in progress, and completed.
• Overall allocated budget
• Currently available budget
• A list of items that are yet to be completed with additional details such as assignees, budgets, and estimates.

Here, each project’s metrics are visualized separately. However, they are summarized enough to give you a better understanding of how the cost and budget may be reallocated.

3. R&D Progress Project Portfolio Dashboard

Our third project portfolio dashboard example shows the tracking of item progress throughout the different projects. As you can see in the image above, it lists the information for three different projects side by side.

Here you will find information about:

• Remaining items in each of the projects
• The overall item progress chart visualizes how many items are already completed and how many of them are left
• List of items due this week gathered from all three projects into one place for easy overview

While this may not be as focused as a portfolio overview, such a dashboard gives insight into the progress of each project, allowing managers to check what is going on without having to check in with each team individually.

Learn more with these additional project management dashboard examples.

Best Practices for Project Portfolio Dashboards

There are numerous tips for project portfolio dashboards, but let’s look at the most effective ones:

• Focus on what’s important. A good dashboard should highlight the key information you need – nothing more. Avoid including every possible metric. Instead, identify the 3-5 most important KPIs for your audience, such as project status, budget health, and major risks. If a metric doesn’t help to make a decision, leave it out.
• Make the dashboard easy to understand. Dashboards should communicate information quickly. Use simple things like red/yellow/green colors for project status, progress bars to show completion percentages, and basic charts (bar graphs, line charts) for trends.
• Keep everything up to date. A dashboard with outdated information is worse than no dashboard at all. Make your team’s habit to update the status of each task.
• Make your dashboard applicable for different views. Your team members may require different information or have preferences for using different views. Consider creating separate dashboards or filters so each group sees only what’s relevant.
• Highlight problems. Use your dashboard to flag risks, for example, you can color-code overdue tasks or list blocked projects that need attention.
• Make the dashboard actionable. A dashboard shouldn’t just show data – it should guide what to do next.
• Test and improve. Start with a simple project portfolio dashboard, and then discuss with your team on how to improve it. The dashboard needs to be useful, so make the most out of it.

Project Portfolio Dashboard Template

As you can see in the examples above, dashboards differ based on the team and industry using them. However, that does not mean you need different tooling depending on your industry. All of the examples above have been generated using Teamhood, a visual project management solution for high-performing teams.

I have included a live demo template to give you an even better idea of how it works.

Follow the link below to open a demo dashboard and learn how a tool like this can benefit your portfolio management efforts.

Examples of Industry-Specific Dashboards

1. Retail: A retail dashboard might include sales performance, customer demographics, online conversion rates, and regional sales comparisons.
2. Healthcare: These dashboards often focus on patient wait times, bed occupancy rates, treatment success rates, and regulatory compliance reports.
3. Finance: Dashboards in the financial sector track portfolio performance, market trends, risk exposure, and profitability.
4. Manufacturing: Metrics like machine downtime, production rates, quality control, and supply chain delays take center stage.
5. Education: Dashboards for educational institutions may emphasize student enrollment, faculty performance, graduation rates, and resource utilization.

Is Microsoft Excel a Good Tool for Project Portfolio Dashboards?

Excel can be a good starting point for a project portfolio dashboard. It works well for a few projects and allows for manual updates. You can even find templates to help you organize timelines, budgets, and tasks.

However, as your portfolio grows or becomes more complex, Excel has its limits. You need real-time updates, cross-project visibility, resource planning, and dependency tracking. These tasks often require complex formulas or lots of manual work.

This is where a tool like Teamhood stands out. It’s built for project portfolio management. Teamhood provides live updates, visual dashboards, and advanced features. You don’t need complicated spreadsheets.

Visual portfolio management for high performing teams.

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