A dashboard brings together several views of your work. Each widget is one chart, table, or number. Start with a question, such as how much approved work is filled, then choose the measures that answer it.

Before you begin

The staffing dashboard exercise works in both editions. Use the prepared demonstration or your approved position and Avery’s assignment from lesson 6. You need access to the dashboard area and the records you want to review. No budget or salary setup is needed.

Create a staffing dashboard

  1. Open Position control > Dashboards.
  2. Select Actions > Create dashboard and name it My staffing practice.
  3. Select active FTE, assigned FTE, and open FTE widgets. Use the up and down arrows to arrange them, then select Create dashboard.
  4. Open Filters, choose Outpatient Services, and set Effective date to Specific date, January 1, 2027, if the selected widgets use a snapshot date. For trend widgets, choose Custom range with an end of January 1, 2027.
  5. Select Apply filters and review the result.

For a department containing only the main coordinator example, expect 1 active FTE, 1 assigned FTE, and 0 vacant FTE. If additional positions are included, open the underlying rows instead of assuming the department total describes Avery alone.

Check what each number includes

Open the data behind a chart or table and find the coordinator’s position number. Confirm the selected date, included department, and whether the measure counts people, positions, or FTE.

One full-time person has a headcount of 1 and an assigned FTE of 1. Two half-time people would have a headcount of 2 but still total 1 FTE. Those measures answer different questions.

Try another department filter and restore the original. An empty chart can mean there are no matching records. Read a missing-information message before treating an absent amount as zero.

Try another presentation

Use the controls on a chart to switch between Bars and Line. Open Actions > Edit dashboard to move a widget, then Save dashboard. Reopen the editor, make another change, and select Cancel to confirm that the saved arrangement stays intact. For a time trend, use Filters to choose the period and cadence. Compare one point with the record on that exact date.

Additional practice with financial dashboards

Workforce Planning only, with the relevant financial permissions. Position control learners continue to choose a default or share appropriately.

A yearly cost at one date is not the cost for just that month. For example, Avery’s salary plus estimated benefits is $60,000 + $12,000 = $72,000 per year before the raise. A January workforce plan cost allocates that yearly amount to January’s 31 days.

Read the selected dates and refresh status before comparing financial charts. The date and time beside Refreshed describe when the result finished calculating, not which effective date you selected. Use a prepared workforce plan if you have not reached the workforce planning lessons yet.

Choose a default or share appropriately

Select Actions > Set as default to use the practice dashboard when you have no remembered selection or your last selected dashboard is no longer available. FTE Tree normally returns to the dashboard you last selected in that area. Use the selector to open the practice dashboard; its default label is marked (default).

Dashboards are personal in every area. Another member can create their own dashboard for the same question, using records they are allowed to view. Run an authorized report when you need a downloadable result.

To remove the practice dashboard, select another dashboard and make that your default first. Return to the practice dashboard, choose Actions > Delete dashboard, and check the confirmation.

Check your understanding

Explain one widget’s question, date, included records, and unit. Open the underlying position to demonstrate where its number came from.

Practice with budget targets

If your practice organization has workforce rules, add Workforce summary and Rules and budgets to your dashboard. A single matching budget appears beneath its summary measure automatically. Choose All rule targets on the comparison widget, then select Apply. Set the snapshot date and department to match a prepared rule. Open Check rules and confirm the named target, measured value, and difference agree.

In the school demonstration, sign in with the superintendent account supplied by your instructor and select Help Desk staffing targets in Position control dashboards. Its saved snapshot date is the setup date. The summary explains that two budgets match. In Rules and budgets, read 5.00 Position FTEs against the 6.00 FTE budget and the 4.50 FTE recovery target as two separate comparisons. The recovery target is unmet by 0.50 FTE. The comparison widget also shows the separate minimum rules. Dashboard presentation does not remove those requirements from approval requests.

In a school demonstration with financial features, open Help Desk budget targets and Cedar Grove budget targets in Labor budget dashboards. The Help Desk example includes a $500,000 staffed budget limit; Cedar Grove uses a $1,000,000 budget capacity limit. Read the measure and department before comparing the amounts. See the school rule examples for the saved recovery exercise.