Best monday.com dashboard widgets for executive reporting?
I'm tasked with building executive dashboards in monday.com for monthly leadership meetings. The executives want: • Project health overview (on track, at risk, blocked) • Resource utilization across teams • Budget vs actual spending • Milestone completion rates • Team productivity metrics I've played with the widget gallery but I'm overwhelmed by options. Which widgets actually provide value vs vanity metrics? Also, can I combine data from multiple boards into one dashboard? We have separate boards for each department. Any examples of executive dashboards that actually get used would be super helpful!
2 Answers
Built 50+ executive dashboards. Here's what actually gets used:
Must-have widgets:
1. Battery Widget (Project Health) - Shows on track/at risk/blocked at a glance - Executives love the traffic light system
2. Numbers Widget (KPI Summary) - Total active projects, completion %, budget remaining - Big numbers they can screenshot for presentations
3. Chart Widget (Trends) - Line chart of completed tasks over time - Shows velocity trends
4. Workload Widget (Resource Management) - Who's overloaded, who has capacity - Essential for resource planning discussions
Skip these: • Calendar widget (too detailed for execs) • File gallery (irrelevant) • Most custom chart widgets (overcomplicate)
Multi-board dashboards: Yes! When adding a widget, select 'Choose boards' and pick multiple. You can aggregate data across departments.
Pro tip: Create two versions: • High-level dashboard for executives (5 widgets max) • Detailed dashboard for managers (10+ widgets)
Executives want the story, not the data. Keep it simple.
The widget that gets the most exec attention: The Battery Widget showing project health.
We color-code: • Green: On track, no action needed • Yellow: At risk, needs discussion • Red: Blocked, immediate attention
In meetings, we literally just review the battery widget and only discuss yellow/red items. Cut meeting time in half.
For budget tracking: Use the Numbers widget with formulas. Set up formula columns in your boards: • Budget Remaining = {Budget} - {Actual Spend} • % Used = ({Actual Spend} / {Budget}) * 100
Then display these in the Numbers widget with conditional formatting (red if < 20% remaining).
Multi-board tip: Create a 'Master Projects' board that mirrors key data from department boards using Connect Boards and Mirror columns. Then build dashboards off the master board. Much cleaner than trying to aggregate across 5+ boards.
One more: The 'Updates' widget filtered to executive mentions only. Keeps leadership in the loop on what needs their attention.