When Your Dashboard’s Green, But Real Change Is Nowhere To Be Seen

READ TIME - 4 MINUTES

"Look at this - every milestone’s ticked off!" said Minh, waving the latest project dashboard at Aisha.

Aisha raised an eyebrow. "Impressive, but… have you noticed people are still using the old process? I sat in on a team meeting yesterday - no one mentioned the new system once."

Minh frowned. "But this is showing all green?"

Aisha leant over, looked at Minh’s iPad and shook her head. "Nah, that dashboard is all about tracking deliverables and making the project look good to the exec. It’s not showing whether or not the change has actually landed with folks..."

When Dashboards Don’t Tell the Real Story

It’s easy to feel confident when the project metrics are all green.

But in our experience (and I bet in yours too!), most dashboards are built to meet the needs of program or project managers - tracking artefacts like plans, checklists, feature builds, sign-offs and releases.

The problem? Just because a Training Plan is approved doesn’t mean the training actually stuck.

We all know that real adoption goes beyond ticking boxes.

If you measure only what’s easy to track, you risk missing the lived reality of your stakeholders.

True change adoption is about behaviour; what people actually do, not just what’s been delivered on paper.

The “Dig Deeper than Delivery” Strategy

Dashboards are typically owned and designed by program, project, or product managers, so they naturally focus on artefact delivery; what’s been created, signed off, or gone live.

But artefacts don’t equal adoption.

If you want to show if the effort change is truly landing, you need to work with your delivery leads to track what really matters: behaviour change.

Some useful ideas:

  • Start the conversation: Meet with your program/project/product managers to review the current dashboard. Ask, “Which of these metrics show us actual behaviour change, not just activity?”

  • Redefine success together: Collaboratively identify the most impactful behaviour-based indicators - see below for a bunch of examples.

  • Pilot new measures: Select a few teams or areas to trial behaviour-focused metrics alongside traditional artefact tracking. Use these pilots to demonstrate the value of a more nuanced approach.

  • Build capability: Support your delivery managers with examples and templates for capturing qualitative feedback and real-world stories, not just numbers.

Pro tip: Frame this shift as a way to reduce risk and increase project success.

When you can show real adoption - not just completed deliverables - everyone has a clearer picture of what’s working and what needs attention.

The “Meaningful Metrics for Real Adoption” Checklist

When you track the right things, you’ll know whether change is actually sticking, not just progressing on paper.

Meaningful metrics help you spot early warning signs, target your support, and ultimately deliver change that lasts.

This is all about switching from output-focused thinking to outcomes.

Here’s a bunch of potential useful leading and outcome-based metrics to inspire you:

  • Behavioural Indicators:

    • % of users consistently using the new system or process (not just logging in once)

    • Decline in use of legacy systems or old workarounds

    • Number and quality of questions asked about the new way of working (an increase in these isn’t bad, it shows active engagement)

  • Peer-to-Peer Support:

    • Number of staff volunteering as “change champions” or peer coaches

    • Uptake of user-generated tips, FAQs, or help threads

  • Confidence and Sentiment:

    • Pulse survey results on confidence, understanding, or perceived value of the change

    • Qualitative feedback from team check-ins or retrospectives

  • Sustained Adoption Over Time:

    • Consistency of new behaviours after 30, 60, 90 days (not just at go-live)

    • Reduction in helpdesk tickets related to the old way of working

Pro tip: Share stories alongside stats. A testimonial from a team that’s made the leap is often more powerful than a chart.

The Bottom Line

Don’t let a green dashboard lull you into a false sense of security.

You already know it, but take this as a helpful reminder: real change isn’t about artefacts - it’s about people actually adopting new ways of working.

Actual benefits (the point of the whole thing!) can’t happen without it.

By digging deeper and measuring what matters, you’ll turn surface-level progress into genuine, lasting impact.

That’s it for this week.

Next Tuesday, we’re diving into how to survive when everything’s due at once (EOFY chaos, anyone?). Don’t miss it!

See you then,

Team EVER




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Kate Byrne