Reporting & Analytics · LessonBy Praveen T, ServiceNow Trainer, 9 yrs · Published · ServiceNow · all levels
Dashboards and reports
Build reports people act on: report types, dashboards, sharing, interactive filters and scheduled delivery.
Quick answer
Build reports people act on: report types, dashboards, sharing, interactive filters and scheduled delivery.
Key takeaways
- Choose report type by the question, not by taste
- Interactive filters beat duplicating reports per group
- Share with roles and groups, never individuals
- Schedule delivery for people who will not log in
Report types
Pick the type by the question. Bar and column for comparison across categories, line for trend over time, pivot for two dimensions, list for detail people will export, single score for a target. Pie charts with nine slices help nobody.
Dashboards
Dashboards hold reports plus interactive filters that apply to every widget at once. Share by role or group rather than by individual, and set a default dashboard for a role so new joiners land somewhere useful.
Making them used
A dashboard that nobody opens is a maintenance liability.
- Put the decision the dashboard supports in its description
- Limit to eight widgets, split the rest into a second tab
- Schedule a PDF to the manager who asked, most people want the number, not the tool
- Review quarterly and delete what nobody opens
Practice challenge
+0 XPStreak ×0
Question 1 of 2
What applies one filter to every widget on a dashboard?
Frequently asked questions
Report or Performance Analytics?
Reports show current data. Performance Analytics snapshots data over time so you can trend a value that changes in place, such as open backlog.
Why is my report slow?
It is probably unfiltered on a large table or grouped on a non indexed field. Add a date range and check the index.