In this guide, we'll cover all the steps to build a sales competition dashboard. We'll create widgets that visualize data from this example spreadsheet to track individual and team sales performance. Alternatively, you can use your own data and follow the steps below to build similar visualizations if you'd like to. This guide uses Google Sheets, but the exact same steps can be followed if you are using Excel.

Make a copy of the sheet

If you want to follow along using the example spreadsheet template, make a copy with these steps:

Open this spreadsheet.
Click File, then select Make a copy.
Change the title if preferred.
Click the Make a copy button again to save the file to Google Drive.
Click Share, and make sure the General Access field is set to Anyone with the link.

Get connected and build your first widget

We’ll start by connecting the Google Sheet so Geckoboard can access the data to build the first widget, Team sales this year.

Click the + Add widget button on your dashboard.
Search for Google Sheets and select it.
In the Link to file field, add the link to your sheet.
1. Alternatively, you can connect your Google Drive directly if preferred.
On the Select data range page that opens, click the drop-down in the bottom left corner, then select the sheet titled For Geckoboard.
Now, click cell A10 (labeled Total sales this year), select Keep single cell, and then click Continue.
In the Visualization field, set it to Number.
Now click Add comparison visualization and make sure Goal is selected.
In the Goal is field, enter the value 5,800,000 and click Save.
1. Alternatively, you can add this value (or any goal value) to the sheet and select the cell instead, which we’ll cover in a later step.
At the top of the widget, where the example title is, add the text this year to give the widget a title.
Then click Add to dashboard to save your configuration.

Expand your dashboard

Duplicate widgets to quickly build out the dashboard

Now that your first widget is built, you can continue adding more widgets for the same data source quickly with the Duplicate feature. We’ll demonstrate this by duplicating the Team sales this year number widget created earlier, then editing it to build the Team sales this week number widget.

In the top right of the widget on your dashboard, click the ellipsis, then select Duplicate.
Hover over the top right of the newly created widget, click the ellipsis, then select Edit.
Now click Edit your data selection to open the data range area.
In the current cell selection box, clear the current selection by clicking X.
Now select cell A2 (labeled Total sales this week), select Keep single cell, then click Continue.
In the Visualization field, set it to Number.
Now, to show the comparison between sales this week and last week, click Edit comparison visualization and select the Number comparison type.
In the Compare to field, select cell B2 (labeled Total sales last week), click the up icon, then click Save.
Click Save once more to save the configuration.
Hover over the current title and change it to this week.
Finally, click to the right of the comparison value and add the label last week.

Group your widgets together to show the relationship between the metrics

To help viewers quickly understand what data is related, it can be helpful to group related metrics together. Let’s do this with the two widgets we’ve created so far.

Drag and drop one widget on top of another.
Resize the group by dragging the edge in or out.
Give the group a Team sales label.
Click and drag the group into the top left corner of your dashboard.

Add a team sales leaderboard

The next widget we’ll build is a Team sales this year using a Leaderboard visualization below the widgets we created earlier.

Add a new Spreadsheets widget to your dashboard using the same file as before.
On the Select data range page that opens, make sure you have the sheet titled For Geckoboard selected.
Select D:D (labeled Teammate) and click + Add another range.
Then select I:I (labeled Total sales this year) and click Continue.
Set the visualization to Leaderboard.
At the top of the widget, add the title Top sales this year, then click Add to dashboard.

Add a weekly sales lines chart

Next, we’ll build the Weekly sales line chart widget, located in the bottom left of the dashboard.

Add a new Spreadsheets widget to your dashboard using the same file as before.
On the Select data range page that opens, make sure you have the sheet titled For Geckoboard selected.
Select the data in A12 and below (labeled Week start date), then click + Add another range.
Select the data in B12 and below (labeled Total weekly sales), then click Continue.
Now set the visualization to a Line chart.
Next, set the X-axis field to Week start date.
Set the Series field to Total weekly sales.
Add the title Weekly sales, then click Add to dashboard.

Add images of your team

To further highlight individual sales performance, we’ll display an image for each sales team member. You can upload a photo directly or display images hosted in cloud storage.

Click the + Add widget button on your dashboard.
Search for Image and select it.
On the File tab, upload your image or swap to the Link tab and paste the link for your image.
1. If you need help creating a link, follow the steps in this guide.
Give the widget an optional title or leave the field blank, then click Save.
Repeat this process for any additional sales team members.

Add total individual sales number widgets for this week

Now we’ll add number widgets for each of our sales team members to track individual sales performance this week.

Add a new Spreadsheets widget to your dashboard using the same file as before.
On the Select data range page that opens, make sure you have the sheet titled For Geckoboard selected.
Select F2 (column labeled Total sales this week) for the first team member, then click Continue.
Set the visualization to Number.
Then click Add comparison visualization and select the Sparkline option.
In the Compare to field, drag and select cells O2:O6 (labeled with a name) to add the corresponding data for this team member, then click Save.
1. As the days pass during the week, these cells will automatically be populated if sales data is added, so you can select them now even if they are currently empty.
Now click Add to dashboard.
Hover below the value and add the label this week.
Repeat this process for any additional sales team members.

Add total individual sales number widgets for this year

Next, we’ll add another set of number widgets for each of our sales team members to track individual sales performance this year.

Add a new Spreadsheets widget to your dashboard using the same file as before.
On the Select data range page that opens, make sure you have the sheet titled For Geckoboard selected.
Select I2 (column labeled Total sales this year) for the first team member, then click Continue.
Set the visualization to Number.
Then click Add comparison visualization and select the Goal option.
In the Compare to field, select the corresponding cell L2 (labeled Year target), then click Save.
Now click Add to dashboard.
Repeat this process for any additional sales team members.

Finalize the dashboard layout and labels

Finally, we'll complete the dashboard layout and add labels to the remaining widgets that require them.

To create a group, drag and drop the widgets created in the last two steps on top of the related image.
Resize the group to fill the space vertically.
Add the remaining labels to widgets that do not have them yet:
1. Add the name of the team member to the top of their widget group.
2. If preferred, add their location or area of responsibility below their name.
3. Add the label this year to the widgets created in the step prior to this.
Repeat this process of grouping and labeling for all remaining widgets.