When it comes to understanding how your team works, data can tell a powerful story. Applied Epic® Reports and Epic Dashboards turn everyday activity into clear insights, helping teams spot trends, balance workloads, and support staff in meaningful ways.

For many agencies, dashboards have become a trusted source of truth. They offer a quick, at‑a‑glance view of productivity, bottlenecks, and work across teams. And when the data remains current, leaders can be proactive rather than reactive.

Whether your team is remote, hybrid, or sitting just a few desks away, having accurate visibility into your workflows builds trust, strengthens communication, and helps everyone stay aligned.

We spoke with Mitch Reatini CISR, CAWC, CIC, and Jennifer Gill, CIC, to learn how they’re maximizing this tool, as well as gain some practical real-world examples. 

How can agencies use Applied Epic® Reports and Epic Dashboards to evaluate staff efficiency? Which metrics matter most?

Mitch Reatini (MR): The ways are numerous! We have found that in most cases, when we have a metric we want to measure, we are able to use an existing dashboard or create a custom one to capture what we want to see. The applications range widely, with some examples being book of business intel, department performance, and work tasks performed (both for teams and individuals). For us, having a quick and accurate way to see workload distribution amongst our team is a critical insight.

Jennifer Gill (JG): Dashboards continue to evolve at our agency. We have some custom dashboards built for almost any type of data that needs to be viewed. We haven’t mastered all the personas, but for management and executive level personas, we have some customized dashboards that work for most any scenario.

Dashboards are a quick and efficient tool to monitor books of business, either by department or individually by employee. They allow us to stay ahead of the curve and be proactive in planning if trends continue.

What best practices or workflow changes have you seen significantly improve productivity? How does this differ from remote, to hybrid, and in-person work?

MR: One of the hardest ways to work is from behind. Jobs are made more challenging by being in “catch-up mode,” or in having to fix undiscovered mistakes. Some of the data we glean from dashboards has helped us catch errors quickly and identify team members falling behind, as well as highlight over- and underperformers.

This information is always valuable, but I would argue that with remote or hybrid work environments it’s even more important. I say that because with flexibility also comes a physical detachment. Leaders and teammates don’t get to physically hear or see work output like they would in person. Thus it becomes imperative that there is a way to measure what you can’t see; dashboards provide a medium for that unbiased and accurate feedback.

JG: Dashboards offer a wide range of insights, but one impactful example I can share is monitoring work efforts and overdue activities. Having the “number of days overdue” buckets was helpful in this scenario. Our commercial lines service department shifted to a team-based servicing model. Some activity codes still default to the account manager, causing them to feel obligated to redistribute everything manually, creating a bottleneck.

The dashboard made it easy to spot the issue and empower the team to review and re-assign those activities to themselves. Within weeks, work efforts balanced out and productivity aligned within the team. This improvement applies consistently regardless of remote, hybrid, or in-office settings. 

Can you share a real-world example of how Epic has helped identify bottlenecks or improved processes?

MR: We have built a custom dashboard for Work Performed that has had tremendous value for our team. We’ve used that report to identify team members who are struggling and could use training or support, as well as to recognize high performers.

Just recently we promoted a team member as a direct result of the quality and quantity of work they were putting out each week — data we were able to see in Dashboards. That insight also made us aware that she was significantly outperforming her peers. It helped us understand from a hiring perspective how much work output we would need to replace when shifting her to a new role.

JG: A recent experience I found more efficient than before dashboards existed was this example: We had an agency principal/producer retire who had been with the agency and writing business for almost 40 years. A plan was initiated and executed to move his book of business in several directions. As the department manager, I was able to launch our book of business dashboard without needing a report and quickly identify any clients or active policies still assigned to the retiree. I then shared the list with the coordinator and got those items corrected.

What common mistakes are made when auditing staff activity?

MR: Seeing data and jumping to conclusions is likely to be a regular pitfall of both auditors and leaders. Data without context is only half of the figurative picture. Comparing books of business or work performed can be drastically impacted by client industry, work schedules, non-Epic projects, commitments — and the list goes on. Organizations need leaders who know their team and have regular touchpoints to take the raw data and use their experience with those team members to appropriately dissect the results.

Do you have any final thoughts or advice to share?  

MR: Epic is so much more than a repository for client data. It’s also a truth source for the hard work our teams put in every day. Not measuring those results is like buying a sandwich and leaving half at the counter.

JG: Activity count is a thing of the past. It is common to look at how many activities an employee adds in the system and measure that as their level of productivity. With other resources initiating a lot of our activities, learning to read work efforts is the most efficient at-a-glance tool in measuring productivity. And it’s easy to further investigate any of the work efforts quickly and efficiently.

Mitch Reatini, CISR, CAWC, CIC has been with BHS Insurance for nearly seven years and serves as the agency’s Commercial Lines Service Department Head. He is also the agency’s EPIC administrator and integration specialist, supporting mergers and acquisitions across the organization. Mitch lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is married and the proud father of a 14‑year‑old son.

Jennifer Gill, CIC is the Commercial Lines Manager at WSR Insurance Services in Woodland, California, bringing more than 30 years of commercial insurance experience to the role. Having grown with the agency through several positions, she has developed a strong passion for building efficient workflows, protecting data integrity and helping teams work smarter — not harder — so they can better serve clients. Outside of work, Jennifer and her husband enjoy spending time outdoors and with their six grandchildren.