How to Create an IT Dashboard in Google Sheets with ChatGPT

Building an IT dashboard in Google Sheets can feel like a superpower, giving you a clear view of everything from network uptime to support ticket volume in one place. But wrestling with complex formulas and pivot tables can quickly turn that superpower into a super-headache. Fortunately, you can use ChatGPT as your resident data analyst to write those tricky formulas and even automate parts of your dashboard for you. This article will walk you through exactly how to set up an IT dashboard in Google Sheets and use ChatGPT to do the heavy lifting.

Why an IT Dashboard in Google Sheets?

Before diving into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Using Google Sheets for your IT dashboard has some major advantages. It’s free, cloud-based, and built for collaboration, making it easy to share real-time data with your team without passing around outdated spreadsheets. The main challenge, however, has always been the technical barrier. Learning functions like QUERY, FILTER, or diving into Google Apps Script can feel intimidating. This is precisely where ChatGPT changes the game, acting as a translator between your plain-English requests and the specific syntax Google Sheets understands.

What Should Your IT Dashboard Track?

A great dashboard only tracks what matters. Piling in every metric you can find will only create noise and confusion. Your goal is to get an at-a-glance view of the health and performance of your IT operations. Start by choosing a few key performance indicators (KPIs) based on what your team is responsible for.

Here are some common IT metrics you might want to include, broken down by category:

Infrastructure & Network Health

Server Uptime: The percentage of time your servers are operational. The goal is usually as close to 100% as possible. A simple "Up" or "Down" status for key services can be highly effective.
Network Latency: The time it takes for data to travel from its source to its destination. High latency leads to sluggish performance.
CPU & Memory Utilization: Monitoring usage helps you anticipate a system failure or identify when an upgrade is needed.
Database Performance: Metrics like query response time can indicate the health of your databases.

Help Desk & IT Support

Ticket Volume (Daily/Weekly): How many new support tickets are being created? Tracking this helps with resource planning.
Time to First Response: The average time it takes for an agent to respond to a new ticket.
Average Resolution Time: The average time it takes to completely resolve a ticket from open to close.
Ticket Backlog: The number of unresolved tickets at the end of a given period. A growing backlog is a clear warning sign.

Cybersecurity Monitoring

Number of Security Incidents: Tracking a sudden spike in incidents (like malware detections or phishing attempts) can flag an active threat.
Mean Time to Detect (MTTD): How long it takes your team to become aware of a potential security threat.
Patch Status: A simple chart showing the percentage of systems that are fully patched versus those that are vulnerable.

Setting Up Your Google Sheet: A Step-by-Step Guide

A well-organized sheet is the foundation of a good dashboard. The key is to separate your raw data from your visualizations. This makes your dashboard easier to manage and update.

Step 1: Create a 'Raw Data' Tab

First, create a brand new Google Sheet. Rename the default "Sheet1" tab to "Raw Data". This is where all your source data will live. Don't worry about making this tab pretty, its only job is to be a clean, structured repository for your information.For a help desk dashboard, your columns might look like this:Ticket ID | Date Created | Last Updated | Assignee | Priority | Status | Resolution Time (Hours)

Keeping your raw data structured in a simple table like this is critical. It allows formulas and charts on your dashboard tab to easily pull the information they need.

Step 2: Create a 'Dashboard' Tab

Next, create a new tab by clicking the ‘+’ icon in the bottom-left corner and name it "Dashboard". This is where you’ll build your charts and display your KPIs. This tab will contain only summaries and visualizations, pulling all its information from the "Raw Data" tab.

Step 3: Add Your Data

Now, populate your "Raw Data" tab. You can do this by exporting a CSV file from your ticketing system, antivirus software, or network monitoring tool and pasting the data into this tab. For now, a manual copy-and-paste will work just fine. Later, you can explore ways to automate this data import.

Using ChatGPT to Build Your Dashboard With Simple Prompts

With your sheet set up, it's time to let ChatGPT do the work. The trick is to be clear and specific in your prompts. Always mention your sheet names and column letters.

1. Calculating Key Metrics (KPIs)

Start with the high-level numbers. These are the single, important metrics that give you a quick health check. On your "Dashboard" tab, set up some labels like "Total Open Tickets" or "Average Resolution Time."

Example Prompt for Total Open Tickets:"I am using Google Sheets. In a sheet named 'Raw Data', I have a list of all my support tickets. The ticket status (e.g., 'Open', 'In Progress', 'Closed') is in column F. Write me a formula to count the total number of tickets with the status 'Open'."

ChatGPT will likely give you this formula:

=COUNTIF('Raw Data'!F:F, "Open")

Just copy this formula and paste it into the cell next to your "Total Open Tickets" label on the "Dashboard" tab.

Example Prompt for Average Resolution Time:"Write a Google Sheets formula to calculate the average of the numbers in column G (Resolution Time in Hours) in my 'Raw Data' sheet. Only include rows where the value in column G is not empty."

You’ll get something like:

=AVERAGEIF('Raw Data'!G:G, "<>")

By asking ChatGPT, you’ve instantly created KPI cards for your dashboard without having to look up the right formula syntax yourself.

2. Creating Data for Your Charts

While ChatGPT can't design a chart for you directly in Google Sheets, it can perfectly prepare the summary data you need to build one. Creating small summary tables is the secret to making powerful charts.

Example: Creating a "Tickets by Status" Pie Chart

You want to see a breakdown of tickets by their current status. First, you need a summary table that lists each status and counts how many tickets belong to it.

Prompt for ChatGPT:"In my 'Raw Data' sheet, column F contains the ticket status ('Open', 'In Progress', 'Closed'). On my 'Dashboard' sheet, I want to create a small table to power a pie chart. Give me a formula to list all unique status types, and then another formula to count each one."

ChatGPT will guide you:

"To get a list of unique statuses, use this formula in a cell (e.g., A10) on your 'Dashboard' tab:"

=UNIQUE('Raw Data'!F2:F)

"Then, in the cell next to the first status (e.g., B10), use this formula and drag it down:"

=COUNTIF('Raw Data'!F:F, A10)

Now you have a neat summary table. Simply select this table, go to Insert > Chart, and choose the pie chart option. Google Sheets will instantly visualize your data.

Example: Creating a "Ticket Volume by Week" Line Chart

You can use the versatile QUERY function, which is powerful but often tricky to write by hand. Here’s a prompt to track tickets over time.

Prompt for ChatGPT:"Write me a Google Sheets QUERY formula to summarize weekly ticket volume. My 'Raw Data' sheet has the date each ticket was created in column B. The formula should count the number of tickets for each week."

The response might look like this:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!B:B, "SELECT WEEK(B), COUNT(B) WHERE B IS NOT NULL GROUP BY WEEK(B) LABEL WEEK(B) 'Week Number', COUNT(B) 'Number of Tickets'")

Paste that into your Dashboard sheet, and you’ll instantly get a table showing the week number and the count of tickets created that week. Select it, choose Insert > Chart, and pick a line chart to see your trends.

Advanced Move: Automating With Apps Script

For an extra layer of pro-level functionality, you can use Google Apps Script to automate tasks. Apps Script is essentially JavaScript for Google products, but you don’t need to be a developer to use it - just let ChatGPT write the code.

Let's say you want to automatically send a daily email summary of your key IT metrics.

Prompt for ChatGPT:"Write a Google Apps Script that sends an email every weekday at 8 AM. The email should contain the values from cells B2 and B3 of my 'Dashboard' sheet. The subject line should be 'Daily IT Dashboard Summary' and the email should be sent to 'admin@example.com'."

ChatGPT will generate a block of JavaScript code for you. To use it:

In Google Sheets, go to Extensions > Apps Script.
Delete any placeholder code and paste in the script provided by ChatGPT.
Click the floppy disk icon to save the project.
Click the clock icon (Triggers) on the left menu.
Click "Add Trigger," choose the function name (e.g., sendDailySummary), select "Time-driven" as the event source, then select "Day timer" and "8am - 9am."
Save the trigger. You'll need to grant permissions for the script to run.

And that's it! You've just automated your daily reporting.

Final Thoughts

Combining the flexibility of Google Sheets with the intelligence of ChatGPT gives you a powerful and cost-effective way to monitor your IT operations. You can quickly generate the exact formulas and scripts needed to track vital metrics, create insightful charts, and even automate reporting, all without spending hours digging through technical documentation.

While DIY dashboards give you immense control, connecting data sources, keeping them updated, and setting everything up can still be time-consuming. At Graphed, we created a way to skip these steps entirely. We built a tool that connects directly to your data sources and allows you to create dashboards and reports just by describing what you want to see in plain English - no formulas, no cells, and no manual data wrangling required. It's the fastest way to get from data to decision.