Comparison Chart using radar charts

One of the most common Excel chart requests is how to compare items against each other to assess where the problems are. A comparison chart that may work is the radar chart.

So for example in the table below I want to know which department is doing the best in revenue growth overall (and who is doing worst). At the same time I want to see if there are any interesting trends e.g. a segment of the economy that is struggling or where the departments can improve cross selling. It would be difficult to answer this question straight off the table.

However a useful graph type to consider is the radar chart (click to see video clip).

Below a radar chart of the above table.

The dashed line is what was expected. Within seconds we can see that the workshop appears to have done the best as it has the biggest ‘circle’. Next seems to be Annuity and last New Sales. Further analysis shows that the Property segment seems to be an economy wide issue as all 3 departments have struggled. But banks have a wide range of performance which needs to be investigated.