I recommend two resources on creating dashboards, both from very experienced practitioners:

1) http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/digital-dashboards-strategic-...

2) Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few - http://www.amazon.ca/Information-Dashboard-Design-Effective-...

No, it's not common to see this kind of visualisation. Bad visualisations? Yeah, they're pretty common. The usual mistake is overuse of Pie Charts.

I'd recommend the OP (and anyone else who has an interest in communication) to read:

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Visual-Display-Quantitative-Info...

Information Dashboard Design http://www.amazon.co.uk/Information-Dashboard-Design-Effecti...

Now You See http://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-You-See-Stephen-Few/dp/097060198...

Here is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Information-Dashboard-Design-Effective...

Do you have any additional suggested reading material? Thanks much.