Time is money, and while it’s abundant, it’s not an endless resource. This is why many put their trust in time tracking to track productivity and ensure that no minute is wasted.
Enterprises that want to foster the relationship between morale and productivity consider time tracking software essential. It’s the heart and soul of an organization since it’s connected to other important processes such as payroll, invoicing, budgeting, and project management, among others.
Although tracking time indeed allows businesses to accurately charge clients or retain project profitability, keeping an eye on employee working hours can do more than that.
Here are 7 reasons why using the best time tracking software can boost your team’s spirit and overall efficiency.
Track Productivity: How Time Tracking Supplies Constructive Feedback
A productivity tracking app with employee monitoring provides valuable insights into workers’ strengths and weaknesses. By identifying workforce problem areas and highlighting their strong suits, leaders can properly delegate tasks to suitable employees.
A time tracker can also determine whether staffers are going overtime due to a huge volume of work or because of inefficiency. If it’s the latter, it’s important to firmly explain why this is affecting their performance. Moreover, managers must provide actionable critiques and concrete cases. Of course, the data can be obtained through time tracking tools. Time tracking data helps analyze work trends, optimize employee hours, streamline operations, and decide when to hire or outsource.
Combined, these measures boost performance, revenue, and efficiency while strengthening the link between morale and productivity.
Giving constructive criticism to your staff is essential. Though you might be hesitant to surface areas for improvement, your team members are constantly and progressively seeking this advice. After all, it will help them hone their professional expertise.
When your workforce is equally acknowledged for their efforts and motivated to do better, employee engagement and satisfaction skyrockets. Now, engaged workers mean happier, more committed, and more dynamic team members.
This is especially necessary, with recent data showing that less than half of the global workforce is engaged in their profession.
3. Time Tracking Methods
Time tracking methods vary depending on the software or tool used, and each method offers unique advantages tailored to different work styles and needs. Here are some common methods:
Manual Time Tracking
This traditional method involves manually entering time spent on tasks or projects into a spreadsheet or time tracking software. While it requires discipline and consistency, it offers flexibility and control over how time is recorded.
Automatic Time Tracking
Leveraging advanced technology, automatic time tracking uses AI-powered algorithms to detect and log time spent on specific activities. This method minimizes human error and ensures accurate tracking without constant manual input, making it ideal for busy professionals.
Time Blocking
This method involves scheduling specific blocks of time for tasks or projects and tracking time spent within those blocks. By organizing work into dedicated time slots, time blocking helps improve focus and productivity, ensuring that important tasks receive the attention they deserve.
Task-Based Time Tracking
Often integrated with task management tools, this method tracks time spent on specific tasks or projects. It allows for detailed analysis of how time is allocated across different activities, helping teams prioritize work and optimize their schedules.
By understanding and utilizing these various time tracking methods, businesses can choose the approach that best fits their workflow and enhances overall efficiency.
2. Time tracking tools shine the spotlight on rockstar employees
As we’ve mentioned, time tracking helps managers provide constructive feedback to their teams. These productivity tools measure employee and team productivity, track performance metrics, and help project managers optimize workflows. Because such solutions can let you distinguish well-performing employees from inefficient ones, you can easily acknowledge and reward your stellar staffers.
Employees want to feel that they’re not just another cog in the machine. They want to know they’re making a difference. So, if you’re really serious about improving their morale and productivity, you need to create specific rewards that are aligned with your enterprise’s objectives.
For instance, if you’ve just adopted remote work practices because of COVID-19, you can look at the best gifts for remote workers. Reward those who continue to excel despite the drastic change in their working environment and the crisis surrounding them. This will motivate them to keep up the good work and will show them that you appreciate their efforts.
3. Tracking time enables you to take in additional work
Sometimes, when you punch in your timecard for a particular duration, you suddenly discover that you don’t have many tasks to accomplish. You might discover that you can squander your work hours without anyone noticing. However, this can be more damaging than beneficial to the company in the long run.
A productivity tracking app helps gauge workload capacity, reduce procrastination, and improve focus by tracking activities and identifying distractions. If you still have time left or if you feel unproductive, you can add more tasks to your workload.
As an employee, you might want to cultivate your personal relationship between morale and productivity. You can approach your managers and ask whether there are available projects you can contribute your skills to. If you’re self-employed, use the extra time to network, create content, or refine your offerings.
6. Integrations and Compatibility
Time tracking software integrates with productivity tools, browser extensions, and project management apps to streamline workflows. Here are some common integrations:
Google Calendar
Many time tracking software integrate with Google Calendar, allowing for easy scheduling and tracking of time spent on tasks and projects. This integration ensures that all your appointments and deadlines are in one place, streamlining your workflow.
Task Management Tools
Time tracking software often integrates with task management tools like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp. These integrations provide a comprehensive view of work and time spent on tasks, helping teams stay organized and on track.
Accounting Software
Integrations with accounting software like QuickBooks enable easy invoicing and billing based on tracked time. This ensures accurate financial records and simplifies the billing process, saving time and reducing errors.
Other Apps
Time tracking software may also integrate with other apps and tools, such as project management software, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and more. These integrations create a cohesive ecosystem that supports efficient work management and enhances overall productivity.
By leveraging these integrations, businesses can maximize the benefits of their time tracking tools, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow.
4. Time tracking means being on time
Meeting deadlines and avoiding delays is foolproof when you have a time tracking software for employees. The platform allows you to get a good grasp of incidents when deliveries are not handed over on target or promised dates.
If an organization can pinpoint the cause of delays and inefficiency, then it can begin to undertake measures to resolve such issues. This answers why time tracking is important when it comes to ensuring deliverables.
Experts don’t even dare to disagree. Keeping track of time is essential if you want to execute tasks successfully, especially when the deadline is already nearing.
Manual Time Tracking
While it requires discipline and consistency, it offers flexibility and control over how time is recorded. Users can categorize and organize time entries to enhance efficiency and streamline workflows.
5. Time tracking software for employees are flexible
Regardless of what industry you work in, the features of a time tracker can align with your goals for efficiency and productivity. It’s not limited to a particular field, workflow, or operational style.
Meeting deadlines and avoiding delays is foolproof when you have a time tracking software for employees. Such software can be customized to track work hours and manage projects effectively.
According to the eLearning Industry, ten hours are wasted a week in the workplace. That’s a lot for any company. It’s a good thing time tracking solutions are designed to keep tabs on working hours. What’s more, they offer convenient invoicing and reporting functions for staffers. Time trackers even come with revolutionary tools that streamline data and analytics, payroll management, and projects. Developers of the best time tracking software constantly check their product for aspects they can fix or improve to guarantee seamless operations for any company.
It’s just like how we do things here at Traqq. Although our software’s designed in Australia, we’re ready to supply the benefits of employee time tracking to users worldwide.
6. Tracking time unearths your true profitability
As a company, your true profitability is bluntly tied to your resource management capabilities. Your workers may waste excessive amounts of time on unprofitable endeavors and assignments. As a result, they will feel that their work is meaningless and your organization’s profitability will be at rock bottom.
Unfortunately, the time your team spends on unprofitable customers, projects, and assignments isn’t that easy to perceive. Let’s say you’ve allotted ten hours for a particular task. Modifications and unprecedented problems can arise and raise that to 30, which puts you in the danger zone.
When you leave these inefficiencies unaccounted for, it affects your operations, especially the way your staffers view their work. Additionally, if the way you use your time is less effective, then you require more time, which means paying additional working hours for your team members. This also has an impact on your overall expenses.
If you plan to solve this, you need the best time tracking software that can accurately identify what your employees are working on. The tool should be able to determine whether these endeavors generate revenue. Time trackers even come with revolutionary tools that streamline data and analytics, payroll management, and projects. The best time tracking tools offer features like real-time tracking, reporting capabilities, and app versatility.
To illustrate the benefits of employee time tracking in this case, let’s say you’re charging an asset at $200 per hour and established a budget for ten hours. When you look at your time tracker, it says that your asset spent 20 hours delivering output. Your billable rate becomes $100 per hour.
It clears these costs and enables you to delegate your staff to more profit-generating tasks and projects. Because your employees’ work becomes more integral and profitable, they feel important. What’s more, you’re boosting their morale and productivity. They will feel happier about working for the company.
Try harnessing the benefits of employee time tracking to get positive feedback on the satisfaction survey questions you need to ask your employees.
10. Small Teams and Time Tracking
Time tracking is just as important for small teams as it is for larger teams. In fact, small teams may benefit even more from time tracking due to their limited resources and need for efficiency. Here are some benefits of time tracking for small teams:
Improved Productivity
Time tracking helps small teams stay focused and on track, ensuring that they are making the most of their limited time and resources. By monitoring how time is spent, teams can identify and eliminate time-wasting activities, leading to increased productivity.
Better Resource Allocation
Time tracking helps small teams allocate their resources more effectively, ensuring that they are spending their time and money on the most important tasks and projects. This strategic allocation of resources can lead to better project outcomes and overall business success.
Enhanced Collaboration
Time tracking can help small teams collaborate more effectively by providing a clear view of who is working on what and how much time is being spent on specific tasks and projects. This transparency fosters better communication and coordination among team members.
Increased Revenue
By tracking time spent on tasks and projects, small teams can more accurately invoice clients and customers, leading to increased revenue and profitability. Accurate time tracking ensures that all billable hours are accounted for, preventing revenue loss.
Incorporating time tracking into the workflow of small teams can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, collaboration, and financial performance, making it an essential tool for success.
7. Time tracking is good for planning future projects
Another one of the many benefits of employee time tracking includes the ability to juxtapose allotted and actual time spent working. Establishments can utilize this data to construct financial plans and estimate expenses for future projects. Additionally, offering unlimited projects as a key feature in time tracking applications allows users to manage and track multiple tasks without restrictions, providing flexibility and scalability.
A well-organized business motivates employees to be more proactive. They would be motivated to stay within budget, beat deadlines, and make the most out of their work hours.
Your reputation as a company asset-wise automatically affects their morale and productivity. So, it’s best to set an example in order to keep your best employees.
Traqq: The time tracker that will aid your business’ growth
It’s natural for companies to ask, “Why is time tracking important?” Although there can be many responses to this question, one sentence simply sums it up:
Time tracking is the core of any modern-day business operations.
An employee time tracking software guide will tell you how time tracking is crucial in getting a good grasp of how a worker and a company spend their time. A time tracking app offers functionalities such as automation, ease of access, and integrations with other tools, making it easier to manage time and productivity effectively.
It’s vital to determine whether a project is lucrative or futile. It helps identify whether the staff delivers output at the right pace or slowing to a halt. Most importantly, it nurtures the relationship between morale and productivity, supplying major benefits to both employee and employer. Indeed, time tracking improves the organization as a whole.
Besides these benefits of employee time tracking that you can get from your platform, it also allows you to take care of one of your most important resources: your workforce. A time tracking software like Traqq can help you build your team and aid them in growth. It will empower you to remain relevant in the field.
While this tool records work hours, it specializes in identifying productivity leaks and time wasters. It monitors a user’s activity levels based on keyboard movements and mouse clicks. What’s more, it tracks web and app usage. So, you’ll identify if your employees are wasting time on non-productive sites and programs. As of this writing, you can download Traqq for free and enjoy unrestricted access to all its features.
