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Do employees work from home? Here are Top 8 Tips for Employee Productivity Tracking!

The world is facing a complete digital shift and the remote working comes with it. Also, virtual companies are getting common by the day, with teams dispersed around the globe.

This revolution brings with itself the concern for employers: Do employees work from home? If yes, are they equally productive as those in an office space? Another major question is to monitoring employees activity and productivity. Here are a few tips on how employers can perform employee productivity tracking:

8. Prioritize Work According to Ease of Completion

The first step to fully utilize the hours in an 8-hour work day. For this, it is highly important to prioritize tasks and organize them in a schedule where they can actually be carried out and completed. For instance, if there are tasks that require a remote employee to travel or communicate with some vendors, or companies, then the optimum time to carry out that task is generally in the afternoon when the workflow is prime.

On the other hand, if there are tasks that require an employee to be creative and imaginative, then the best time for that is in the early morning.  Since people are most likely to have fresh minds in the morning. This would save time, and allow easy employee productivity tracking via the number of tasks completed within a day.

7. Ensure Employees Work During Company’s Work Hours

Remote work can lead to increased procrastination. Employees can tend to be more relaxed due to the heightened comfort level around them when in their own spaces. This may result in employees working on their own hours and not when every employee in the company is active.

To avoid miscommunication of tasks, and effective employee productivity tracking, we advise you to set some rules for your employees. One may be that employees working remotely must work during the company’s work hours to improve team communication and timely utilization of work produced.

For example, if a remote content writer completes content for a website at midnight, the front-end developers implement it in the morning and require changes in it, they will have to wait till the next day to get those changes in the content done.

This will delay the task itself, which should not have taken more than a few hours. Therefore, for effective employee productivity tracking, it is essential for remote and in-house employees to be active and work in unison at the same time.

6. Regular Work Intervals Allow Employee Productivity Tracking

Let’s face it, no human can remain productive for 8 or 9 hours straight. Everyone deserves a break and some relaxation time in order to be productive, deliver targets on time and relieve work stress. For efficient employee productivity tracking, it is recommended to work in short intervals.

For instance, if an employee works for 1 hour, rests for 15 minutes and again works for 1 hour, they are likely to be more productive than if they work for 4 hours non-stop and rest for 1 hour and then work for 4 hours non-stop again.

Similarly, the last person with a 1-hour break is likely to be more productive than the person who works for 8 hours straight, without any break.

Hence, regular work intervals are the best way to accurately carry out employee productivity tracking as that’s when the human mind is not over-exhausted or cluttered.

5. Draw Up a Schedule to Include Chores and Meals

The needs of employees working from home would definitely be different than the needs of employees working in-house. The best way for remote employees to stay productive is to draw up a schedule and stick to it.

Furthermore, that schedule must be created by the employer, keeping into account the fixed time for chores and meals as well.

This way, if an employee has an 8-hour work day, out of which, 1 or 2 hours are for chores and meals, then their tasks can be assigned and divided throughout the day accordingly.

4. Opt for a Comfortably Designed Workplace

Being in a comfortable environment and working in one is what makes an employee more productive in the workplace. This is something your employees need to take care of at their end.

A comfortably designed workplace helps employees in working with complete focus and dedication. Once they are focused and successfully completing the tasks assigned to them, that is when their productivity levels are at their highest.

Employee productivity tracking is made easier when the work productivity is calculated of tasks that are completed correctly and on time. A comfortable workplace, be it remote, ensures a stress-free environment and a relaxed mind for high-quality work.

3. Employee Productivity Tracking through Technology

Using technology to your own advantage helps reduce the manual work that consumes the majority of the time. Be it working productively or monitoring employees, smart work always trumps hard work. One cannot only work hard or just work smart. Both must go in unison for effective employee productivity tracking.

Employees working remotely must use automated systems and technology to reduce manual work and improve productivity. Similarly, employee monitoring in-person consumes a lot of time and even hinders the productivity of employers. A remote monitoring solution helps in saving precious minutes and allows employers to assess employee productivity accurately.

With the latest technology available these days, remote monitoring is easily possible through screen sharing, live visual logs, and automated timesheets.

2. Home Work Space is a Sanctified Place

Some rules are implemented by the company and some are self-enforced by the individual. One of the most important rules is to keep the home and office spaces separated. Your home-office or workspace at home must be a sacred place, free of interference from your family members or distractions that hinder your productivity.

Employee’s workspace must be a sanctified place where you have things organized according to your requirements. During work, employee productivity tracking is made more efficient when employees’ time is not wasted in finding relevant resources or documents in the time of need.

Less wasted time equals more time spent in actual work, hence enhanced work output.

1. Organize your Workplace and Save Useful Minutes

An organized workplace is the key to saving the maximum time during work hours. Whether you’re researching for a report or need to look at certain facts or emails, making specific folders and tagging the emails will help you locate them easily.

Similarly, using project management tools can help you save time at the time of need. The most popular tool is Google Sheets for record maintenance and organizing tasks and numbers. Employee Productivity Tracking can be made quick and easy using work organization tools.

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These 8 simple tips can help you maintain a work-life balance with maximum productivity and an optimum ratio of Smart and Hard work. 

6 Ways a time tracking software helps you save ‘invisible’ minutes!

“It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” – Steve Jobs

This above statement is solid enough to take care of the question of why must we save time in the first place. Now that we’ve gotten this basic concern out of the way, let’s focus on the real topics at hand:

a) How can time tracking software help you save time?

b) What is the time you don’t even know is being wasted?

 

Let’s get started!

1. Increase productivity by reducing the ‘busy’ time

Productivity is generally calculated by looking at the work output and the time taken to get it done. If both those values don’t add up, then there must be some time that is being wasted. Even though you’ve been busy all through the work hours!

Where is that time going? When each and every minute of your time is logged in timesheets, simply knowing that your work or computer screen is being watched makes you improve productive focus.

With a time tracking software, you can also take note of the actual time you worked and the time lost in operational, technical and irrelevant tasks!

2. You don’t need as much time as you think you do

Many a time, you think a particular task may take you an hour, whereas, if you dedicate all your focus and attention to it, you can get it done in half the time!
Here’s what happens: Your brain automatically keeps a cushion time to accommodate all the ‘extra’ tasks and distractions that may come up while you’re working on a task.

When all those distractions are eliminated, the actual time required to complete a certain task is not quite as much as you thought. A time tracking software can help you achieve more in a lesser amount of time. Hence improving productivity by a considerable amount.

3. Improve focus when you know each minute is counted

Have you heard of the ‘Hawthorne Effect’? According to Wikipedia,

“The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.”

Over time, there have been many interpretations of ‘behavior modification’. However, the generally accepted interpretation is that once you know you’re being observed, your productive work focus improves considerably, lowering wasted time and distractions.

An automated time tracking software involves accurate time logs, screenshots, and real-time video logs, which are a digital alternative of being observed. Therefore, the effect on you will also be the same. You’ll consciously try to focus on work, while making an effort to not waste time.

4. Be accountable for your time and work produced in it

How many times did it happen that your boss asked you about the hours you spent on a certain task and the work output that was never enough? I know. Same.

Tracking your time using a timesheet software can help you log your tasks and record the time spent on each. With the latest time tracking technologies, monitoring can be done through screenshots of your computer’s screens taken every minute, e.g. in StaffTimerApp, an AI-driven automated time tracking solution.

Such a time tracking software integrated within your work station makes you more accountable for your time spent to work output ratio. You can always stay ahead of the curve by minimizing wasted time and improving work productivity.

5. Identify and remove ‘invisible’ tasks by tracking time

‘Invisible Tasks’ – what are they? These are the irrelevant tasks that take up your time when you begin working on one of your assigned tasks.

These side tasks may include: running to HR and back to take care of administrative formalities, operational tasks and technical difficulties (e.g. installing software, taking care of a faulty computer system, etc.).

The best way to get rid of these tasks is to delegate them to the relevant people. So you can focus better on your own work. In simple words, tell the HR to fill the forms themselves, or the tech department to fix your PC before you arrive to work, so your limited time is not wasted.

Using a time tracking software, you can clock your hours efficiently, so you know exactly where your time went throughout the whole work day.

6. Automated and intelligent reporting mechanism

How would you know what you or your team achieved in a day? Yes, intelligent reporting is just for that purpose. In an automated reporting system, you can better figure out where your work lags, and then take care of that issue.

It could be about employee availability or any work-related or personal issues they may be facing. By looking at their work reports, you can figure out the difference in productivity levels. Also,  initiate communication with them to trace out the reason for that change.

If the productivity levels are higher, then the change could be adopted by the entire team in one way or another. If its the other way around, then their problems could be dealt with, according to their nature.

Using artificial intelligence, what if your time tracking software can sort your day’s screenshots task-wise? In many of the latest softwares, this feature allows you to see exactly what task was performed, how was it performed, and where was the time wasted.

Once that judgment is made, then all the distractions can be identified and taken care of. This type of reporting also allows you to see the number of productive hours. Which helps you form a transparent invoicing and billing system.

These were the 6 major ways in which time tracking solutions can help you identify the areas of wasted time. Also, a solution to how you may reduce them. Most of the time, we are so engrossed in just getting things done.

Making some minor hindrances in our work the cause of our frustration. To regulate the workflow and enhance productivity, it is highly necessary for you to track time. And keep the energy levels of your team up.

Have a great, happy and productive work day! 🙂

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Employee Time Tracking with Screenshots! Is it really needed?

With every passing day and a step closer to becoming more technologically advanced every day, newer ideas and technologies are making their way into the Corporate World as well. The use of employee time tracking software is a new trend has emerged recently in the Modern Corporate World.

It is the universal goal of all the businesses to increase their profits by minimizing their expenditure. And the executives and managers are relying more and more on technology to get closer to this goal.

A large chunk of organizations is making use of software tools to manage the employees and to optimize their productivity. Some of these tools also capture the snapshots of employee’s screens to help the employee monitoring practice. But we cannot deny the fact that it does raise some brows!

Screenshot capturing: Illegal or ethical?

There are no legal regulations that protect employees from screen monitoring. So monitoring the employees through screenshots is definitely not illegal.

But is it ethical? This is an ongoing debate in the Corporate Sector and there is a wide variety of viewpoints on the subject.

Read more: Rational and Ethical Employee Monitoring
It is widely agreed that screen monitoring would be a lot more acceptable by the teams and employees if it is publicly declared and clearly defined.

Why is it becoming a trend?

It equips the managers with remote employee monitoring capabilities

Most people who work an office job require a computer with an unfaltering internet connection to carry out the daily tasks. And we all know that it is typical human behavior to get distracted from time to time. Getting distracted once in a while is acceptable in most situations but too much of it can be unacceptable for the employees.

But it is hard to keep a watch over the online shenanigans of all the employees all the time. And this is where a time tracking solution that captures employee screenshots comes to rescue.

Screenshot capturing facilitates the employers by bringing records of employees activities directly to his screen.

It lets the supervisors know about the progress of the employees

When your supervisor and the employer can see your work activity, he would know about your progress. Your productivity will be communicated to the leaders through those screenshots. On the same lines, the lazy employees cannot dodge the screenshots as well.

The employers would know which one of the employees is actually productive and which ones are not so much.

The screenshot monitoring also informs the team leaders about the progress of an ongoing project.

It helps the remote employers

Many small and medium business owners love to hire talent from across the oceans at competitive costs. But this is not so easy.

There are many hurdles in the way of managing remote and distributed teams effectively. Distance happens to be the biggest one of them. However, applications like StaffTimerApp, which capture screenshots and informs the remote employer about the progress and productivity of the employees, help a great deal in managing and minimizing the impacts of these hurdles.

It fosters cooperation amongst the team members

Screenshots build a relationship amongst the remote workers. Since the colleagues of distributed teams are situated very far away from each other, there is a deficit of cooperation and lack of communication.

To help with this problem, a software that uses screenshots can be very helpful.

By viewing the screenshots, the manager of a distributed team will be able to review the way the employee is working. He will be aware of all the glitches that he faces. The progress of the employee will also be visible to him. These insights are very useful for fostering a human relationship.

Software like this lets people connect in a better fashion.

In this day and age, many companies are dealing with tremendously large data sets. And more often than not, the data sets have sensitive information, the breach of which can result in lethal financial and legal troubles.

Constant surveillance of the employees work activities is also a facade of employee monitoring. And this one is particularly useful especially when there are so many intelligent hackers out there and a small loophole In the work management can end up in an unforeseen disaster.

Conclusion

Screenshots might seem like an unnecessary hassle in many cases. But in many more, they are quite mandatory considering the current landscape of the Corporate World. Use a Time Tracking Software with Screenshots to discover many more advantages of using one!

Is capturing screenshots, ethical or not? We would love to hear from you.

Proven ways to track employee’s productivity in today’s world

Employee Productivity is the buzz word of current times. Many people are trying to be more productive in their personal lives. Many more are trying to enhance their work productivity.

In some peculiar settings like a remote work environment, it becomes more important to track employee productivity.

Defining Employee Productivity

Employee productivity is the measure of the efficiency of an employee or a group of employees. It is often assessed by the quality and quantity of work produced.

Employee Productivity is a relative statistic. For an individual employee, it is assessed by comparing the individual’s productivity to that of a group of people. Employees with high productivity levels are often more productive than the average team. Similarly, people with low productivity levels are often not able to produce the average quality or quantity of work as compared to the rest of the workforce.

Why is productivity important?

Productivity is one of the more important agendas of the management, in the Corporate World of today. The reasons are manifold.

Cutthroat competition is inevitable in today’s corporate sector and having a slow and lazy team is simply not an option.

Much of the profitability of the organizations depend upon the workforce. So it is quite important to have a dependable and diligent team of employees.

The trends, expectations, and demands of the market are constantly changing. To keep up with the evolution and changing the landscape of the market, it is important that the employees are intellectually productive.

Tracking Employee’s Productivity

Having established the importance of employee productivity, let’s discuss some of the ways by which it is measured.

1. Track their time

Often it is a duty of the Project Managers to assign individuals with a list of tasks. Tracking productivity by means of tracking the time it takes to get a job done is one of the most common ways of measuring the productivity of an employee.

For this purpose, many organizations deploy Time Tracking Software. These tools let the employees measure the amount of time they spend on each individual task. They also help employers get a transparent idea about employee productivity.

2. Assess the value

There are many situations where just the measure of time is not a good indicator of productivity. For example, the productivity of a painter is measured by the time it takes to finish a piece. So, either the productivity will come out to be dismal or the efforts to enhance the productivity will result in poor quality work. Therefore, time is not always the best indicator of the productivity of an employee.

One of the widely used metrics of employee productivity is assessing the value that an employee brings to the table. The presence of a certain individual can bring value to your team in many ways. For example, an HR manager might be a source of motivation and positivity for the rest of the team.

An executive might be a good mentor for training newbies. A marketing executive with a stellar personality might boost your sales. An individual with great skills can affect your team in more than one ways and assessing the value they bring to the organization is a useful way to measure their productivity.

3. Cost-profit analysis

Making profits in the universal aim of all the businesses around the world. An employee is productive and profitable if he helps the organization generate more profits then the cost of retaining him in the company.

The cost of keeping an employee on the payroll consists of compensation, benefits and other expenses of the housing. If the revenue that he assists in generating are greater than the costs, then the employee is definitely productive and a valuable asset for the company.

4. Measuring Employee’s Productivity

Having established the importance of employee productivity, let’s discuss some of the ways by which it is measured.

 

5. Indications about the strengths and weaknesses

When you track employee productivity, you get useful insights about the strengths and weaknesses of the workforce.

The managers get to know about the employees that outshine the rest of the team. They get an idea about the team members who are unable to deliver the desired results. The management gets to identify productivity blockades and hurdles.

The data also becomes useful to identify low performing individuals. By correct identification of the problems, the management can take steps towards improving the situation.

6. Guides you about the budget

Managers who know the production capacity of their teams are in a good position to make good financial choices.

Productivity tracking is so much more than just the number of hours worked. It delivers insights into all kinds of available resources. These insights empower the management to make sound decisions related to budgets and financing.

7. A basis for performance appraisal

Everyone needs appreciation for the work they do similarly, employees do too.

Productivity tracking provides ample data for the managers to officially recognize the work and efforts of the team. Therefore, time and productivity tracking, as boring as it may sound, helps employees in making their efforts known to the management.

Praise and rewards can help increase the motivation level of the team. And this, in turn, can help in boosting the productivity of the whole team.

8. Makes employees more productive

It is a scientifically proven fact that individuals tend to be more productive when they know that they are being watched. Just like that, employees tend to be more productive when they realize their team leads are monitoring their progress. 

Moreover, when one employee gets praised for the work that he does. He sets a positive example for the rest of the team which in return establishes a positive work culture. 

Conclusion

Track employee productivity to find out hidden truths about your team. This will not only improve the organizational culture in many ways but also the profitability of your organization!

Like what you read? We have more for you:Top three-time tracking applications for remote employees

Why do you need a Time Tracker for Work?

Using a Tracker tool sounds annoying! Do you really need a Time tracker for work? Are the bosses being unreasonable and irrational with their demands of using a Time Tracker? Well, the truth of the matter is that Time Tracking has proven to be fruitful for businesses. That is why many managers and bosses are adamant about the use of a Time Tracker.

Why do you need a Time Tracker at work?

Do you get distracted and feel lazy like many people? Do you lose your focus during the work? If you’re anything like most professionals around the world, you most definitely need a Time Tracker at work.

Time Tracking Software might seem intrusive and slavish, but they have help organizations achieve a lot in a relatively shorter duration of time. People who use these tools report that they have been able to get more out of the standard workday. In comparison to the time when they did not use a Time Tracking tool.

But to give optimum productivity, finding and deploying the right kind of tool is the most important task.

What makes a good Time Tracker?

A quick Google Search clarifies that there are dozens of Time Tracking Solutions out there in the market. And it is normal to feel overwhelmed. But it is very important to choose the correct Time Tracker for work. An unsuitable tool can cost you time and money.

Look for the following qualities in your potential Time Tracking Software.

 

User-Friendly Design

It is really important for support software like Time Tracking Software to have a user-friendly design. A time tracking software should not be the reason that you waste time at work. There are some tools that are so detailed and comprehensive that the user wastes time while tracking time.

The UX and UI should be self-explanatory and help the user in navigation through the application and usage.

Flawless Functionality

The main purpose of the Time Tracking tool is calculating the time that is spent on work. Results devised by these systems become the basis for planning, decision making, budgeting, and many such important decisions. For these decisions to be sound, it is imperative that the input data be flawless as well.

Therefore, the time monitoring tool that you use should be flawless in what it does. Calculations of work hours should be perfect. The estimates of activity levels and productivity levels should be realistic. Incorrect tools can be detrimental to the business!

Non-intrusive features

Since a Time Tracking system is mostly used for tracking the time and productivity during the work hours, it is important these tools are strictly non-intrusive. There are some time tracking tools that send off notifications from time to time. For example, a Monitoring Software might intimate the user that he has been using Facebook for too long or the system has been idle for too long.

These notifications might sound useful. But in reality, they are quite intrusive and get in the way of the workflow.

The ideal software will be completely automatic. It should not require the user to log work hours again and again.

Rational Pricing

A large marketplace suggests that there are diverse pricing plans and subscription plans. This calls for careful analysis of the prices and the plans that are offered.

Look for a tool that does exactly what you need. If you are looking for a simple Time Tracking Software, opt for a product that is a Minimum Viable Product.

This way you will get the desired functionality at low cost. If you just need one or two features and you choose an extensive Time Management System, you will lose money since all the offered features will not be used. You, most likely, will also waste time by tangling in a complicated system that you don’t really need.

On the other hand, if using a comprehensive system helps you, then, by all means, go for it!

Dependable Customer Support

Although software developers try very hard to make their products function without any glitch, it is an inevitable reality that many times, products and services produce unforeseen bugs and errors.

To cater to this issue, dedicated and dependable customer support is very important. Make sure that the Time Tracker that you select for your daily use has a good Customer Support history. This way, you will always have someone to go to, if the system starts misbehaving and producing erratic functionality.

Which problems are solved by a good Time Tracker?

The market for Employee Monitoring and Time Tracking is on the rise. It suggests that the tools are actually useful and hence in demand. There are many common work-related problems that are solved by Time Tracking. Some of them are discussed below:

It saves you from distractions

It is very normal for professionals to feel distracted while working. Using a tracker can, however, save you from the distractions. While using the software, you will be conscious of being watched for the most part of the day.

This realization will stop you from getting distracted by your thoughts, office gossip and frequent snacking.

These activities might seem trivial but they are big time wasters, according to studies.

It keeps you focused

With fewer distractions, you will be more focused on your work. A good tracking tool helps weed out activities that leach on the valuable time. You will waste less time on Facebook and Instagram. You will not wander the internet aimlessly for a long duration of time. Getting rid of all these bad habits will make you more focused on the tasks at hand.

It makes you more productive

Imagine that you are in a zone where there are no distractions and you stay completely focused. How productive that zone would be. Tracking the time would make your work similar to that zone.

It has been observed that employees that use Time Tracking tend to be more productive. They waste less time, dedicate more time to work and produce better results. Since they spend high-quality work hours at work, they are more likely to produce high-quality results as well!

It highlights your efforts

Most of the time, Tracking the time is a demand of the management. Though it might sound intrusive, it actually benefits the employees in numerous ways.

A Time Tracker for work extracts transparent statistics about the time spent on getting the work done. It also clearly shows the efforts of employees to the management and lets the employers and managers know how hard the team works to achieve the collective goals of the organization.

It optimizes the teamwork

Time Tracking can be a great tool for optimizing teamwork. When the management is on top of all the tasks that are done and the time that is spent, the project management practise becomes smooth. The tasks are managed and delegated according to the expertise and capacity of the employees.

It keeps you free from stress

Honest and transparent statistics enable the management to come up with realistic project planning and deadlines. When the management is completely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their human resources, they will plan their business activities accordingly.

Realistic deadlines are a great friend of the employees. This is because they save employees from overwork and stressful work situations.

An example of a reliable Time tracker

To save the readers from excessive research, I will review StaffTimerApp, it is a very useful time tracking and employee monitoring tool!

It uses Screenshots

Most Time Tracking applications make use of Keystroke logging and URL tracking for the purpose of tracking the time. This is where StaffTimerApp stands out. It captures the screenshots of the employee’s screens and then processes them to estimate the time spent on work-related and non-work related activities.

It gives a breakdown of how the time is spent

The application uses Screenshots to get a breakdown of how time is spent during the work hours. Those screenshots are then categorized by using sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Users can conveniently see how much time is spent on work related and non-work related activities.

This breakdown is the backbone of successful Time Management.

It is sensitive about user Privacy

Since the application only uses Screenshots, it does not access a lot of user information. It totally relies on the screenshots to calculate billable and non-billable hours. With no keystroke and mouse activity tracking, the passwords, pin codes, credit card information is safe and not logged into the system. Therefore, the application is sensitive to user privacy!

Conclusion

Use a Time Tracker to boost productivity at work. Use a Time Tracker for your team to manage the projects better! This is because effective Time Management can be very beneficial for the business and can help in reaping lots of profits!

Undeniable advantages of using an Employee Monitoring System

Monitoring employees is a multifaceted phenomenon. From the employers’ perspective, it is a way of enhancing productivity. Whereas from the employees’ perspective, it seems slavish. But the truth of the matter remains that there are many advantages of using Employee Monitoring Systems. For this reason, the market statistics for such systems are soaring.

Kinds of Employee Monitoring Systems

No two workplaces have the same kind of environment and requirements. The diversity in the Corporate Sector calls for different kinds of employee tracking tools. 

Find the different kinds of Employee Monitoring tools below:

GPS Tracking Software

Keeping an eye on the employees who are working right in the next room is much easier than tracking the performance of an employee whose job requires him to move around in the city. For such jobs, GPS Tracking Software is available. These trackers are usually deployed in vehicles or the employee’s mobile phones.  It helps you to track the location of the employees.

Time Tracking Software

Time tracking has become an integral part of many organizations around the world. This software calculates the actual amount of time, spent on each task.

Moreover, it comes packed with subtle features that help the managers in monitoring the employees. In addition to conventional management.

Remote Employee Monitoring Software

Telecommuting and Remote Work is slowly becoming the reality of the contemporary Corporate World. This trend created room for an employee monitoring system. Today, there are some Softwares that caters to the distributed teams. The features empower the employers to such an extent that they can monitor employee activity without any hindrance due to the great distances.

Employee Microchipping

Some futuristic tech companies have introduced microchipping for the employees — embedding tiny microchips in human bodies. The purpose of these microchips is to rid the employees of identity cards. Also, the complex and time-consuming employee monitoring systems. These chips will let employers know about the location and activities of their employees.

Advantages of Employee Monitoring System

Employees often feel that tracking their activities, is a breach of privacy. They see it as a sign of mistrust. Many argue that it restricts the employees to follow a predefined path religiously. But such restrictions sabotage the creativity of the people, which is often a good thing.

 

Optimize the Productivity

Time tracking Software helps employees in becoming more productive. Similarly, the Hawthorne effect suggests that people tend to become more productive when they know that their employers are observing them.

Monitoring employees at the workplace is fundamentally an extension of ‘observing’. In workspaces, this conjecture holds true. Managers tend to think the same.

Sound HR decisions

Employers and Human Resource Managers have found it to be extremely useful especially when they have to make HR decisions. HR decisions are mostly influenced by employee behavior and performance.

With the help of such tools, employers and managers are able to observe the skills of the personnel discreetly. This helps a lot in making good HR decisions. And we know that good Human Resources is conditional for profitability.

Reduce Data Theft

According to a study from Keeper Security, Data Theft has recently emerged as the leading concern, most of the organizations around the world have. In recent times, we have witnessed data theft costing corporations billions of dollars. However, in most cases, these unfortunate events have occurred due to irresponsible employee behavior.

To make sure that such cases do not occur, organizations have shifted to surveillance. Additionally, tracking their teams’ time and productivity.

Control Cyberloafing

Cyberloafing is one of the leading ways the employees waste time at work. Employees often use the internet for doing personal tasks, like online shopping, paying the bills replying to emails, etc.

Moreover, employees often get distracted by the abyss i.e. the internet. They check social media frequently and often get caught up in scrolling these time-consuming applications.

Therefore, when an employee monitoring tool is used, employers stay focused on work and avoid distracting activities as they make them look bad!

Convince your employees!

It is not uncommon for employees to feel violated when such a tool is deployed! However, we have seen from the discussion above that using such software is pretty much mandatory in today’s day and age. Following tips can help you persuade your team

Conclusion

The advantages of using the Employee Monitoring System are undeniable. They help corporations save hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the practice hangs in a delicate balance. For this reason, it is important to not make it a vexing practice for the employees!

Top 3 Time Tracking Apps for Remote Workers

Many people around the world have welcomed the trend of Remote Work. It is exciting, it is diverse and it is a great experience. Thanks to the innovative tools that were born out of the recent technological advancements that this new trend persisted.

Tools like Online Project Management Software and Time Tracking Apps have helped people connect, collaborate and work together no matter how far they are located physically.

A quick Google search reveals a plethora of Time Tracking tools. We have used the following 3 applications extensively and analysed them to find out their strengths and weaknesses.

The List | Top 3

The following applications are extensively used by Freelancers and Remote Workers all around the world. They all have many great features and solve many problems for the distributed teams. Here, we have covered these applications and mentioned the Pros and Cons for the users to decide which application sounds best for them.

 

FreshBooks-All-In-One Small Business Invoicing and Accounting Solution

Freshbooks is a cool tool for remote employers. Its features range from Time Tracking to Online Invoicing.

Pros

  • It is a simple employee monitoring app that requires the users to log hours manually or with the help of a timer.
  • It presents a simple and yet elaborate invoicing system. The users can bill directly after tracking the time. Since this software provides integrated time tracking and invoicing, the clients do not need to use multiple applications for tracking their time and Invoicing.
  • Freshbooks has a major focus on Invoicing. Hence, it provides a lot of payment options for users. This feature comes in handy especially when your remote team belongs to different regions of the world and have different banking preferences.

Cons

  • The application requires manual clearance of all the invoices paid through various payment gateways.
  • Freshbooks gives a lot of leverage to the Employers and not so much to the employees. It gives employers the option of declaring an invoice ‘disputed’. In some cases, this resulted in payment fraud.

Staff Timer App – The time tracking solution for remote workers

Staff Timer App is the perfect time tracker app for remote workers. It has a lot of features that have been designed keeping in mind the growing trend of remote work.

Pros

  • The application is completely automated and it uses Screenshots to calculate the time spent by the user on all the activities done during the work hours. The employer gets an estimate for the time spent on work-related and non-work related activities.
  • The application is very simple to use. It is a minimum viable product so there are no unnecessary frills. Just the features that are absolutely important!
  • The remote monitoring features like Instant Screen Capture and Real-Time Screen monitoring are vital for a remote manager.
  • The low price is a very strong point for StaffTimerApp. At $2.99/user, it provides a lot of useful features and services.

Cons

  • The application is in the development phase and the design needs some improvements.
  • The Snapshot that is acquired through instant screen capture is not saved and accessible for later use.

Hubstaff

Hubstaff is one of the most widely used Time Trackers in the market. And it truly deserves the top spot.

Pros

  • The interface of Hubstaff is very appealing. It is simple to use and the UX is pretty self-explanatory.
  • The application captures the screenshots of the employees randomly. These screenshots are very important for Remote Employees.
  • You can view the Time with respect to projects, team members, and tasks. You can see the breakdown very clearly. This feature gives a lot of clarity to employers with extremely detailed reports. They can view the number of hours spent on each task.
  • Hubstaff offers a flexible payment system. It lets the employer choose individual payment plans for all the team members. The employers can choose from a vast array of payment gateways.

Cons

  • It is a mix of Time Tracking, Time Management, and Invoicing Software.
  • The customer service of Hubstaff is not its finest quality. The CSRs take a lot of time to reply and more often than not the replies are useless.
  • The activity level statistics can be misleading. For optimum activity level, the user needs to log keystrokes all the time. We know that in the real world, it is a very bad indication for calculating productivity.

Conclusion

All these applications have some amazing features and all of them have some loopholes as well. It is really important to pick the right time Tracking Software that is fit for your needs. The right choice can greatly enhance the productivity of your teams and generate better profits!
Do you have any tools in your mind that we can add to our list? Don’t forget to share it!

Like what you read? We have more, for you:

 

Increase Your Productivity at work | 5 effective ways to make big changes:

There are a number of automated tools available in the market either for communication or collaboration or employee task monitoring. But before we move on, let’s define employee productivity.

Best Employee Time Tracking Apps for Mac and Windows: 

Employee time tracking app for Mac and Windows are becoming a necessity throughout the business world. But is time management that important? Everybody gets the same number of hours to work every day i.e. 24 hours. Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi, Julius Caesar– all these great men only had 24 hours as well.

Why is Employee Motivation more Important than ever?

What is Motivation?

Employee Motivation is an abstract entity. It is the stimulus that triggers actions in individuals and a driving force behind all the wonderful advancements that we experience today. Moreover, motivation is the intrinsic quality that makes individuals get up goals for themselves. It is also the drive that pushes the individuals towards attaining those goals.

Researchers identify two kinds of motivation:
Intrinsic Motivation: This type of motivation pushes a person to achieve a goal because it is personally rewarding. As a result, the person feels happy and satisfied.

Extrinsic Motivation: This motivation results in a drive to do something in order to achieve a tangible goal or to avoid punishment.

Why is Employee Motivation more Important than ever

A few decades ago, employee motivation and satisfaction was not really a top agenda for Management. But today it totally is. And the reasons are the following:

Competition is fierce

Today, the competition is fierce. A slight loophole and neglect pave way for the competitors to barge in and steal your clients. No business can afford that.

This is exactly why businesses need motivated employees all the time— the kind of employees who live and breathe your mission. 

Motivated employees will not only treat your business as their own but also will increase profitability.

Individualization is the new trend

Due to the mushroom growth in nearly every business domain, there are way too many similar products and services. How do businesses make themselves distinct? How do they stand out? The answer lies in individualization.

Today, all businesses try to build, manage and retain an individual identity and this individual identity helps them stand out from the crowd. Additionally, it also helps the brands attract and retain clients who relate to brand identity.

Motivated employees play a great role in building a positive brand image. They contribute to the brand image and help in retaining it. If your employees are demotivated, imagine the kind of energy and message they would be permeating to the world.

Human Resources is the greatest asset

There are a lot of resources that are required for an organization to function properly. But Human Resources are by far the most important resources that an organization possesses. The reason is that it is the employees of the company that uses their knowledge, expertise, and skills to take the mission of the company forward.

Without the right kind of employees, the organization cannot do anything. And with demotivated employees, it cannot do much either. Motivated employees are the greatest asset to a company. People who feel motivated about achieving the day to day tasks deliver amazing collective results.

Employee Motivation brings out results

The Rat-pellet experiment by B. F. Skinner proved that rats tapped the button because they believed that they will get a pellet. The motivation stemmed from the expectation of reward and hence the rat made an effort. We all can learn from this experiment that motivation drives us to make an effort and bring out results.

Employees who are motivated to keep up their performance. They make efforts to deliver even better results because they feel that their performance is appreciated. And this cycle of motivation— efforts— outcome — appreciation is never-ending and it brings great profits to the organization.

Employee Retention is very important

Employee motivation is like an investment. With the passage of time, an employee learns the craft and becomes a very valuable asset for the organization.

After spending a considerable amount of time, an employee becomes equipped with the right kind of knowledge and expertise. Replacing this employee is not only very costly but finding a perfect replacement is not always easy. This is why corporations spend so much time and money on their retention policies.

It is very easy to retain a happy and motivated employee. The employees want to stay at a workplace where they feel valued. So if you want to hold on to the good people, keep them motivated.

How to keep the employees motivated

The Entrepreneur suggests great ideas about keeping your employees motivated. It suggests that

  • The employees shall be allowed to maintain their individuality and a sense of freedom.
  • Empower the employees with the right kind of tools so that they do not feel handicapped.
  • Invest in employee development. Ongoing learning and development boost employee morale.
  • Let the employees know that their efforts are acknowledged and thank them.
  • Reward your employees for the good work that they do. Sharing profits helps them feel connected.

Conclusion

Motivated employees are an irreplaceable asset to a company. They are the reason that an organization grows and reaps profits. Many organizations around the world invest a lot in keeping the workforce happy and motivated.

Proven and Simple ways of Effective Team Communication

Making Today, Human Resources are the most important kind of resources an organization holds. Fortunately, most organizations acknowledge this fact and work on the nourishment and growth of these resources.

Team Communication is an insanely important part of the Team building process. It is hard but definitely rewarding.

What is Team Communication?

Business Dictionary defines Communication as a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange information, news, ideas, and feelings but also create and share meaning.

We can say that Team Communication is the process of exchange of information between the members of a Team. Since the people in a team are joined together due to a shared vision or mission, this exchange is often directed towards achieving a common goal.

Advantages of Team Communication?

Communication is the most important group dynamic and it is due to the many advantages that it has.

According to a survey, 86% of executives believed that faulty and incomplete communication between the team members is one of the major reasons for workplace failure.

Some advantages of effective communication among the team are:

  1. It helps the project management process.
  2. Improves the organizational culture of a company.
  3. Results in team cohesion.
  4. Pushes people towards a common goal.

Proven ways of effective Team Communication

The following are the proven ways of effective Team Communication.

No such thing as a stupid question

There are no stupid questions, only some stupid answers. If this idea is inculcated in the minds of all the employees, no one will be afraid to ask a question. Seemingly trivial and silly questions can help identify problems otherwise overlooked. Sometimes, these questions can help in identifying crucial but unnoticed problems.

Recommended For You: How Time Tracking Software makes Freelancing easier

Open door policy

Authoritarian leadership is an outdated concept. Laissez-Faire is the trend of the day. The managers and bosses who keep an open door policy report that the team members are happier and in tune with the mission of the organization.

Leaders who do not communicate with the team members reflect that the employees are not much important. Making employees feel disconnected and unimportant is the leading cause of employee dissatisfaction.

An open-door policy assures the employees that their opinions matter!

Democratic Decision Making

Today, most businesses cannot survive without a democratic environment. 

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ask for the input of your team members. Decision making that is based on the input of the team members leads to beneficial results. This is because the input of varied and diversified minds can propose options and directions that were not conceivable for a single person.

The group participation results in improved Team Communication.

Clear Feedback

Among all the group building efforts, Feedback is the most important element. It has a wide range of advantages on the personal level and collectively as well.

Feedback is the stepping stone of motivating an employee. Positive feedback pushes employees towards doing even better, according to psychologist B. F. Skinner. Negative but controlled feedback can become the basis of doing better and improving the state of affairs.

Feedback can help individuals develop a high-quality skill set. This way an employee can become a great asset to the organization.

Team Building by extracurricular activities

Work can be mundane, monotonous and sometimes boring. But extracurricular activities are definitely not. And they are a great way of enhancing team cohesion.

Extracurricular activities motivate employees to get together as a team and make use of the collective skillset. Teams that play together, stay together!

Conduct surveys

It is of utmost importance to find out what makes your employees uncomfortable. Do they feel that their compensation is justified? Are they happy with the Corporate Policies? Do they agree to Corporate Culture?

It is important that you communicate the answers to these questions to the higher management without any distortion of the facts. Sometimes it is advisable to conduct anonymous surveys to protect the employees.  Still, these surveys are of immense importance in the world of today, where employee and human rights are given unprecedented importance.

Conclusion

Effective Communication in the Corporate Sector is extremely important in the contemporary world. It is the linchpin of collaborative efforts that are necessary to deliver top-notch products and services!