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How COVID-19 Will Reshape Online Education Forever

COVID-19 Will Reshape Online Education

Schools, colleges and universities too are part of the battle of survival along with businesses in this COVID-19 global pandemic. Students and teachers stuck at home with instructions given that classes must continue online. And in this endeavour to keep lectures and classes ongoing, educational institutes are finding that given the resources and software available, online education may be a possible way to get around this pandemic for the following reasons:

The Pros:

  • Institutions don’t have to face closure if classes can continue online
  • Students and faculty don’t need to travel, so they’re safe indoors during the pandemic
  • Students coming from different cities and countries will find it easier to keep studying from home
  • Material shared online can be constantly updated
  • Students can study in their own pace rather than trying to keep up with the rest of the class

However, with benefits also come some drawbacks. Many teachers are now on places like Quora seeking for solutions that could make remote teaching and studying easier because of certain issues like:

The Cons:

  • Students may not get questions answered by professors as promptly as they would in a classroom as interaction is limited
  • Students must have plenty of self-discipline to keep up with assignments and quizzes
  • Students may not find audio and video resources effective for learning as compared to the live experience
  • Students must find the technology easy to use to ensure the online system works properly for them
  • Conducting fair examinations may not be easy as preventing students from cheating becomes harder online without a way to monitor their activity.
  • It is difficult to able to tell if a student is legitimately paying attention to lectures or is busy with other things

But as the world is pushed into staying at home, technology has risen to aid with the difficulties created by the outbreak. Numerous applications and services have become popular now such as:


Zoom

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that helps make meetings, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat easier even if the number of participants is 100 at a time. Its technology can help make live video lectures easier for teachers to do for a whole group of students at a single time.


Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a free service for schools that helps them in creating a paperless way of creating and distributing study material and gradable assignments. It makes it easier for teachers and students to share files with each other.


Coursera

Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organisations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take, and recently they have made their courses available for free to help people stay productive at home.


Remind

Remind makes it easy for teachers to communicate with students and their parents in real-time outside of the classroom. You can make class announcements, initiate group chats, or contact people privately through the app. Your messages, which can contain files, images, and links, can even be translated into more than 90 languages, making it possible to communicate with parents who are non-native English speakers.


StaffTimer

Although the name suggests its made for offices, its features are so extensive they can be used to help teacher and lecturers with lessons and quizzes. Here are a few features to explain how StaffTimer can be used for education:

Real-time Monitoring

Teachers can see in real-time what students are up to. Gone are the days where students think they can be busy watching other things or playing games on other tabs during lectures.

Intelligent Reports

StaffTimer makes it feel like being in a classroom again with in-depth reports showing students’ tasks and the amount of time they spent on them along with url and app usage reports. Their idleness and productivity can be tracked as well by noting how many keystrokes and clicks they’ve done per minute.

Instant screen capture

Teachers can make use of setting screenshots to be taken at the intervals of their choice. StaffTimer is capable of taking screenshots every passing minute. Even if a student’s internet connection is lost and in order to ensure genuine work, the software will keep capturing the screenshots and upload it to the work diary  once the internet is back online.

Voice Notes

Video conferencing is already data consuming as it is so it’s useful for teachers to be able to send instructions or small notes through voice notes when assigning students with tasks.

With these features and more, teaching won’t be a difficult task to do remotely as institutes and parents can take a sigh of relief that this academic session won’t go to waste.

A guide to use Staff timer app | Working from home

Since the beginning of 2020 it was predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will burst out of China toward global level and will cause an economic meltdown along with significant human loss. Survival is necessary now since global lockdown has forced employees to work from home. 

Just as working from home has its attractions such as no commute, no early wake up calls, more flexible work schedule, and minimum stress; it also has some downsides. You are pretty less motivated if you choose to work from the comfort of your homes making it harder for you to achieve your organizational goals. Then there are internet connection problems which can be really challenging at times. Don’t even get us started on the distraction that comes with this attraction when left unchecked! 

While working from home, employees are most likely to fall for these unwanted interruptions not only impacting the company directly but also affects your creative thinking capabilities. Just as employers have obligations to minimize work-place related stress, similarly employees should not place pressure on their employers in this economic turmoil by being less productive. 

But it’s not everything that is bad here. Here we are going to help employers with a comprehensive guide on how they can manage their remote teams using Staff Timer  App. 

User Activity Monitoring

Staff timer offers one of its kind features: Real-time Monitoring. With real-time monitoring you can make sure that everyone is working, you can analyze employee’s work flows, monitor their activity as it is happening and avoid any unwanted online behaviours which would otherwise negatively affect the overall productivity.  Sometimes distractions while working from home can backfire by making the most productive employees unproductive and lacking any progress.  

Plus real-time monitoring is a live screen sharing and streaming tool which can not only help you collaborate but also work collectively on combined projects. It is also making online meetings and employee feedback easier. 

Employee Work Diary

Replace archives with a work diary and track your projects through screenshots at defined intervals. Staff timer offers this feature as optional. Also, you can set any screenshot interval based on your online activity monitoring needs. Screenshots every minute (or more) will not only help you and your teammates to tally notes and work progress but also helps you while collaborating with your clients and major stakeholders. As a business owner you can have accurate tracking of your teams. Moreover, employers can see who is spending time on cat memes at work.

Using voice messages

Perhaps the biggest problem is communication when working from home or going remote. We all know that mobile phones are a big distraction but are an excellent medium for communication but let’s face phone notifications are pretty distracting even when you choose to ignore them.Plus other famous tools like Zoom, Google meet, Skype are really effective but are very high on data consumption. For many this may be a small problem but actually not that small when it comes to the majority of users working remotely, they have to be careful about their internet data consumption. 

With the Staff Timer App we have an option of sending audio clips for task assignment where you can not only assign tasks via recording but team members have the option to add comments and/or file attachments to keep communication going direct and straightforward.

Advanced reporting 

Nothing can replace the charm of being at the workplace but Staff timer app provides you with extreme near workplace experience. With its feature of intelligence reports, you can check the total time spent on each task, including app and URL tracking along with visual insights that tells total productivity and idle (non productive) time via keystroke and mouse activities.

All these features combine to give you an all in one solution to manage your remote teams even to all the way from Durham you can manage employees working from poole. 

Staff Timer App for Virtual Assistants and Virtual Offices

So, you escaped your office cubicle to start your own business, and it is going fabulously. Now you are focused on what you have always wanted to do, you got numerous emails and clients at your doorstep, everything is going as planned, except there is one thing that isn’t going as it should be.  

When you left your office, you weren’t able to bring your administrative assistance with you. Now that you are all by yourself, you are doing assistance work piled up with your own work. You might find yourself booking flights and spreadsheets in the middle of the night. These administrative tasks are tying up your time and keeping you occupied from doing your business work. 

Or maybe you are a successful office assistant who is somehow tired of balancing the commute and office day with your family needs. You might like to have more control over your routine. Perhaps you want to live on a beach or in the mountains. 

Whether you are an overwhelmed entrepreneur or an office worker longing for more control over your time, a virtual office assistant might be the solution. These virtual assistants can take over vital administrative tasks and can give an entrepreneur time to focus on doing the work he does best and bringing in new business. 

So, basically, what does a virtual office assistant do? How much do they cost, and how can you use staff timer while you are hiring a remote virtual assistant? Keep reading and find out, starting with what exactly a virtual assistant does for you.  

How does a virtual assistant work?

A virtual office assistant is self-explanatory, it is an independent contract worker who provides administrative, creative and technical supports. Usually, that means handling the same types of tasks as an office secretary or a manager, though doing them from a home office. 

The following are some of the key tasks that are performed by virtual office assistants. 

  • Manage spreadsheets and customer contacts.
  • Setting up meetings and maintaining the calendar. 
  • Handle travel arrangements. 
  • Reaching out to the newsletter through emails.
  • Organize and ship proposals and meeting materials.
  • Take care of client inquiries by phone or email. 

Where does the Staff Timer App come in?

Now that you know what virtual assistant is and what are his responsibilities. You can find a lot of freelance virtual assistants on websites like UpWork and Fiverr. Whether you are hiring a virtual assistant or you are one yourself, staff timer can ease your work in both conditions. 

With Staff Timer you can show your client your work schedule. In addition, with Stafftimer’s easy reporting, you can update your client with ongoing work and other tasks that are in pipeline. If you are working as a virtual assistant on multiple platforms, you can make projects on staff timer app, for example, you ought to choose to work 2 hours on Fiverr and 2 hours on UpWork, Staff timer’s task management can assist your way through.

On the other hand, if you are hiring a remote assistant for your office you can take advantage of numerous features of the Staff timer app. The most significant of them is cost-efficiency. Though there are plenty of other free timer apps, you can deliberately tell why they are free. With staff timer, you can know what your assistant is currently up to with only $2.99/user/month in real-time. If you want to assign any new task to your assistant just add it up to their tasks and you will know when they have started working on it and how much time they took to complete it. 

You can save up to 90% cost with this app and make your virtual assistant’s cost fully utilized. 

How a productivity app can help you as a parent

Have you ever considered using a productivity app in your house? You’re sure to be surprised by the many ways through which you can use it on your children and run your day smoothly. If we could, we would give our children 24/7 attention. Our children love us and of course, we love them as well. 

Nevertheless, most of us have a lot of other duties and obligations to tend to throughout the day, such as meetings, dinner preps, reading, meetings, alone time, etc.

Use a productivity monitoring tool like the Staff Timer app to define when you can give your undivided attention to the children. Track their screen monitoring time so that the children can learn important lessons and boundaries. Here are a few ways in which a productivity monitor can help your child improve his/her quality of life. 

Weekly Family Meetings

Using an app like Staff Timer for individual sharing can help create boundaries for siblings. When each member of the family has a set amount of time to express views and knows when the timer goes off, it makes it possible to share or speak concisely and respect other’s voices. The timer helps lessen the chance of one sibling’s voice becoming dominant and helps encourage the quieter ones. 

Screen Time

When children start their screen time during the beginning of a week, it is recommended to minimize the screen of elementary children to weekends only for 1 to 2 hours each day. 

A timer or productivity monitor will help them stick with limits and move on to the next part of their free time when the timer goes off. Encourage children to first have outdoor time, learn instruments, read, be creative, and do screen time last so that it helps with boundaries and motivation. 

One-on-One Connection Time

While practicing one-on-one connection time with your child, use a time monitor to let the child know exactly how long this period of time will last. Before starting your session of time, ask your child what he or she would like to do and follow their lead. This way you will let the child know when the timer goes off so you both can move onto the next task of the day. 

This method will let your child learn to respect and know the importance of time while thoroughly enjoying the one-on-one session.

While using YouTube kids 

Entertainment is a major part of our kid’s time during the growing age. So, what could be a better platform than YouTube? Moreover, the app is now offering a kids platform. 

If you have young kids, you will be well aware of this generation’s YouTube infatuation. It is incredible how well children know their way around the social platform. Although there are some major benefits to easy-access entertainment, parents have continuously stressed that the app is too much of a free-for-all. 

YouTube, fortunately, recognized youngster’s easy accessibility to inappropriate content and are making good on their promises to up their YouTube kid’s security measure. 

The app is now giving an option to show approved content only to kids with two other options like older content and younger content. Still, a productivity monitoring app like Staff Timer can assist you even further in this aspect. With this app, you add projects so that you can now know where most of their time is being spent. 

e-Learning with LinkedIn Learning

Everything in life has turned digital and learning through digital media is the best option for a modern student. With the LinkedIn e-learning program, our children can effectively spend time on learning, access online platforms for assignment help, and work on weak areas with expert guidance form scholars and teachers. 

Furthermore, mobile learning has become the trend of the decade, lending easier access to web-based educational activities. Online tools like video lectures are the easiest way to catch up with the topics that pose doubts to students. 

Now here is where an app like Staff Timer shines. It allows you to add a different project named “e-Learning” and ask them to spend designated time on it. 

Conclusion

The tech world has far exceeded our abilities to create a positive restriction in a timely manner. So it is important for an organization like YouTube to take responsibility and work efficiently to protect our children. We are hopeful that these features in combination with a productivity monitor are major steps in the right direction and will lead to a better and more productive generation. 

Organizational Efficiency vs Organizational Effectiveness: Key Differences

Whether you’re an employee, employer, or freelancer, you must have heard of organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Both words may denote progress towards a certain goal but key differences still exist. 

In the business world, success depends mostly on how well a team is able to stick to work procedures in order to achieve certain goals. This is called organizational effectiveness. 

However, another metric to measure success is called organizational efficiency. This involves how well employees accomplish a task without wasting time, effort, or resources. 

To make sure your business stays on the right trajectory, it’s important to be clear on the slight distinction between organization efficiency and effectiveness. 

Importance of Organizational Effectiveness

Organizational effectiveness basically measures how effective an organization is at achieving its goals. 

The advantages of effectiveness in business include:

    • Employee engagement and performance
    • Better management 
    • Decreased costs
    • Improved customer engagement
    • Efficient use of technology 
    • Better organizational outputs 

At the end of the day, organizational benefits will depend on the actual business practices. 

Importance of Organizational Efficiency

Organizational efficiency basically refers to using an organization’s least possible inputs in order to produce the highest possible outputs. Its importance can’t be overstated. 

Wouldn’t it be more profitable for a business producing 10 units of production by spending $4 to start producing the same number of units in $3?

Organizational efficiency has a big impact on organizational effectiveness. Why? Because increased organizational efficiency makes plan implementation both cheaper and smoother.  

How to Improve Organizational Effectiveness

The main key to organizational effectiveness lies in utilizing the right tools and strategies to accomplish certain goals. Here’s what you should do:

 

  • Make good use of human resources

Never underestimate your HR department as it plays a major role in the organizational effectiveness of a company. They help design new business strategies and hire new employees, greatly impacting company goals. 

 

  • Maintain focus on education and growth

As a business leader, you need to take proper measures to work with different teams and individuals. Take into account the education of professionals in different fields before implementing important changes. Find out about their strengths and weaknesses in order to effectively lead them.

 

  • Always keep your customers in mind

If you don’t even know the needs and interests of your consumers, how are you going to improve organizational effectiveness? Always provide products and services that are needed by your customers. Or make your consumers want that product. 

 

  • Make only quality products or services

A successful business needs to deliver high-quality consistent products and services. The key here is to maintain a balance between quality and cost-effectiveness. Or else you’ll soon find your business in a loss.  

 

  • Utilize modern technology

Make use of computers, tablets, or mobile devices improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of your business or organization. Utilize sharing tools to keep team members up-to-date with the state of a project. Also, use technology to guard your business and clients’ information from hackers. 

How to Improve Organizational Efficiency 

The methods to achieve greater organizational efficiency is not always clear. But don’t worry. We’ve compiled a list of ways to improve organizational efficiency.

 

  • Communicate

Create a culture of open-communication such that lower-level employees are not afraid of voicing their concerns to upper management. This will allow managers to respond more effectively to problems. 

 

  • Automate

A rote human function being replaced by automation is usually a healthy sign for business. This allows your employees to focus on the more innovative side of the business, leaving repetitive tasks to machines. 

 

  • Outsourcing

In order to spend your time more effectively, outsource functions that fall outside of your domain of expertise. For example, HR management, computer programming, legal issues, etc. can be outsourced to experts that know what they’re doing. 

 

  • Avoid time wastage

Don’t waste your precious time on things that can be easily avoided. For example, don’t make your entire team sit in a meeting that is largely irrelevant to their daily tasks and activities. A small meeting followed by a concise memo should be sufficient. 

 

  • Hire remote workers

Recent studies suggest allowing employees to work from their homes will increase efficiency and output.

Read More: Types of Management Styles

Factors that Determine Organizational Effectiveness

Factors that determine an organization’s effectiveness include:

 

  • People

Your employees operate and manage the business under the employer’s lead. Is it any wonder that their performance will affect an organization’s effectiveness? You need to focus on their skills, behavior, and culture among other things. 

 

  • Processes and Systems

Business processes should be efficient, fast, and profitable. They include workflows, procedures, and tasks. Every business is unique. This means that every organization should look for processes that perfectly suit their business needs. 

 

  • Tools and Technology

The right tools and technology can easily improve the effectiveness and results across all organizational functions. However, if you choose improper or wrong tools then your business is going nowhere anytime soon. Examples of tools and technology include software, IT infrastructure, and training programs. 

 

  • Mission, Strategy, and Vision

An organization’s mission, strategy, and vision are critical to its overall effectiveness. This includes the philosophy of an organization, market positioning, and overall strategy. All of this contributes to many other business fields. 

 

  • Organizational Structure

An organization’s structure heavily impacts its effectiveness. Common structures include top-down, flat, and some other structures. However, there is no “best” approach to organizational structure as it is all relative. 

8 Types of Management Styles for Efficient Leadership

Some people are born to lead while others need to practice hard at it. For those who want to work hard on different types of management styles, this article is going to be of tremendous help.

There are different styles of management and no one can say only one is right while all the others are wrong. In fact, truly great leaders incorporate different styles in order to make their leadership more effective. 

In this article, we’re going to talk about ten types of management styles for effective leadership. So let’s get into it!

The Most Effective Types of Management Styles

The truly honest answer is that no one type of management style is the best for all situations. 

The ideal types of management styles should be appropriate, flexible, and effective for all circumstances. As we all know, different situations require different kinds of leadership.  

Effective leaders always take a number of considerations before deciding to lead. Some factors that’ll influence your management style include:

    • Type of business 
    • The volume of incomplete work
    • Your natural personality and management qualities
    • Your staff’s quirks and personalities

After taking all of these factors into consideration, you’ll be ready to take effective action. 

Why Learn Different Management Styles

Identifying your own management style or knowing which style works in which situation will have a big impact on the day-to-day business operations. 

Here’s how learning different management styles can make you successful:

    • You won’t have to rely on trends
    • You’ll comprehend how to adapt
    • You’ll learn how to engage your employees
    • You’ll identify your weaknesses and how to improve them

Different Types of Management Styles for Efficient Leadership  

  • Democratic Management Style

Democratic management style involves taking the point-of-view of staff in company decisions. This type of management style lets your employees know that you respect them and their abilities. It also shows confidence in your own leadership skills. 

You won’t have to rule with an iron fist and always be severe with your employees. Your staff will be empowered and you’ll simply have to oversee the direction of your company. 

  • Inspirational Management Style

To inspire people is no walk in the park. But when done in the right manner, it has proven to be very effective. 

To practice the inspirational management style, you’ll need excellent people skills, a big heart, and a desire to improve your employees both professionally and personally. 

  • Authoritative Management Style

Most people prefer a democratic management style but sometimes specific situations call for a dictator of sorts. For example, imagine you’re a new manager who needs to bring order to a chaotic office. The best possible approach is to be strict and to take disciplinary action when necessary. 

But keep in mind an authoritative management style doesn’t ask you to be rude to your employees. 

Read More: Why Personal Time Tracking is Important

  • Result-Based Management Style

Result-based managers want one thing from their employees: efficiency. They don’t want to hear how things are done as long as they’re done well and in the quickest possible manner. 

If employees come up with a better way of doing things then these managers are happy to make changes to the company policy. Only results and output matter in the end. 

  • Collaborative Management Style

The collaborative management style might sound similar to the democratic management style but differs in one major way. 

In a collaborative management style, managers don’t just simply ask for a generic vote from their employees—they actively seek feedback from their team members. 

Collaborative managers want a genuine thoughtful conversation about their business. This empowers their staff and makes them feel as if they’re an integral part of the company. 

  • Example-Setting Management Style

As the name suggests, managers using this style consistently set an example for their employees to follow. This allows workers to know what kind of standards are being expected of them. 

The bar is always set by the manager’s actions and methods. This type of management style can even change the ethics and working style of a working environment. 

  • Strategic Management Style

Strategic managers don’t waste their time on the minute details of day-to-day business operations. They’re concerned about the entire forest instead of just the trees. 

These managers are comfortable with letting their assistants oversee most of the daily responsibilities. While staff looks into the everyday mundane work, strategic managers are busy planning the next phase of expansion. 

  • Charismatic Management Style

The charismatic management style—also known as a persuasive management style—depends on the personality of the manager. 

In this type of management style, the managers focus on developing personal relationships with their staff and team members. Their employees in return appreciate the fact that their boss is genuinely interested in getting to know them better. 

Key Takeaways

Experienced managers will know how to successfully incorporate the above-mentioned types of management styles in their daily activities and tasks.

Why Personal Time Tracking is Important

Personal time tracking is an important part of our lives. Its importance can be perceived by the fact that once you master it, you’ll immediately improve the quality of your life. 

A scary thing about time is that once it’s lost, you’ll never get it back. But there is also light at the end of the tunnel. You can organize and track your time to get ahead in life. 

If you revolve your day around to-do lists then unmet deadlines will inevitably pile up. That will lead to a fear of failure as well. This will end up paralyzing your professional life. Just imagine working long hours at the office, only to achieve nothing in the end and compromising your personal life in the whole process. 

Only by implementing personal time tracking in your life can you change your fate. 

Time is one of our most valuable assets. So much so that the great Benjamin Franklin used to say, “Time is money”. And personal time is known to be the equivalent of happiness, harmony, and quality. These qualities are the foundation of work-life balance and satisfaction. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss personal time tracking and why it’s so important in our lives. So without any further ado, let’s just jump into it. 

What is a personal time tracking?

As the name suggests, personal time tracking means keeping an eye on your personal tasks, projects, activities, and routine. 

When we talk about personal time tracking, we don’t necessarily mean tracking only household chores. Time tracking can also extend to your work life as well. In fact, it’s not outlandish to consider time tracking as the main key to professional success. 

How to track time

Nowadays, you can easily track your time through time tracking apps like Staff Timer. But that was not always the case. 

People have been tracking time through different methods since ancient times. Our forefathers used to observe the sun and the stars. They even invented peculiar devices like sundials. Today, we’ve come a long way since then and now use all types of time tracking software to efficiently keep track of time.

Before the introduction of modern devices, employees had to physically clock in and out of a time clock machine. This machine was invented in the late 1880s by Willard Le Grand Bundy. When the patent for his time recorder (the precursor to modern time tracking apps) was approved, Bundy started a company that developed employee attendance machines.

Bundy’s company later merged with other organizations to form the International Time Recorder Company (ITR). Fun fact: this particular company was the actual predecessor to IBM. 

Time tracking software

Time tracking software allows users to effectively track their time.  

Efficient time management can help meet tight deadlines, avoid stress, improve productivity, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. It can also help maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of the time.

Employee time tracking software 

Nowadays, time tracking software can be found in almost every industry. Workplaces that require the use of computers or mobile devices are quickly embracing these apps. Many companies have also started using employee monitoring software to watch over their employees’ work activities. 

See Also: Best Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees

Time Tracking: Advantages

Time tracking apps in the workplace are popular for a reason. Some pros include:

  • Exposing sensitive problems like harassment.
  • Reducing/preventing theft.
  • Discovering which workload may need to be redistributed.
  • Helping monitor and ensure safe practices.
  • Reducing instances of employees wasting company time.
  • Highlighting bottlenecks or areas where employees spend more time than necessary, letting employers review the process and improve upon it.
  • Allowing employers to monitor their employees’ work activities and ensure that they’re being productive and following the rules.
  • Tracking hours worked on specific tasks, leading to an increase in accuracy for invoicing.
  • Helping with recordkeeping, such as tracking employee time, projects, tasks, etc.
  • Monitoring customer interactions to ensure policies are being adhered to and customers are being treated well.

Time Tracking: Disadvantages

Every rose comes with a thorn. Time tracking apps provide a lot of downsides in the workplace as well. Some drawbacks include:

  • Employees feeling as if their privacy has been violated.
  • Increase in employee turnover rate if tracking becomes very intrusive.
  • Time tracking being perceived as a sign of mistrust; breeding resentment and reducing employee morale and productivity.
  • The line between work and home getting blurred; most people often use the same device for both.
  • Important data getting misused by the higher-ups. 
  • Legal issues to contend with, ensuring employers remain within their legal rights while also respecting their employees’ privacy rights. 
  • Tracking programs only being useful if they are carefully scrutinized, requiring lots of time and money.
  • Modern time tracking becoming a great risk by creating a false sense of security.

Key Takeaways

Personal time tracking is only useful in the right hands. If you want to be someone of importance then you have to start tracking your time. Otherwise, the sands of time will quickly blow past you. 

Instead of using traditional methods like pen and paper, use time tracking apps to keep an eye on your activities. They are fast, reliable, and secure. To read about some of the best time management apps for 2020, click here. 

If you found this article helpful, do share it with your circle. Good luck and stay productive!

Best Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees in an Organization

If you’re searching for the best time clock apps for multiple employees then its safe to say that you want to improve employee productivity and aren’t fond of wasting time. You’re in luck then because we’re going to talk about some of the best employee time tracking apps for 2020. 

Businesses looking to expand and increase their workforce need a quality time tracking app that is easy-to-use, multi-purpose and doesn’t cost a fortune. It might feel like most of these apps are only available on Android and iPhone, there are still plenty of amazing apps for Windows and macOS. 

To help you find the most suitable app for your business, we’ve come up with a list of apps that are sure to make you sit up and take notice. 

Choosing a Time Clock App for Multiple Employees

Before embarking on your quest for the best employee time tracking app, you first need to make a list of features that you’ll like in an app. You most likely have your own specific requirements that depend on the size of your company and workforce. 

Every app offers different features and functionalities. But this doesn’t mean that you require each and every one of these features. Keep your eyes on your core requirements. That said, there are some features that every great app should have in common. 

For instance, good employee time tracking apps should let you manage both employees and projects. There should be timesheets and productivity reports that help you gain new insights into the overall workflow of your company. 

At the very least, the employee time tracking app should have a timer that can start and stop at any time. Plus, the app shouldn’t be so complicated that employees end up wasting a lot of their time just trying to learn how the software works. 

Staff Timer 

Staff Timer is one of the best employee time tracking apps for Mac and Windows. It uses modern tools to monitor employee work activities and get a hold of billable and non-billable hours. Its UI is easy on the eyes and simple to use. Just create a project, make a task within the project and start the timer. Its main features include: 

    • Automatic time capture. Staff Timer will take a screenshot after every minute so that a record of employee progression can be kept. 
    • Keyboard and mouse activity. Check how active your employees have been on their keyboards and mouse.
    • Offline time tracking. The app will still keep tracking the time even if for some reason the internet is not available.
    • Real-time monitoring. Make up-to-date and informed decisions by observing how your employees are completing their respective tasks.
    • Daily work videos. A video clip demonstrating the whole day’s activity within a minute is generated every day. 
    • Record and assign. Let’s employers use audio clips to assign various tasks. 
    • Intelligent reporting. Daily work reports help employers identify weaknesses in employee work performance, examine their output, and suggest necessary improvements.

Platform: Windows and macOS

 

  See Also: Employee Engagement Activities in Companies

HoursTracker 

For companies that have busy employees and are in need of accurate time tracking app, HoursTracker is a good choice. Also, if your employees are on the go and don’t have the time to manually start and stop the timer, introduce them to HoursTracker. 

The app can easily track hours, earnings, expenses, breaks and much more. Its user interface is easy to understand, letting employees instantly clock in and out. One great thing about the app is that it can track hours based on whether employees are arriving at or leaving their workplace. 

Platform: Android and iOS

Toggl

Searching for an app that works on just about any system? Toggl is a good place to start. Its UI is simple and impressive. Just like most time tracking apps, you open the app, create a new entry for the project, and start the timer. Once your task is complete, press the stop button, and the total amount of time will be recorded in your account.

It’s free features include: 

    • One-click timers. Users only need to click one time to start a new task or to continue tracking the previous one. 
    • Reminders. It’s common for users to forget to start or stop the timer. The Toggl Button and desktop app send notifications to the user if that happens. 
    • App Integration. Users can put the Toggl Button inside their favorite online apps to start tracking time immediately.

Platform: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and Web

Time Doctor

This app is suitable for managing remote teams and businesses. Time Doctor specifically concentrates on companies that want to keep an eye on their remote workers. It includes features like automatic screenshots and website/app tracking to give employers greater control over business operations.  

Its main features include:

    • Screenshots. Takes automated screenshots that let employers see what their employees are doing. 
    • Attendance tracking. Keeps track of attendance and lets employers identify employees who are late. 
    • Web and app usage. This feature allows employers to track app usage and know how much time their employees have been spending on unproductive apps. 

Platform: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and Web

Rhumbix

If your company dabbles in construction and is looking to modernize its operations, Rhumbix will help you go paperless by providing a single source of truth for filed data capture. 

Its main features include:

    • Timekeeping and payroll. Streamline your timekeeping and payroll process by submitting timecards from the field within minutes. 
    • Production tracking. Analyze, track, and optimize your labor productivity through real-time field data. 
    • Daily construction reports. Get the field, office, and general contractor on the same page by providing real-time field data in a daily digital report. 

Platform: Android, iOS, and Web

 

     See Also: freelance time tracker

OsMonitor

OsMonitor is ideal for recording and tracking computer activities such as Instant Messaging chats and visited websites. Monitoring data is stored on the server database and will generate reports based on your employees’ work activities. 

Its main features include:

    • Monitoring. The app lets you take screenshots and track visited websites. The data won’t be lost even if your employees deleted the history on their own computers.
    • Restricting. Block undesirable actions such as games, USB port, large downloads, etc. 
    • Reports. Read all kinds of reports on the OsMonitor server and export them to Word, Excel, or HTML format. 

Platform: Windows

Key Takeaways

These are some of the best time clock apps for multiple employees. We’re sure that you’ll definitely find the most suitable app for your business. If you found this app helpful then be sure to share it with others. Good luck and stay productive.

How to install Stafftimer app on MacOS Catalina (10.15)

How to give Staff timer app screen capture permissions on MacOS Catalina

 

With macOS Catalina (10.15), Apple introduced new security and privacy features for your Mac. To ensure that Staff timer app is able to capture screenshots of your screen, you will need to grant our app access. Please follow the steps below to do that:

Step 1

Go to your system preferences

 

Step 2

Click the icon labeled Security & Privacy.

Step 3

Click the Privacy tab at the top, then select Screen Recording from the left-hand column. Finally, check the box next to Staff Timer App to allow our app to capture your screen.

Step 4

Accessibility

Staff Timer App must also be checked in accessibility for an average rate to work – on your mac go to system preferences > security and privacy > privacy > accessibility and checkmark Staff Timer App.

Please restart Staff Timer App after following the above steps.

Note*

If by any chance you’re not seeing Staff Timer App in Accessibility or Screen Recording, restart your Mac and try again – that should do the trick. If it’s still not showing, please submit a radar with Apple here using the Feedback Assistant as this is a known issue with macOS 10.15.

 

See Also: How to Use Trello for Project Management