Category: Business Advice & Tips

Few Reasons why Projects often end up Dead in Archive

Project Archive

Projects are like babies, you conceive them, nurture them, take care of them, and hope they do you good also. Mostly a project doesn’t get out of their “toddler” phase and most often than not they get stuck and sucked down procrastination. Since we are talking about projects and failure, so why not analyze the reasons that make them end up in an archive folder. 

Before we get to that we need to remember the fact that not all projects end up in the archive. Some of them become the greatest success stories. So there is a fair chance that you will not end up like the majority. So here is how we at “Staff Timer App” believe there are reasons for a project to turn out dead.

Now let’s get to the point and discover why do projects fail:

 

Not implementing the “Tenth man principle”

This is an important ignorance that everyone is the culprit of. We do not disagree with the popular decision and mostly a project suffers for that because no one is ready to question the set beliefs. This is not only mundane but also it shuts down the door of innovation, which in the long run can be disastrous. 

The tenth man principle refers to a rule very popular amongst think tanks that are concerned with foreign policy. The rule is that if 9 men in a room agree it is the sworn duty of the tenth to disagree it allows a fresh angle on the issue. This is an acceptable rule and it must be followed with conviction. We all want to do something new but we ignore the power of the question. 

 

Your plan “C” must have a C1 and C2

The biggest issue is the nonavailability of contingency plans. Mostly project heads are used to one way traffic. They make plans based on assumptions that are not entirely wrong to do but the fact is for a product that is yet to be launched getting assumptions are not the best thing you can rest your plans on. 

The better way to do so is to make contingencies for your contingencies. As you will never know what will happen next to a concept it is better to work on all possible angles and leave “no stone unturned”. 

 

Make sure you play on your strengths

The first and foremost thing you need for success is the ability to play within your strengths. There are always certain departments that compliment the others for example if your strength is the design you must make sure that you don’t get beaten by your “future rivals”. 

So if tech is something you are struggling with, complement it with your design and invest in your weakness so your project does not suffer from it. 

So you need to invest in your weakness and strengthen your strength further. 

 

Script, script, and script

Alfred Hitchcock was once asked: what makes a film great? He replied: “Script, Script and Script”. The same is the case with project success. The more you read on it and do a background check the better are the chances of it being successful. 

Most projects do not take off due to lack of research and once the process starts teams are mostly reacting to stimulus. As there is no research you can never be ready for what follows. The thing is for your projects to fly they must be backed by research and possible use cases. There is nothing more frustrating than trusting your team about project research and it comes up short. So avoid hustling in the wrong direction and do what needs to be done, research. 

 

Hustle the market

In this day and age for you to stumble upon an idea that is not already in the market is a near-impossible task. The market is filled with ideas that we might feel redundant but there are people making fortunes from it. The thing you need to do is hustle for your client. There will be bigger sharks in the market already those who will be pouncing at the clients so will not be getting the lion share. So for your project or idea to fly, you’ll need to hustle for your life. 

 

Do everything planned

The key to success is that you have a clear cut plan for the future. You cannot go in blind and hope for the best. Sometimes it might work but the safe and professional way is to plan your progress. Do not go out of the ordinary unless there is a dire need for it. The thing is having layout eases a lot of pressure. You will not be dumbfounded easily and your path would be smoother. 

 

Conclusion 

Projects take off and fail, what matters is the attitude of the person. You can either give up or keep on trying. The key to a successful project is trying hard and every time refreshing your approach. Have people critically analyze your work, study your competitors, and learn from them. Bring in innovations and be patient. Do not give up, your project will be successful. Project management is a continuous effort it requires constant evolution of process and method.

Timesheets | The Efficient Way to Measure Productivity

“Time is of the essence” a famous enough line used in puns, movies, and even on serious occasions. The origin of which is hardly known but it gives away the message. Have you ever thought that if someway you could record every minute and hour of the day? It will not only give you a heads up for the next day but also provide you with an analysis of how you spent your day. Like how much time you were staring at your phone or working or checking out Jennifer Lawrence on google. This is where timesheets come in hand.

What exactly are timesheets, why does one need timesheets, what do they do? All these are common queries regarding this useful piece of paper. To understand the concept behind the timesheet one needs to look no further but just look closely at the word. It is made up of two words “time” and “sheets”, much easier isn’t it. 

So we have reached the conclusion that timesheet records time of the individual, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, or however one wishes to record. This little tool is a real hornet’s nest when it comes to maintenance, but we will get to that later.

 

The Medieval Way of Timing?

Now even in modern-day recording, every day’s effort is an essential thing, to begin with. It gives you a clear idea of what the employee has been up to if he or she has been getting off early or is putting in extra work. For an employer, it is nothing less than a necessity as they know which of their employees deserve a raise or should be promoted. 

So to mainstream employee effort, it is necessary to have this tool. It keeps the connection between employer and employee honest and rewards the incumbent for the extra effort. So you won’t have to go around asking about Mr. Dev Patel’s progress last month you would have it right in front of you.

 

The Hornet’s Nest

Now the title might be a little misleading as, but it truly represents the issues with recording a timesheet. Timesheets have the recorded data of each employee for each day they have worked. Now imagine this, that you have to do it by hand, yes or hire a person just for the entries, nothing less than a hassle isn’t it? 

This is also one of the reasons organizations have moved to a much expensive biometric system which not only counts attendance but also the entry and exit time giving a good idea about the working hour. 

So from one hassle, the bigger organizations have moved to a far more expensive solution, now with remote working both of these solutions can be rendered useless. So what to do now?

According to a study, 80% of the employee timesheets need to be corrected as they are poorly maintained.

 

Life Made Simpler

Like so many other complex issues there is always a simpler solution and a nonexpensive one too. Staff Timer App offers a simple solution to this predicament, with its automated timesheets feature now you won’t have to manually fill in boxes for overtime. Whenever the user logs in the timesheet will start recording the time for the day in an hourly manner, so you can have a look at the employee’s work hours and how he or she is spending that time in the form of a CSV sheet.

Now couple this feature with other features of the App like real-time monitoring, payrolls, attendance, and daily work videos, now you have an entire record of every employee and you can make effective and smart decisions. 

There is a lot of things that timesheets can help with

    • It helps in reducing or mitigating the time wastage, with a detailed description and division of the person’s work so it mitigates time wastage form both the employee and employer who otherwise would’ve spent hours checking the stuff.
    • Billing accuracy is another advantage often looked over by people when they discuss timesheets since Staff Timer App is already integrated with the payroll feature having timesheets only reaffirms the billing accuracy.
    • Equal working hours is a premise with which timesheets are actually working. There are no more hidden hours being spent up by the employee this not only provides equal opportunity to everyone but also it is effective with data security.

 

How to View Timesheets in the Staff Timer App

Viewing timesheets in Staff Timer App is perhaps the easiest thing you will ever do in your entire working career, and here is how you can do it:

    • Click on the ‘Reports’ in the top navigation bar
    • In the reports section, click on ‘Timesheets’
    • In the sort and filter group, apply filters to check out the data based on
      designation, total hours, progress, date, and/or members
    • Find Color highlights right below the sort & filter section to see the standard working hours in a day

A four-step guide to using this innovative feature. 

Conclusion

Timesheets might be looked upon as a thing of the past, but the truth is contrasting. Timesheets are actually very helpful however recording them manually or asking the employee to do that themselves is no less of a job. An automated timesheet is also a great tool of transparency between employer and employee, a recent study revealed a shocking fact:  at least 10% of business owners take time off the employee timesheet which costs the employee $14,00 to $6000 per annum this sums up to around $22 billion. So in all essence, it is important for everyone to track attendance.

Stafftimer app presents a unique package of having all the business necessities in a single app so that the user won’t have to switch for every minor demand. The App being user friendly doesn’t require you to be tech-savvy to work it. 

Introducing Staff Timer App Now in Gaming Industry

Families nowadays have grown apart amid pandemic where we thought lockdown will help us bond better with our family; it really has not happened. We spend most of our days on laptops or smartphones. Children are invested in gaming and their limited activities are affecting their health similarly is the case with parents.

Consol-less gaming is gaining attention and is getting good enough traction. A study revealed that 44% of gamers globally would subscribe to an online game every 6 out of 15 teenagers exhibit behavior that can be described as addiction in the video game genre. This addiction might not be considered as dangerous as hash or weed but it still is. Video game addiction can cause social isolation, anxiety, frustration leading to anger. 

Comparing this to the industry itself independent research dictates that in 2020 alone the gaming industry in the US alone amasses $18,194 million. The annual revenue, however, is reported to increase in the US by 1.0% which would add up and project a total of $18,197m by 2024. 

So the usage of online gaming is expected to only increase. The growth compared by the annual increment of a percent shows that it will only increase. Looking at the perceptive dangers of online gaming many countries have decided to ban online games owing to complaints. 

Another aspect of this multidimensional issue is the propagation of a sedentary lifestyle among teenagers which is growing rapidly all over the globe. 

 

“Excess of everything is bad”

A famous quote calls for limited usage and limited excess, and for a fact excess of something is bad for health, personality, and everything else you can think of. 

One of these famous online games is the ever famous PUBG or Player Unknown Battle Ground.

Launched in 2017 March 23, it became a pandemic. After amassing around $26 million in revenue it became the biggest and most visited and played games around April. These numbers are enough to get a strong idea of the impact it has had on the global culture. 

However, only recently many countries moved against the online game calling it “violent” especially China, and banned the game. PUBG has been banned in India, Nepal, China, Pakistan, and Iraq, even recently in Jordan. 

The UK however never banned the console-less game, whereas the number of games banned by the UK is no less either Carmageddon, Manhunt 2, and The Punisher were banned for being too violent. These games were afterward released in censored versions. Prince Harry, the millennial prince himself, has been calling for a ban on Fortnite as it is “irresponsible”. 

So in a  manner of speaking there seems to be some similarities regarding the concerns nations have over video games or activities their youth is involved in. 

These countries have done this on the wish of their telecommuting authority after receiving complaints regarding it. There are however a few contributing factors to the ban or proposed ban of a game in the country:

Addiction

It is no secret that a game that has no end is addictive in its nature. This leads to a phenomenon called Game Addiction which is a serious issue for teenagers in current times. Addiction can be foreseen if any of the symptoms are present in the person:

    • Feeling bad about not being able to play: the gamer often resents the idea of not playing the game
    • Thinking about the game all the time: the gamer will keep on repeating the scenarios of the game and there would be a serious lack of focus and slack in performing normal functions during the day
    • Projecting moods on the game: this is a common trait amongst teenagers with video game addiction, they project their feelings on the game, show extreme anger or play to feel better.

These are a few traits that can easily tell you if your child is experiencing game addiction or not. It is estimated that 1% to 9% of all gamers irrespective of ages are viable.

Violence

Another reason for countries to be banning PUBG or any other games of the same traits is the use of excessive violence. Business Today reported the reason for a strong ban of PUBG in India for being: violent and low grades for students. Continuous use of such games develops a behavior in teenagers when they act according to these behaviors and develop traits.

Whereas PUBG specifically had been under scrutiny for being a violent game and these bans do confirm suspicions. However, after a short period, the game was unbanned. 

It must be noted that showcasing violence has been attributed to video games for a long time. From blaming NWA for violence now we have started blaming the video games. 

Health issues

A sedentary lifestyle is becoming a common trait and it is becoming increasingly common among teenagers. The lack of activity has pushed people towards obesity which is one of the largest reasons for heart disease. Constant stress situations while gaming leads to weak mental health making one vulnerable to anxiety and depression. A person becomes socially in-active and isolated which further leads to depression and all sorts of mental health issues. 

 

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

A student’s life is an interesting time in a person’s life. It is riddled with questions, distractions, and books. Mostly we don’t associate healthy life with mental health. Mental health and a balanced life walk hand in hand. For a student to be effective in their life they must to resort to a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Overwork and negating personal needs for mere exams and assignments are commendable but something that is not advisable for the sake of your health.

 

Time management

The second step is to manage the time accordingly. 16 hours of the study shows tremendous stamina but has a lasting effect on your mental health and also on your health. Divide time for each subject or assignment, divide assignments also on the basis of importance so you have ample time for yourself and co-curricular activities.

 

Set goals

Remember the easiest way to feel accomplished this season is to set up minor goals that are achievable and do-able. Do not set overly ambitious goals like finish an entire subject in a day, take things slowly and achieve little goals you set. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and makes you feel good about yourself.  Which is essential for self-confidence. 

Now we cannot go all out against games now, can we? Here is another interesting situation where the Staff Timer App can help you get a grip of the situation, grounding kids and shutting off their internet is not the solution. It will only rekindle the rebellion in them so with the Staff Timer App you can monitor the amount of game time they have, maybe start to restrict and cut it down by 45 minutes, and so on and so forth. This way you will be controlling the screen time and the kid won’t feel a need to “relapse”.

 

Payroll and gaming industry 

Simply with a payroll feature you can make your hours worth it, all around the world millions of people play for teams and participate in tournaments like the DOTA, Fortnite, and many more. If you really are going to play a game for someone one at least make it worth your while. 

Staff Timer App allows you to set an hourly payroll now even if you are spending 12 hours a day in the “virtual kill land” you are at least getting paid.  So maybe just maybe if you have a good enough team you might be the next PewDiePie or the Tom Syndicate. Who knows?

Helping parents battling addiction and sedentary lifestyle

Most people think about how not to interfere in the lives of children. This is, however, the wrong approach a child needs protection and requires constant communication for you to be able to understand how he or she feels one must interfere in their matters and take interest otherwise they will fall in a conundrum of self-doubt. Parents at all costs must eradicate this self-doubt and preserve self-confidence by empowering them and trusting them. 

 

Time tracking

Another addition to your inventory would be the time tracking, you can track the screen time of your children. Giving you an exact idea of how much time they spent upon that Physics homework that is due tomorrow. Or are they spending too much time playing games. Once you have an entire day planned a time table is made, all the child has to do is follow it and the Staff Timer App will help the kid fulfill his or her duties.

 

Screenshots

Taking screenshots every minute or after several intervals will allow you to see if your children are browsing unnecessary stuff or are they actually researching. This will help build trust between parents and children. Also, it will also give you a clear idea of your kid’s company and their activities online, you will know when they are being bullied online or are being abused and you can take the required action.

These are a few solutions that can help you battle video game addiction taking up our youth and teenagers rapidly. These measures are not only affordable but also practical. Now you won’t have to go through last week’s “browsing history” of your child to see why he or she failed the maths test. So get staff timer for free for fifteen days and keep your child safe from scams, spams, and video game addiction. 

Offering the Best Automated Payroll Solution for Businesses

Human civilizations have made an incredible journey from the barter system to bit-coin, one can only marvel over this journey. It cannot be ignored that this journey over the course of centuries has been made by one and only one motivation and that is to integrate technology into everyday business and life. 

Business and technology have evolved from paper to sheets and from sheets to automated systems. This has also not changed overnight; it has been a constant effort with one goal to provide maximum utility to not only the client but also the service provider. It is only fair to provide easy solutions to customers which would otherwise take hours or even days. 

So in this article, we will explore the impacts automated payrolls will have on our business, but first we need to understand what a payroll actually is?

 

What is Payroll?

Remember, back in 7th grade summer holidays when we used to work for the local comic book store getting paid enough to buy an ice cream on the way back and putting the rest in savings?

Remember that, yea same concept but a lot of money involved, freelancers and even employees nowadays are too informed to be misled on payments. Payroll basically is the agreement of payment per hour. It is an agreement through which an employee works for an employer.

 

The Grey Area with Payroll

Now we know what actually is payroll, so why do we need an automated system for payroll processing? The reason for this is that there are a lot of grey areas associated with payrolls from social inhibitions to unclear contracts that need to be addressed and an automated payroll can solve a lot of headaches. 

      • According to a recent study, it was revealed that every woman makes $0.98 for every $1 a man makes; this might not be a big number, however, with payment by hour a woman is losing $0.02 for every dollar she makes for an hour.
      • These figures alone are enough to uncover the glass ceiling that “high-jacks” businesses. So an automated payroll addresses this issue and it is no secret that equal pay is not an incentive but a right. Now, this was one of the examples of social restraints that automated payroll not only challenges but also provides a practical solution.
      • Now let’s jump to another employee who is often unhappy with their agreed fees and payroll is a great way to provide facts. Automated payrolls provide reports so everything is recorded and the apple of discord between teams is dead.
    • Manual data extraction requires a lot of time. It is tedious and strenuous, a combination that no one wants in their life.

 

What Does Automated Payroll Bring to the Table?

So in an era where time and task tracking or employee monitoring apps are the part of the industry now and with remote working in effect. It really makes no sense to not have an automated payroll system because manual payrolls are much prone to mistakes and are a tedious process. 

      • For employees that are to be paid by the hour. Automated payroll makes life easier for both the employer and the employee as it mitigates any mistakes while preparing the payslips.
      • Freelancers are in for a huge relief, no more fighting over project prices, and an automated payroll will only help freelancers. They can focus on their work without being worried about total payment.
      • Collecting data, this is perhaps the most arduous task in the history of finances. The data coming in is not in any single format, converting that data into a readable format is one thing, and classifying it is another. Automated payroll really takes away the pain in data collection and everything associated with it.
      • There is another blessing in disguise for this automation, no more spending days checking the spreadsheets against the name to validate the data. In short everything strenuous associated with data validation, collection, and payment release has been reduced to knot.
    • American payroll association reports that automated payroll reduces cost on payroll processing to no less than 80%, staggering it means it is almost free. This shows the efficiency of the system coupled with the cost reduction and every smart business owner would want that to happen.

 

Staff Timer App is Ahead of its Time

Now that we have an idea regarding the uses and benefits of payroll automation, guess where it is available? Yes! Staff Timer App aims to become not only user friendly but also to share the burden of the organizations that are overrun with data.

Now with the automated payroll feature, your finance department can take a breather and your efficiency will only increase. Payroll reports are also included. They provide detailed reports not only individually but also collectively. So you remain on top of any issues that may arise from payments and pay agreements.

How to set payroll in your Staff Timer App account?

It is really simple to set the hourly rate in for an employee in the Staff Timer App all you have to do is follow these little steps and your payroll related issues are all wiped from the face of the earth:

    1. Click on the ‘Team Members’ tab in the top navigation bar.
    2. Click on the calendar icon displayed on the panel with the name of the team member.
    3. Add hourly rate and click ‘update’.

A simple three-step process that can save you no less than 3 hours at the end of each month. So quit waiting and get the Staff Timer App and make your life easier.

Staff Timer App Automated Payroll Reports

So payroll integrated with the Staff Timer App is a real innovative thing there is a whole lot you can do with it. You can simply go to the ‘Reports’ section of your account back office and see complete payroll reports. Reports can help:

      • Get the exact billable hours for each employee separately and mitigate all payment related issues. Save precious minutes that you would otherwise spend on making payment sheets.
      • Automated payroll for freelancers and outsourcing is a really handy tool, you don’t have to keep on checking them for work and you don’t have to pay extra either. The hourly rate only comes in when the member is logged in the app. So a person working with another company will not hustle you for payment.
    • Now with the automated payroll feature our finance department won’t have to go through lengthy summaries and sheets to see the annual increment or collecting detailed reports, with Staff Timer App you can get a detailed report of the Payroll. So instead of manually updating everything, you will have a complete automated record of the employee or employees. It really does streamline a lot of grey areas in finances.

 

The Bottom Line

A study by a Hackett group found out that about 90% of the companies have paperless automation, which means a mere handful are left. It is not beyond imagination that the idea of automation may feel intimidating at first because it includes a lot of factors that a layman is not fully capable of understanding. However, stats disagree and provide only positive factors which include cost reduction and easy data extraction. 

It is always wise to move with the era, you cannot keep on maintaining log sheets and pay registrars in 2020 when everything is increasingly becoming automated, it is only right that you also move in the same direction as the rest of the world.  

5 reasons why Staff Timer App is Essential for Software Houses

The general discussion regarding a monitoring app is usually negative. Employees consider this as a breach in privacy, interestingly, however, 64% of employees say that they visit social media sites during work. It only gets interesting from here on. Out of the 64%, 29% claim to spend about an hour or less on it. Keeping in view these stats a task-tracking app should always be the first on the checklist to be acquired.  

Every industry has a few essentials to function properly. Staff Timer App is essential for all the industries that you can think of, even freelancers. However, in this blog we will be pointing out a few factors why it is crucial to have the Staff Timer App in your inventory while you establish your first software house and start your dream journey. 

Before jumping straight into facts, let’s rewind a little where we were still at offices enjoying the office life seems like prehistoric times now. In that era, you might feel like it is an extravagance to employ an app that keeps your life’s work safe, risky, but understandable. 

Now let’s start with an actual discussion that why is it necessary to have Staff Timer App apart from the obvious reasons so let’s start:

Transparency

Since the start of the pandemic according to a survey, 60% of the workers that transitioned from office to home reported better work-life balance. Let’s resort to the very first stat we posted about the number of employees that visit social media sites for recreation in an office demanding a strict eye for the sake of better working. This is a clear indication of time-wasting and turbulent productivity. 

READ HOW STAFF TIMER APP IS PROMOTING WORK-LIFE BALANCE.


To counter this behavior it is better to have a solution that keeps tracks of employee’s tasks all the while calculating the idle and total worked hours. Staff Timer App provides you with the opportunity to do exactly that, equipped with Real-time monitoring. Now you can see what your employee is up to and how much time they spend upon each task. 

Data Breach Cessation 

Data is the “Achilles heel” of any software house and consequently the industry. It must be protected at all cost no matter what. U.S Department of Justice defines a data breach as: “loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, access for an unauthorised purpose, or other unauthorized access to data, whether physical or electronic. 

According to a survey, the average cost of data breaches globally is $3.9 Billion (IBM). 

It only gets worse from here on CSIS in 2018 reported that nearly 1% of the total global GDP of $600 billion are lost to cybercrime.

In these times the importance of employee monitoring cannot be ignored, coupled with live screen monitoring makes your data a whole lot safer than it was. This little inexpensive solution can save millions and billions of fines paid under the data breach rules. Staff Timer App allows the employer to access the employee screens in real-time, meaning no more hiding any secrets and putting an end to a data breach.

No more Freelance Hustling 

Most of the resources working with software houses are remote, amid pandemic it is a norm now. During 2019 $1 trillion came solely from freelancers into the US economy. This stat alone is enough to show that big industries are dependent upon freelancers for getting jobs done. 

With hiring freelancers come the process of hustling, freelancers usually charge by the hour but a way to count those hours is indeed a necessity to keep some sense of transparency. 

Developers alone charge $15-$50 per hour while freelancing. 

Staff Timer App is the solution you need with its billable hours and task tracking mechanism, the app not only counts total hours worked but also calculates idle time. Hence you will only be paying for worked hours, not for idle hours, consequently monitoring progress at all times.

Primary Solution

This is a simple one! Ever since the world has been engulfed in the pandemic, major businesses have moved remotely or are permanently moving remotely. A survey claims that about 5 million people in the US already work from home. Also that the number of remote workers has improved massively and is close to 40%.

Keeping this in mind it is not entirely beside the point that some of the companies or software houses permanently go remote. Going remote is not only a smart choice but the choice that needs to be made owing to the plight of our environment. 

Staff Timer App encourages and advocates remote working for more than one reason. 86% of the employees suggest that they work better when they are alone, hence remote work is the future. With technological advancements and tools now readily available a home office is easy to set up, it cuts off cost and is environment friendly.

Project Safety 

Software houses are working simultaneously on projects with most of the time a limited number of resources. The threat of a colossal mess-up is never far away. Mismanagement is a disease that most of the software houses are infected with.

This is where the Staff Timer App comes in handy, it allows you to work on different projects at the same time and assign different people to a specific project and a task. So your team never misses a detail and you don’t end up with too much to do. 

Assign tasks and projects, make a team lead, and view reports daily or even hourly. Staff Timer App allows you to do all this at a very affordable price.

The Bottom Line

The software industry is a growing industry. It will hardly ever reach a slump as long as people are working and they need solutions. A software house will always be the cornerstone of any advancement.

Only in 2018, the software industry contributed $456.1 billion in the US economy which is expected to increase to $507.2 billion by 2021. Whereas in Europe it could only mount up to $114.5 billion which will also increase to around $127.4 billion by 2021, showing healthy and consistent growth in the market. 

Staff Timer App is essential for any industry and especially the software industry with simple and practical solutions. It allows you to go remote, save billions, make data secure, and multitasking possible in such strenuous times. Pandemic will pass but what we need to understand is that remote working is the absolute future.

The world’s environment has somehow become better. There is a total of 25 drops in CO2 emissions, however, this only totals to 1% of the annual decrease in the emission. What we need to understand is that there globally we can work from home and we have for the past 7 months. With Staff Timer App this remote working can be made exceptionally easy and a norm.

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.

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.

10 Employee Engagement Activities in Companies

Employee engagement activities aren’t considered as important as they should be. But before you start crunching numbers and coming up with some new activities, know that employee engagement is essentially a mindset. The only way employee engagement activities can yield the desired result is if you keep your focus on the “why” of the issue.  

Don’t just look at the figures and statistics. Treat your employees with empathy because they are humans with their own ideas, thoughts, accomplishment, and problems. They are not just there to make money for your company, they are vital resources that need nurturing in order to deliver satisfactory results. 

Importance of Employee Engagement Activities 

The Importance of employee engagement activities can’t be overstated. They have time and again proven to:

    • Decrease staff turnover rate
    • Improve efficiency and productivity
    • Retain more customers 
    • Increase profits

Most importantly, engaged employees are obviously happier, both in their professional and personal life. Everything done with increased engagement has longlasting effects on the culture of the workplace. 

 

   See Also: Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees

Purpose of Employee Engagement 

The main purpose of employee engagement is to attract and retain top talent. Recent research has shown that more than a quarter of employees is at a high risk of turnover. The most worrying part is that one-third of those at risk are talented employees that go above and beyond what’s expected of them. They are eligible for other positions. 

When competition is fierce and the cost of training new employees is sky-high, employee engagement activities become vital. Plus, these activities can directly increase the productivity of a team and take it to the next level. 

How to Engage Employees

Some of the top employee engagement activities include:

 

  • Involving Employees in Your Business Planning

Have a big meeting with all of your employees every six months or so. Tell them about the most important issues faced by your company and how you plan to address those issues. Take your team on board while making future plans, assessing opportunities, and refining pre-existing business strategies to suit your needs. 

 

  • Creating an Efficient Knowledge Sharing System

High employee turnover rate means inevitably results in the loss of essential information. One way to avoid it is by creating a kind of knowledge sharing system. It avoids extra cost to some degree and has proven to be a great engagement driver for new hires. 

We recommend implementing a mentorship program that pairs new employees with experienced ones. It will quickly get the new hires up to speed and help familiarize them with the working process of your company.  

 

  • Showing Them the Financial State of Your Company

Don’t hide your company’s financial record from your employees. Flaunt it and instill your employees with confidence. 

Give a quick presentation at the end of every year or quarter. Show them the fruits of everyone’s efforts, set ambitious goals for the next phase, explain how everyone involved can meet those goals. This eventually becomes a set of activities that keeps the employee engaged and full of purpose. 

 

  • Creating a Learning Environment

One of the main reasons why employees quit companies is a lack of learning opportunities. They claim that employers always demand more but don’t provide an environment that encourages growth. 

Make it easier for employees to access the required knowledge and development opportunities. 

 

  • Hyping Upcoming Opportunities

Get your employees excited about upcoming events. Let them know that opportunity is knocking on their door and they better grab it with both hands. You can communicate these opportunities in your internal newsletter, directly, or during the monthly meeting. 

If your employees are optimistic about your company’s future, they’ll ignore those poaching emails from other companies. 

 

  • Start Your Own Internal Magazine

Create a magazine focused solely on your employees. Fill the magazine with witty columns, news, stories, and opportunities. We’re sure that most of the staff will love to be featured on the cover as Employee of the Month. 

The magazine could be in online or print form. You can even go for both forms; a monthly online and a quarterly print issue. 

 

  • Encourage Individuals to Take Responsibility

Each and every employee is the hero of their own story. They need to carve out their own career path and set goals for themselves. 

Have your employees write their goals on a piece of paper. Tell them to put the paper in an envelope and seal it. After six months or so, give them the sealed envelopes to let the see if they’ve accomplished their goal. 

 

  • Always Give Back

Get involved with your local social and charitable initiatives. Giving back to your community helps you get in a positive mindset. It also cultivates pride and loyalty. 

Have your team pitch some causes and start supporting the one you feel most strongly about. Make it your personal mission and not just some hobby. Get your employees involved as well. Let them feel and know that they’re making a difference. 

 

  • Act on Employee Feedback

Listening to employee feedback is just part of the equation. You won’t be able to build any engagement without actually acting on said feedback and making the necessary changes. 

This doesn’t mean that you should act on feedback from all your employees. Prioritize feedback from your high-performing employees. If they feel like their voice isn’t being heard, they’ll most likely look for other opportunities. 

If you’re not sure who your high-performing employees are, use Staff Timer to monitor and receive daily intelligence reports on employee tasks and projects.  

 

  • Allow Personalization at the Workplace

When you depersonalize the workplace, you end up dehumanizing your employees. Encourage them to put some personalized items on their desks. Normalize diversity and inclusion. 

In short, create policies that accept different hairstyles and clothing options that reflect their individual beliefs and values. 

 

  See Also: Task Tracker

Key Takeaways

Employee engagement activities are absolutely worth their weight in gold. There are countless benefits of having engaged employees that believe in what they’re doing and look forward to their day. 

Always remember, satisfied employees means satisfied customers.