Time Tracking

Best Time Management Techniques for Busy People

Time management is a real challenge. There is a lot of information available on the internet to teach us how to manage time. But most of the time the article itself is so much time consuming that it seems to negate the whole purpose of time management itself.

We would like to keep it brief so the attention span of the reader remains constant. Time is to work what oxygen is to the body. Squandering it into unnecessary diversions can act as a productivity killer. Let’s examine a few techniques that we can adopt to keep us on track.

Planning a day in advance keeps you organised

Use a proper planner or something like that to keep you on track to plan a day ahead in a coherent manner. Simple planning in the head won’t suffice. It has to be properly updated and maintained as a task manual for yourself. So you can check your progress.

Start from the most daunting task

There is a famous quote by Mark Twain:

“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

Precisely what it means is to execute your most challenging work assignment as the first thing in the morning. You may find yourself short of energy later in the day to handle it more productively. It can be something that was the most time-consuming task. So having a feeling that you are done with some hefty portion of your day’s assignment can make you feel relieved. Thus, you feel more energetic and productive for the rest of the day.

Also eating the biggest frog of the two can mean that if you are facing the situation to deal with two assignments that will consume most of your time. Then first get done with the biggest or the lengthy one. But frog doesn’t imply that you ought to do the thing you abhor.

It simply alludes towards the fact that we usually don’t hate the task itself but the time and energy consumption associated with it. So devour it first so you can add some sweet delights to your taste buds in the form of lighter tasks for the rest of the day. Especially when you feel least productive.

Time tracking tools: acting as the savior for disorganized people

Yes, you always felt confused about calculating the time mentally that you spent on various tasks. Knowing how much was consumed in each task? Seem bothersome right. But it’s no longer the case with the advent of Staff time tracking software.

These time management tools help save a lot of time with automated time tracking rather than old redundant ways of writing manually or taking help of guesswork. You can always know which task consumed most of your time and which one is a light one.

Therefore you can always manage accordingly to deliver more in less time. You will feel deterred from wasting time knowing its being tracked. So subscribe to a good time tracking software and get rid of all the trouble of manual time tracking.

Control your social media habits

It doesn’t mean you stop using social media for life. It merely means keeping it away from your work life. Whether you admit it or not its the biggest ever distraction if we want to do anything productive.

Employee distracted by social media

A constant urge to checking your messenger or social media accounts can divert your attention from your work even after you turn off the phone. Because the content of your interaction shall keep hovering inside your head. You may find your work boring or lacking vitality. So turn off the Wifi or better keep the phone at a place like a locker or something. Where you find it bothersome to go and access.

Learn to say no

Warren Buffet once said,

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

Yes, it might happen at the workplace that you encounter colleagues trying to overload you. Know that your one straight no can save you from the hassle of wasting your productive time on uncalled for tasks.

Take breaks to refresh yourself

Use the Pomodoro technique to take a short 5-minute break after every half an hour. And take a longer one after two hours. It can make you fresh in a way you refresh your computer’s screen after every while. Humans inherently seek variety and start feeling bored from the monotony of routine. So a tiny break doesn’t hurt and helps you recollect energy to resume working. It’s better you spend few minutes in a break rather than procrastinating from the boredom of routine.

Eisenhower Matrix serves as a beacon of light to keep the useless stuff away

Basically Eisenhower matrix is distributed into four quadrants.

The first one is about doing the thing on foremost priority which is both urgent and important. Obviously there are things that you need to execute on time to meet deadlines and they are important too. So keep them on the top.
The second quadrant is there for an important task which isn’t urgent than plan for it. Organize structure on how to deliver it and when. But you are in no hurry for doing it now. So timely planning shall help when you actually be doing it. But for now, just defer and focus on what’s urgent and important both.
Third one asks to delegate the task. Well, it’s a kind of work which is urgent but not important. Therefore you can always ask a relevant person to do it if you are busy with something urgent/important.
The fourth and last quadrant is which is neither important nor urgent just delete it. Throw this task away. It serves no good.

Conclusion

Being busy is a lot easier than being productive. And productivity demands smartly crafted time management techniques. Which if followed religiously, they can help one progress significantly in lesser time.

5 ways Real-Time Monitoring is Revolutionising Businesses

Generally speaking, many employees misunderstand the concept of Real-time Monitoring. When it comes up, we start imagining spy technology, cameras, deep surveillance, and secret data agents, keeping an eye on an individual’s every move.

Like it or not, it might be true in many cases. But we do like to believe that employees over-exaggerate the very idea of real-time monitoring more often than not.

Companies are always able to monitor employees to ensure the productivity that whether the employees are making the best use of their resources. And surprisingly the emergence of new technologies is specifically designed for providing exactly that; tracking employee time, productivity, online browsing data, screen monitoring and what not.

Evidently…

… Real-time monitoring is raising concern among teams. But it doesn’t sound so bad. Look at the bright side; how it is helping employers to understand the trends and state of an employee’s progress and productivity.

You don’t believe us?

Let’s look at some of the ways in which real-time employee monitoring is revolutionizing global businesses:

Insight into Employee’s Productivity

Perhaps the most common argument for real-time monitoring, deployed by companies is that it can make employees more productive. Pioneers of monitoring software claim they are helping managers to ensure that employees make better use of time. Also, to minimize the number of wasted hours.

Keeping in view, that often employees are expected to do more in less time, in order to catch up with the world of business. Real-time monitoring is providing companies with a new and innovative way to scale their businesses, preventing a drop in efficiency. With so many challenges it can be difficult for employers to measure individual productivity that’s why having real-time employee monitoring tools is a great deal.

Acting as a ‘Big brother’

By monitoring employee screens, companies can easily see what workers are doing, on the spot, it also prevents employees from deviating from their set working schedule.

Real-time employee monitoring works as a ‘Big brother’ to the corporate world. It can see into everything on employee’s computer screens from the URLS that employee has opened to which project are they working on. It will instantly let employees know when they violate the company’s internet policy, which also automatically makes them more productive.

Employee Feedback in Real-time

Customizable employee screen recording lets employers give feedback in real-time. Which in return can improve employee productivity and they can easily correct course. Real-time feedback not only motivates team members but also reinforces positive contributions towards the end goal.

Moreover, it reduces bias and supports fair decision making during formal performance reviews, solely based on individual talents & progress, since all performance data can be collected through employee work logs.

Supports Smarter decisions

Real-time monitoring provides constant information for making informed and smart decisions. How? By seeing trends in employee’s progress as they develop.

All the information gathered through real-time monitoring can then be used to coach and train employees who might not be performing up to the mark while rewarding those who are. It helps employers more effectively point areas where employees may be lagging behind and suggest appropriate improvements accordingly.

It greatly helps in retaining top talent by keeping them motivated by recognizing their best work and constant appreciation.

Ensures a smooth workflow

One of the most important aspects of employee screen monitoring software is to see how much time has the employee spent on each project from start till finish. It’s a common knowledge that monitored data can prevent bottlenecks in the workflow.

Real-time monitoring helps employers with effective workflow about how things should work and, who should be responsible and of which task. For example: with workflow automation, the task that was supposed to take 15 minutes will be completed in 45 seconds.

Convenient for Managing Remote teams

Real-time employee monitoring allows companies to track their distributed team’s work activities and monitor their engagement. Making it easier for them to measure productivity, and collect proof of actual working hours from afar.

Productivity monitoring in real time ensures that your company is delivering peak performance in today’s competitive business landscape and helping them stay ahead of the curve.

Having said that…

… Real time Employee monitoring tools are providing you an easy way to ensure whether your staff is spending too much time binge-watching Netflix at work rather than actually working. They’re also an important part of scheduling tasks and generating accurate invoices.

Since we are talking about tools, Stafftimer App is an employee monitoring tool that can provide huge benefits to your business including comprehensive insights into employees, data gathering, time-tracking, smart reporting, and automation.

Our advice, choose the tool that’s right for your team, we bet it will be worth it.

10 Ways Time Tracking Helps You Make The Most Of Your Freelance Employees

Time Tracking for freelancers is quickly gaining popularity in the remote work industry. As more and more companies go virtual with respect to their teams and work practices.

Many companies are functioning with distributed teams that are spread out globally. The issue, most of them face, is regarding fully utilizing the freelancers they hire for different tasks.

Most are not able to do so and are generally overpaying in return for the output they’re receiving. Here are 10 ways in which you can make the most of your freelance employees and save the company’s resources using a time tracking solution.

10. Track Time for Increased Productivity

You can carry our time tracking using time tracking solutions. Many are available in the market and have multiple features and prices.

Integrate time tracking solution with your company’s platform and track your freelance employees’ productivity using that.

When working remotely, the freelancer can start the timer for a certain task they are about to work on, pause it when they take a break and end it when they are done with the task.

9. Remote Monitoring to Ensure Correct Work Track

Monitor your remote employees using a time tracking solution that supports real-time screen sharing and takes screenshots of the freelancers’ computer screen every minute.

Those screenshots can then be combined as separate frames and used to create a complete workday playback video. That way you can know exactly what your employees are working on and how their progress is going.

This will also make sure that you and your freelance team are on the same page when it comes to how tasks are attempted and what direction a project is supposed to take.

8. Implement a Schedule via Time Tracking Solution

Design a schedule for your employees and make sure that it is being followed. Considering they are freelancers and will have other tasks, the schedule must be a personalized one for each employee, fitting to their personal chores and tasks as well.

Furthermore, it must align with the work hours of the company so remote employees are available for coordination, discussions or meetings with in-house employees, whenever needed.

Productivity heat-maps for each individual must be an important consideration while creating the schedule.

7. Task-wise Billing Using A Time Tracking Software

The payment structure for freelancers is best when done task-wise or hour wise. For this, you can integrate an invoicing solution with your time tracking solution. So the billing can be done according to tasks completed and the hours worked.

The time tracking solution will have a complete record (with proofs) of the work completed by the employee. That way you can be sure that you’re not overpaying the freelancers.

6. Intelligent Report to Get Value for Money

Many leading time tracking solutions in the market offer the option of advanced reporting. Some remote employee monitoring software offers intelligent employee reports. Where the day’s screenshots are automatically categorized according to the active windows in those images, clearly telling the employer what the freelancers spent most of their time working on.

This increases transparency and if there are any wasted minutes, the employers can get to know about those within a matter of a few clicks.

5. Task Logging to Estimate Work Done Through Time Tracking

Make sure that your freelance employees log each and every task they perform. Whether it is a task already assigned to them or a task they performed.

When a task is logged, a record is maintained that lets the employers know how much work was actually achieved by the freelancer. Whether they are putting the best of their efforts into the work or not.

4. Clarify and Align Company’s Goals with Freelancers

In order to be sure that the employees work the same way that you expect them to, it is essential to make it clear to them what they are working for, what is the end result supposed to look like and what are you trying to achieve.

Once the goals of the company are aligned with the freelancers’ goals, then the workflows will be regulated on their own. Productivity will increase and the employees will put their best foot forth.

When the employees know how their work is going to impact the common end-goal. They will have a clear idea of the value of their work and their value as an employee to the company.

This is essential for boosting the morale of employees and pushing them to work harder.

3. Rule of Thumb: Work Smart, Not Hard

Taking up this rule will make tasks easier for you and your employees, both. Working smart saves time, energy, resources, gets things done much faster and makes searching for information much easier.

Automate timesheets instead of manually maintaining logs for each hour or each task. It is much easier to start and stop the timer with a single click, rather than manually making each entry to a timesheet.

Furthermore, it makes the job simple when all work done during the activity time is recorded and gets divided into separate categories, creating automated timesheets.

This way, your freelancers spend the majority of their time working on the actual tasks instead of logging entries manually.

2. Improve Communication via Audio Clips

Team communication impacts employee productivity and plays a major role in how your employees perform. Merely assigning them tasks using a project management tool or a time tracking software isn’t enough.

Nothing can beat the power and impact of face-to-face communication. If you cannot communicate with them in-person due to geographical boundaries, then feel free to conduct a Skype Business Call, or use a platform that helps.

You can assign tasks in the form of voice clips and allows the freelancers to respond back using voice clips as well. In case they have any query and wish to clear it prior to attempting a task.

Clear and quick communication is always verbal and enables workflow-streamlining when the teams are on one page.

1. Trust your Employee to Get the Job Done

If you’ve hired a freelancer, trust that they can get the job done as well. There is no point in hiring them otherwise.

If you try to micromanage your employees, directing their every move and telling them how to go about a task, even when they might be suggesting better ways to do it, they will simply be exhausted and irritated.

Build a certain trust level with your employees, and believe in them. Have a solution that monitors their work activity by giving you an idea of their sincerity and dedication to their work.

If they work hard, waste no time and have the required level of productivity, then let them be, sit back and let them deliver the assigned work to you, on schedule.

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get started!

1. Increase productivity by reducing the ‘busy’ time

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Improve focus when you know each minute is counted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Automated and intelligent reporting mechanism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great, happy and productive work day! 🙂

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Employee Time Tracking with Screenshots! Is it really needed?

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

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

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

Screenshot capturing: Illegal or ethical?

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

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

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

Why is it becoming a trend?

It equips the managers with remote employee monitoring capabilities

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

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

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

It lets the supervisors know about the progress of the employees

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

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

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

It helps the remote employers

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

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

It fosters cooperation amongst the team members

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

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

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

Software like this lets people connect in a better fashion.

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

Defining Employee Productivity

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

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

Why is productivity important?

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

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

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

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

Tracking Employee’s Productivity

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

1. Track their time

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

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

2. Assess the value

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

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

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

3. Cost-profit analysis

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

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

4. Measuring Employee’s Productivity

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

5. Indications about the strengths and weaknesses

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

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

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

6. Guides you about the budget

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

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

7. A basis for performance appraisal

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

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

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

8. Makes employees more productive

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

Why do you need a Time Tracker for Work?

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

Why do you need a Time Tracker at work?

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

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

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

What makes a good Time Tracker?

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

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

User-Friendly Design

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

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

Flawless Functionality

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

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

Non-intrusive features

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

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

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

Rational Pricing

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

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

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

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

Dependable Customer Support

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

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

Which problems are solved by a good Time Tracker?

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

It saves you from distractions

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

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

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

It keeps you focused

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

It makes you more productive

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

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

It highlights your efforts

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

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

It optimizes the teamwork

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

It keeps you free from stress

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

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

An example of a reliable Time tracker

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

It uses Screenshots

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

It gives a breakdown of how the time is spent

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

This breakdown is the backbone of successful Time Management.

It is sensitive about user Privacy

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

Conclusion

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

Undeniable advantages of using an Employee Monitoring System

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

Kinds of Employee Monitoring Systems

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

Find the different kinds of Employee Monitoring tools below:

GPS Tracking Software

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

Time Tracking Software

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

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

Remote Employee Monitoring Software

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

Employee Microchipping

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

Advantages of Employee Monitoring System

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

Optimize the Productivity

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

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

Sound HR decisions

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

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

Reduce Data Theft

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

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

Control Cyberloafing

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

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

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

Convince your employees!

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

Conclusion

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

Top 3 Time Tracking Apps for Remote Workers

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

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

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

The List | Top 3

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

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

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

Pros

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

Cons

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

Staff Timer App – The time tracking solution for remote workers

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

Pros

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

Cons

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

Hubstaff

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

Pros

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

Cons

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

Best Employee Time Tracking Apps for Mac and Windows:

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