10 Ways Managers Can Help Solve Employee Time Management Issues

Employee time management issues are so common that every member of the workforce suffers from them at least once in their work life. 

One study found that employees can free up at least 20 percent of their week by applying more discipline to their time management. That isn’t very surprising because the average employee faces a lot of distractions every day. Corporate executives receive over 200 emails a day while meeting can easily take up 35 percent of the workweek. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss ten ways managers can help solve employee time management issues. So without any further ado, let’s just jump into it. 

Top Ways to Resolve Employee Time Management Issues

Evaluate Employee Performance

If you don’t even know about the problem then how will you be able to solve it? Use meaningful metrics to evaluate employee performance. You can start by observing if your employees are:

    • Not completing their tasks on time
    • Stressed, unmotivated or burnt out
    • Frequently absent at the workplace

Once you get to the bottom of the problem, you’ll be able to come up with a good solution. 

Highlight the Problem Areas

Once you’ve made sure that poor time management does exist in your workplace, the next step should be to find out the reason(s) behind it. Are your employees getting complacent? Or are they wasting their time visiting irrelevant websites in the workplace? However, don’t be quick to lay the blame on your employees. Sometimes, it just might be the fault of poor management. 

Decrease Distractions

Distractions have become the bane of employee productivity. Open-plan offices are very popular these days but they have a major downside: little to no privacy. In this type of environment, even the most diligent employees can lose their focus. Plus, the internet and social media also take up a lot of our time every day. Taking all of this into account, is it any wonder that employees are facing time management issues?

You can’t do much about the layout of the building but you can ban irrelevant websites and restrict the use of mobile phones at your workplace. 

Urge Employees to Set Goals

Reducing distractions will be of no use if your employees don’t have timely goals. But don’t be hasty here. Goal-setting is a characteristic that they should learn first before trying to apply it in the workplace. 

Instruct your employees to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals based on a task or project’s duration. 

Utilize Project Management Software

Setting goals and timelines may sound easy but in reality, it isn’t. Your employees will need all the help they can get. This is where project management apps come into play. Managers can use these apps to map out each team member’s workflow. Even reports and delivery times can be planned. And their biggest advantage is that they will let you make necessary adjustments along the way.

Train Employees on How to Prioritize

Project management software can only streamline your workflow. They can’t teach your employees the art of prioritizing. Only you can do that and even that to an extent. Employees need to learn how to prioritize urgent or important tasks in order to increase their productivity. 

In the end, employees need to decide which tasks to complete first. You can only notify and help them with the more urgent tasks. Also, make sure your employees have the proper resources to finish these tasks. 

Give Employees More Freedom

Every employee has their own way of doing work. Some tackle the hardest tasks first and then move on to the easier ones. Others operate in the opposite way. If they’re completing tasks on time then leave them to their preferred pattern. You’ll get good results as long as you give your employees the appropriate freedom. 

Being too rigid won’t do you any good so try not to micromanage all the time as it will create a stifling workplace environment. 

Allow Flexible Schedules

The current generation’s mindset is very different from the previous generation’s. Today’s workers value freedom above all else. They don’t like the rigid 9-5 system and consider it somewhat soul-crushing. 

Some employees might be sharper and more organized in the early morning while others only get started around noon. This is why you should consider implementing flexible work schedules. Let your employees try different work schedules so that they decide which one works best for them. 

Flexible schedules have the potential to:

  • Increase efficiency
  • Relieve stress
  • Make performance better

Carefully Delegate Tasks and Duties

It’s possible for even employees with the right goals and priorities to lag behind in their tasks. A lot of the times they have too much on their plates and get overwhelmed by all the workload. In these cases, it’s better to delegate their tasks to their colleagues. But make sure that you assign these tasks to the people who know the employees previously working on the tasks. 

Supervise Accordingly

Giving employees freedom doesn’t mean leaving them to their own devices. Some type of supervision is still necessary. For example, you can install an employee time tracking software, like Staff Timer, to track attendance, breaks, and work hours. 

Effects of Data Breaches | Prevention Tips

A data breach might just be one of the most frightening scenarios for organizations, right after bankruptcy. Data breaches not only affect a company it can also take down its partners, collaborators, or associates. 

In the first six months of 2019, more than 3800 data breaches were publicly disclosed. And these breaches exposed a whopping 4.1 billion compromised records. But the most incredible thing is the fact that only 8 breaches were responsible for exposing 3.2 billion of those records. As for the type of data itself, emails were exposed in 70% breaches and passwords were exposed in 65%. 

This should give you an idea about the seriousness of data breaches and why companies spend a fortune trying to guard against them. In this article, we’re going to discuss the far-reaching consequences of these data breaches. But first, let’s talk a little about their nature. 

What is a Data Breach?

A data breach is a security incident in which information is illegally accessed. These breaches can potentially hurt businesses and consumers in a number of ways. They are a huge financial expense that can ruin lives, reputations, and careers.

Stories of massive data breaches are frequently popping up these days. This fact shouldn’t be that surprising because technology is rapidly progressing. Most of our information has been moved to the digital world. This makes it easier for hackers to attack and compromise sensitive data. 

Consequences of Data Breaches

Financial Loss

Many businesses fear the immediate financial loses after a big data breach. Numerous financial problems can result depending on the nature of the data breach in question. Companies usually have to deal with the costs of containing the breach, compensating affected clients, coming to terms with a decreased share value and increased security costs. 

Business owners can’t accurately predict how financials will be affected in the events of a data breach but past examples have shown that the monetary loss incurred is massive. In 2018, according to the Cost of Data Breach Study, the average cost of a data breach was $7.91 million.

Damage to Reputation

After the advent of the Internet, the world started to behave like a global village. And in like every village, news travels fast. Those who never even heard about your company will know about a data breach that just rocked your whole organization. 

If the breach in question puts customer data at risk then company reputation will take a massive hit, the likes of which it may never recover from. How? Data breaches are usually followed by negative press, loss of trust, associated identity theft, and a change in overall customer perceptions about the company and its ability to defend itself. 

Disruption in Business Operations

After a data breach, business operations get severely affected by the investigation and recovery process. Victims of data loss can take a long time to recover from a breach. 

Companies will have to totally shut down operations for a while in order to sort things out and find the reason behind the breach. This will obviously have a trickle-down effect. As long as operations are shut down, work will not get done and customers will soon start looking elsewhere. 

The aftermath is so severe that 60% of small businesses close within six months after a cyber attack. 

Legal Consequences

Data breaches that leak personal information about a client or customer usually result in class-action lawsuits. Pile on the legal fees for these cases and companies stand to face sky-high costs and they may not be ready to pay it. Authorities may also get involved and prevent certain operations until investigations are complete. 

Steps Companies Are Taking to Protect Their Data

Some of the most successful strategies regarding data protection include: 

    • Identifying data flow. Companies who know where their data is coming from and where it’s headed can accurately pinpoint the vulnerabilities. This allows them to make informed decisions with regards to data protection measures and policies.

 

    • Banning mobile phones at work. This may seem like an extreme measure but it is definitely applicable if required. Since mobile phones are small and inconspicuous, malicious insiders can use them to steal or attack sensitive data. 

 

    • Only allowing usage of company laptops. Just like mobile phones, malicious insiders can also use personal laptops to steal or attack sensitive data. To counter this threat, companies can choose to ban personal laptops on office premises. 

 

    • Installing employee monitoring software. To keep track of employee work hours and measure daily productivity, companies are installing time management apps like Staff Timer. In case, of a data breach, the app can help identify the culprit(s).

 

    • Spreading awareness among employees. Most data breaches come from employee negligence or ignorance. Companies need to educate their employees regarding security measures and cyberattack policies. Employees that regularly come into contact with sensitive data should be under clear guidelines and, if possible, receive formal training. 

 

    • Using encryption wherever possible. Companies should apply encryption all across the board. From USBs and hard drives to data encryption before the transfer, it’s a must for all companies that are serious about data protection.

How Entrepreneurs Can Stay Ahead of the Curve

As an entrepreneur, one of the most significant things you can accomplish for yourself is to set up a viable work-life balance.

When most people begin their business, they eat, sleep, and breathe work. From their life experience, they know the true value of hustle and diligence. Their whole focus is on creating something successful. In pursuit of success, they can let work consume their whole life.  

This will undoubtedly have an adverse effect on one’s health. Personal relationships become strained. The mind becomes restless and distracted. Many only seem to realize what their business needs have done to their health when it’s too late.

Balancing the needs of your business with your daily life is crucial to you and your business’s well-being. In this article, we are going to discuss four tips that can help entrepreneurs efficiently maintain a work-life balance.  

Plan Ahead

Protect your schedules and give importance to your time. It’s important to attentively plan meetings with clients and potential customers. Explain your need to give them your complete consideration and support. After that, offer suitable windows of time in which a meeting can take place.

Clients may assume that you don’t have other customers or commitments because your calendar is open for them—and so they may ask for rescheduling at the last minute or arrive late to meetings. If you don’t handle these matters delicately then they have the potential to affect your family time.

Take Time Off

It’s important to understand that enjoying your time away from work can help you remain focused while you’re at the workplace. It’s not about the number of hours you sit at your desk, it’s about the number of quality hours you spend at a task with your complete focus.

It takes numerous attempts to understand and acknowledge that getting some enjoyment out of your time off is useful for your mental well-being. Also, what’s good about running a successful business if you can’t take some time off and enjoy life?

Hire the Right People

Hire smart individuals who can efficiently maintain your business in your absence. It will allow you to take some days off and spend more time with your family. This is the reason why employing the right individuals is essential. Or else, you will end up sacrificing your own time to keep the business alive and eventually wear yourself out.

Structuring your work culture around a genuine faith in work-life balance will be tremendously beneficial in the long-run. 

Take advantage of tools

Tons of business-related services and tools are available online. Instead of trying to manually complete your tasks, look into apps that can help you automate and streamline your business. This saves time and money in the long-run. 

Make a list that includes all the must-have features that you would like from a tool. Carefully search the market once you’ve made the list. Look into apps that fit your budget. Make sure that they tick all or most of your boxes. 

To maintain a work-life balance, entrepreneurs need to cleverly utilize their time. Use time management apps, like Stafftimer, to keep track of employees and tasks.  

Stay Healthy

It’s hard to inspire and motivate others when you aren’t healthy. No matter what kinds of sales you’re bringing in, if you’re not taking care of your body, it won’t be sustainable. Put self-care at the top of your list. Exercise, get on a healthy diet and sleep 6-7 hours per day. 

These are just some ways with which entrepreneurs can balance their personal and professional life. In the end, it all depends on the individual. If a person doesn’t give importance to his/her personal relationships then there is no reason for him/her to maintain a work-life balance.

How to Manage profits & costs with time tracking apps

Companies are delivering exceptional customer service to their clients, by actively investing in business solutions, that utilize the latest technology and time tracking apps. Businesses also enhance their productivity as well as streamline operations by implementing such solutions.

Whether you manage a big company or a startup, wasting operational costs are not acceptable. Even a minor hiccup can lead to devastating disasters if not managed right. Thus, time tracking apps are a great way to increase profits and reduce costs, altogether. 

Companies successfully reduce their costs, by following the new trend of automating daily operations. Every minute and every task is valuable for the final project delivery no matter how minor they are.  Through time tracking apps, you can easily manage invisible billable hours such as time spent on emails, phone calls, project management and communication, meetings, and fieldwork.

If you are working with freelancers or remote teams

Knowing what your remote employees are doing and how much time they are spending on each individual task can give you a better idea of how well they are utilizing your resources. Even though outsourcing employees can reduce costs but managing them can be a hassle. It’s important you organize them strategically and in a profitable way. 

No matter how many freelancers you are dealing with every day, time tracking will remember how much time they spent on your project and generates a report so that you can calculate idle time. Therefore, time tracking apps can make every billable hour important. You don’t even have to hire in-house teams when you can outsource talent. 

Through automatic time tracking, you can also know which projects are worth your time. You can easily estimate project ROI and know which projects to prioritize more. Win-win!

Increased productivity equals increased profits

Upgrade your workplace with a time tracking tool especially if the process is outdated. This can help your employees be more productive throughout the day, and understand roadblocks through real-time monitoring. You can easily tell which tasks turn into profits and track the performance to see if your team is successful when they spend time on that certain task. This will not only help you set goals but clear expectations to gain profits and identify the idle time. 

Time tracking apps reveals invisible work and inefficient workflows. But it also helps you keep a proper check and balance on priorities, and overhead costs. Justify employee inefficiency and efficiency by identifying the tasks that drain your time, consequently your budget. 

Every good time tracking app has an admin dashboard that shows trends of each individual employee, allowing you to make informed future decisions when it comes to hirings and resources.

As Artificial Intelligence is making its way into our businesses and tools, we have more opportunities to automate and streamline almost every administrative task such as expense management, accounting, meetings et al 

Evaluate what you really need

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace. Deploying too many tools so quickly is a bad strategy. Don’t go for the products, or subscriptions that you know you will never actually use. This is one of the ways through which you can cut additional costs. Run a quick audit if need be. 

Choosing just one right time tracking tool can go a long way.  Not only will this save money but also helps streamline workflow. 

Check out the Staff timer app that offers a comprehensive time tracking solution for global teams. Available for mac and windows!

Easy Productivity Techniques to Focus on the Right Work

Our attention spans have taken a hit. If we can’t focus properly then we won’t be able to finish important tasks on time. This all eventually leads to a decrease in productivity. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss some easy techniques that will keep you away from distractions and help focus on the right work. 

Focus on the top 20% of your tasks

The Pareto Principle or 80/20-rule says that you should focus on the top 20% of your tasks. Why? Because in any situation, 20% of the inputs are responsible for 80% of the outcomes. To make good use of your to-do-list, give importance to those 20% tasks that greatly influence your top goals. 

Schedule everything in your calendar

Just making a to-do-list is not enough. You need to mark the events on your calendar as well. This will serve as a constant reminder and let you estimate how much time it takes you to finish certain tasks. 

Try to do your most important task in the morning

Top priority tasks will fill you with the most trepidation. Begin working on these activities first thing in the morning. Once you start and find a flow, these tasks will stop becoming a hindrance and your overall productivity will increase. 

Take care of your body  

You get only one body in this lifetime so take special care of it. If your body is always tired, pain-ridden, and sleep-deprived, your productivity will take a major hit. Why? Because it will impair memory, raise stress levels, and decrease your ability to focus. 

Take care of your mind

Our brain is like a CPU. The better it performs, the faster we can get things done in a more productive way. A calm and focused mind will serve as a great foundation to increase your overall productivity. 

Use time tracking apps

As the name suggests, a time tracking app helps users effectively track their time.  

Effective time management apps, like Stafftimer, can help people make deadlines, avoid getting stressed, improve their productivity & efficiency, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. They will also be able to maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of their time.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Recent research shows that taking a 5-minute break after every 25 to 30 minutes increases productivity. It allows you to recharge and refresh your mind. 

Our attention span is decreasing and many find it hard to focus for a long time. Look into the Pomodoro Technique and see if it helps. 

Batch similar tasks together

Take care of similar tasks in one go. For example, taking an hour each day to dust the furniture, appliances, cars, etc. This way, you can finish your work faster. Plus, by taking time out to get these batches done, you ensure that they don’t get left hanging. 

Keep a time log for some time

If you know that you’re not being productive but are not sure where all that time is going to, try keeping a log for a few days. 

Write down everything you do during these few days. You’ll soon find where your time is being spent and can start managing it more effectively. 

Unsubscribe from all YouTube channels

Like social media, YouTube channels can waste a lot of your time as well. Unsubscribe from all the channels. You’ll soon find that most of them were not worth your time. 

There are channels that you’ll intentionally visit to watch their latest video. These are the ones that actually hold your interest and you don’t need to subscribe to them. 

The Latest Trend in Time Tracking Apps for Educational Institutes

All humans get the same amount of hours each day i.e 24 hours. Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. – they also had 24 hours each day, just like all of us. 

So what’s the difference between these extraordinary individuals and us? What separates them from the average man? Their secret is simple. They efficiently managed their time. 

In this modern age, pens and sheets have been left behind. People are now starting to use time tracking apps to manage their daily routines, schedule, and tasks. Educational institutes are no different. 

Time tracking apps keep evolving as preferences keep changing. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the latest trends in time tracking software for educational institutes. 

Before we start discussing the latest trends, lets first establish what time tracking app actually does. After that, we’ll go over some of its common features. 

What is a time tracking app?

As the name suggests, a time tracking app helps users effectively track their time.  

Effective time management can help people make deadlines, avoid getting stressed, improve their productivity & efficiency, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. They will also be able to maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of their time.

To perfect time management in educational institutes, employers should be able to easily track an employee’s work hours. This will help them observe an employee’s daily progression and accurately judge their performance. 

Time tracking apps can provide all of this. They allow users to create to-do lists and prioritize tasks, set alerts & reminders, organize the files & tasks, and even streamline communication between team members. 

Common features found in time tracking apps

We know what time tracking apps can do. Now let’s look at some common features of time management apps. 

Time tracking

This is a core functionality of time tracking apps. It captures worked hours and keeps a record of them on a timesheet. 

Project management

 Some time tracking apps have lightweight management tools while others focus entirely on project management. They allow you to group tasks or set deadlines and priorities. You can also track daily, weekly, and monthly work hours.  

Alerts 

Notifications can be used in different ways. You can set timers and get alerts when time is about to end. Alerts can also be used as reminders about urgent and pending tasks. 

Reporting and analytics

Reports can be generated by analyzing a large amount of data relating to tasks. These reports can be used by employers to gauge their employees’ overall progress. 

Latest trends in time tracking apps for educational institutes

Today’s employees are mostly Millenials and Generation Z, or Gen Z for short. The challenges and difficulties that they face are completely different from the previous generations. For example, Boomers didn’t have to worry about wasting their time on the internet. 

This is why time tracking apps have evolved. The latest trends and features include:

Password manager

There are countless websites on the internet that require you to make an account. At one point, it becomes hard to keep track of all the usernames and passwords. Now apps featuring password managers are starting to pop up. 

Meeting manager 

Employees and staff members of educational institutes are notoriously busy. Their workload is huge and strenuous. Trying to arrange an important meeting can take a lot of effort as well. Now there are apps that can leverage the power of AI to give smart suggestions for when, where and how meetings can take place.

Note-taking manager

A vast amount of information is available on the internet, this is especially true regarding educational content. Note-taking managers can help teachers clip and save sections of websites, annotate them, and quickly access them via searches, notes, and tags. 

Bookmarking manager. We can’t always be online. Bookmark managers let users save articles, videos and more from any website, app or publication. This way, they can access saved content offline and on any device. 

These are just some of the latest trends in time tracking apps for educational institutes. As time goes on and priorities change, new trends will start emerging. However, don’t worry about missing out. We’ll keep you posted. 

Monitor Productivity Record with Keystrokes and Mouse clicks

To run a business efficiently, sheer productivity is required and there are many ways to asses it. Calculating your company’s revenue would be the most basic indicator of productivity. But when it comes to measuring the productivity of a single employee, owners need to resort to some specific ways. Besides Stafftimer, there are few employee time tracking apps that provide keystroke counts. 

But, if an employer wants to honestly judge how productive an employee is, only calculating keyboard and mouse activity will not give the whole picture. With Stafftimer, business owners get a statistical view of keystrokes combined with mouse activity, total progress, and idle time percentages. An employee engagement activity graph is also available. 

Difference between keylogger and keystroke counter  

Both keylogger and keystroke counter is based on the same working mechanism. But the main purpose of both tools is very different. The basic reason for developing these tools was to study human-computer interaction.

This software is legal but some people use it for malicious activities such as to steal passwords and confidential information. 

For the sole purpose of employee engagement activities, this tool was tweaked and been made more secure. Now it only counts the number of keystrokes along with mouseclicks without recording any text or work information.

There exists another type of keylogger called hardware keylogger. It is a small device used as a connector between computer and keyboard. Its design resembles an ordinary PS/2 connector or USB adapter. Making it easier for someone to monitor activities and stay unseen at the same time.   

How Stafftimer use keystroke counter

To best get an idea of employee engagement activities, Stafftimer integrates idle time, mouse clicks, and keystroke counts. It combines all peripheral uses and calculates an employee’s progress based on previous keystroke number over idle time. It does all this while still maintaining the transparent relation between an employer and an employee. 

In addition, Stafftimer allows even an employee to see his or her own progress and keystroke counts so that they may increase their productivity in the future.  

To have some statistical view, both employer and employee have a bar chart on their dashboard. This chart shows an employee’s history regarding active and inactive time, based on the use of keystrokes and mouse clicks. Employers can also view the progress of their employees on a daily and hourly bases. 

Other obscure uses of keyloggers

Both small and large companies ethically use keyloggers. Most companies have a system that can detect some particular keywords. 

Nowadays, there is a conspiracy floating around that suggests that Facebook is eavesdropping its users through their microphones. But that doesn’t seem likely. Facebook’s official statement reads, “Facebook does not use your phone’s microphones to inform ads or to change what you see in your newsfeed.”

But, why does it feel like Facebook and its advertisers are in the same room with you?

This is because they are so good at tracking you online and offline that it feels like they have access to your conversations. With a legal and ethical use of keystroke logging and AI algorithms, Facebook can track your interests and show you advertisements that might catch your attention. This article on the Wallstreet journal goes into the gritty details. 

There is a term called Corporate keylogging. It refers to tracking and recording the computer activities of employees and contractors for three purposes. 

Real-time monitoring and alerting

This is especially used for IT and security personal. Why? So that they can immediately notify any suspicious or dangerous behaviors and/or activity. 

After fact investigation

To help administrators investigate system failures and data breaches. Also used to look into malicious activity during root cause analysis.

Compliance auditing

To help auditors determine how well the company is complying with laws and regulations. It also helps identify violators.  

A corporate keylogger is not used manually. It is used to search for keywords and get real-time alerts. 

Like any other tool, keyloggers can be used for legal and illegal purposes. Many parents use it on their children’s smartphones for surveillance. Stafftimer also provides daily work videos. When an employee’s keystroke counter combines with video recordings, video quality dramatically increases.