Time Tracking Software Archives

The Rise of Remote Working (Infographic)

A few decades ago, no one would have considered working from home as something practical. Working from home was pretty much limited to cottage industries and women who were stay-at-home moms and worked on the side to generate an extra income. But anyone with serious career aspirations would never have considered remote working even in his wildest dreams!

But today, the world is a different place! The advancement of technology and the dependable connectivity and networking services have made possible the unthinkable. Today, remote jobs from home are not only practical but are also becoming the first choice of contemporary professionals and especially the millennials.

Why people enjoy Remote Working

Due to the following reasons, more and more people are opting for remote working options and making the rise of the remote work a reality.

Remote jobs from home save time. The time spent on traveling to and from the formal workplace is saved. Moreover, while in an office, colleagues spend a lot of time on water-cooler gossips and extended meeting periods. While working from home, this time is saved.
Remote work saves money. The freelancers and telecommuters do not feel the need to spend an excessive amount of money on maintaining up-to-date wardrobe. They also save the money that is spent on commuting to the office. The employers also benefit from Remote working options as they do not have to pay the overhead costs of having in-house workers. Also, from the employer’s perspective, the employee is only paid for the work that he has delivered. Therefore, the employer saves money as well.
Remote workers find it desirable to work from the comfort of their home office. They like being the boss and master of their own schedule. With the option of working from home, the employees can schedule the day according to their own personal needs. A night owl and a day lark can work without disrupting their natural tendencies.
Telecommuters cherish the ability to work from home as it allows them to have a balanced life, without spending long hours in the workplace. Many women opt for work from home options when they start having children. This enables them to stay in touch with work while having a fulfilling personal life.

How Remote Work became a Reality

Remote Working has become possible due to the following reasons.

The availability of the internet and its improving quality. Just a couple decades ago, the internet quality at most places around the world was not dependable. Fiber optic faults under the sea made the internet unreliable. But now, the situation is very different. Stable internet connection is a reality at most places in the world.
The innovation of networking applications and their availability to the users at low cost. For example, Time Tracking Software like StaffTimerApp has enhanced the trust of employers in their distributed teams.
The increasing demand for knowledge worker and less focus on physical availability and more on getting good quality work done. Today, professionals like software developers and computer scientists can work from anywhere and are always in demand!

Conclusion

The Rise of Remote Work has become a reality of the modern workplace. It is predicted that more than half of the workers in the USA will be working remotely. This is due to the democratization of amazing technology that makes collaborations for the remote teams easier!

How Time Tracking can transform the Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture, Corporate Culture, Business Culture, Workplace Culture; these words are interchangeably used by professionals all the time.

The scholars of industrial psychology keenly observe the Corporate World to follow the new trends and behaviors in the field influenced by the ever-changing technologies. The experts of Human-Computer Interaction say that Time Tracking can positively influence the Organizational Culture!

What is Organizational Culture

The Business Dictionary defines Organizational Culture as ‘the values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization’.

Organizational Culture is the collection of shared beliefs, customs, attitudes, values, and written and unwritten rules. It is developed over the course of an organization’s life and it keeps on evolving and changing all the time.

Organizational culture is considered valid by the employees of the company and hence it is practiced and reinforced time and again.

The Organizational Culture is reflected by:

Organizational Norms: The generally accepted way the employees work, behave, socialize inside and outside of the organization. Norms are formed due to informal socialization and formal practices that are prevalent in the organization. The disposition of employees towards business affairs and extra-curricular affairs forms are collectively called the norms.

Hierarchal Structure: The hierarchy of employees and the distribution of power is an important determinant of Organizational Culture. Organizations range from democratic to authoritarian in nature. Some organizations are also a victim of micromanagement which essentially kills the creativity of the employees.

Group Cohesiveness: Group Cohesiveness is the degree to which an individual feels being a part of a certain group. Organizations with strong cohesiveness feel more passionate about the collective goals of the organization. This is because they feel connected and in sync with the whole organization.

Time Tracking can transform the Organizational Culture

The scientific breakthroughs are changing the way we lived our lives. They are also changing the Corporate World. Keeping the track of time is not a new concept but the democratization of digital Employee Tracking tools is definitely a fairly new trend. And this trend transforms the organizational culture in the following ways.

Establish a Reward System

Time Tracking Software brings forth insights about the employees. It lets the employers know about the team members who are working hard towards achieving the goals of the company. When employers get to know that the employees truly own the organization and work on the projects as their own, they feel inclined towards rewarding them. The system of rewards motivates the individuals towards working even harder, suggests B. F. Skinner’s rat-pellet experiment.

The organizational culture of rewards is established.

Become more Deadline oriented

The use of an Employee Time Tracking Software helps the managers in becoming more sensitive about Time Management. The correct statistics for the work done on the projects and the honest analysis of the capabilities of the employees inform the employers and managers about the capacity of the human resources at hand. These statistics enable the managers in setting up realistic and practical deadlines. When the deadlines are reflective of the work capacity, the culture of the following deadlines is established in the company.

No stress and burn-out

As stated above, Time Tracking Software lets managers set up realistic and achievable deadlines. This is quite an underrated and overlooked the advantage of tracking the time because its implications are farfetched.

Due to good Time Management, employees are saved from working long hours. They are not overworked and stressed about meeting the deadlines in haste. And in the long run, they are protected from anxiety and burnout.

Hence, Tracking of Time, if done in the right manner, can ensure the psychological health of the employees and maintain a progressive work environment.

Enhanced Productivity

Applications for tracking the time let the managers motivate and guide the teams in the right direction. They can quickly assess which work practices are producing worthwhile results and which ones are futile in nature. With this empowering knowledge, managers can redirect the energy of the team towards becoming more productive. The results are enhanced productivity for the organization.

Improved Trust

It is natural for employers to feel skeptical about the activities of the employees. This is one of the reasons why Time Tracking Software is deployed in the first place. The outcomes can, however, be ironical.

Using Employee Monitoring Software lets you know that your employees are truly diligent and efficient. This way a feeling of trust is established. When managers trust the employees, they delegate a lot of responsibilities to the team members. This gives the employees a chance to exercise their voice and opinion to the best of their knowledge. Laissez-Faire culture is established.

And it has been proven scientifically that this type of culture is the best fit for an organization that aims to touch the sky.

Conclusion

It is not simple to effectively use Employee Monitoring software. But if you’re able to convince your team about using it, you can truly transform your organizational culture for the better!

How to Persuade Employees to Track Time

It has been observed that employees do not like the practice of Time Tracking. This sentiment is pretty much universal all around the world. But the trends in the Corporate World suggest that the market for Tracking and Monitoring Software is growing.

This is because Time Monitoring is embraced by many organizations. And there are dozens of diverse tools available for Tracking Time. This is due to the undeniable fact that Time Tracking is, indeed, beneficial for the businesses.

But to track time, employees must be convinced that this is done in order to achieve the collective goals of the organization and not to spy on them.

Make Time Tracking a Company Policy

The first step in making Employee Tracking acceptable for your employees is declaring it an official policy of the organisation. State it clearly in the employee handbook. Make it a known fact in the company. Also, let the employees know about the levels of Employee Monitoring that is practiced at the organisation.

Making it a known fact will help the employees accept it quickly. They will also be more careful about their activities. They will spend less time on non-work relaxed activities.

Educate Employees why is it beneficial to track time

Educate your team and employees about the benefits of tracking time. Let them know that this is done in order to benefit the organisation and not to penalize the employees. Share the instances of successful Time Management and how it contributed to the growth of the organisations. Tell your employees that tracking the time helps in the following ways:

It helps in Time Management.
It helps Managers in setting up realistic deadlines and goals. This can save employees from stressful work conditions and burn out that often happens due to excessive workload.
Tracking time can help in financial management. It reveals the work-time dynamics. This information can greatly help in making good financial decisions for the company.
Efficient Tracking can reveal the efforts of hardworking employees and they can be rewarded for their untiring commitment to excellence.
Time Monitoring can lead to sound estimates for future projects. These estimates could be related to employee management, finances or workload.

Declare an acceptable amount of time spent on non-work related activities

Businesses and Organisations need to recognise the fact that their employees are human beings and not robots. Human beings can get bored, lazy and demotivated at times.

It is a scientifically proven fact that the human concentration declines after a certain time interval and taking a short break revitalizes the mind. This natural limitation often prompts people towards finding escapes. And in an office setting, surfing the internet becomes the easiest and most accessible form of escape for most employees.

To make tracking time acceptable and ease up the anxiety of the employees, organisations should declare that it is acceptable for employees to take small breaks from time to time to refresh their minds. But an appropriate time limit should be set up. This way the employees won’t fear the Time Tracking applications because they know that their infrequent non-work related activities are officially permitted and will not be penalized.

Develop a relationship of Trust

Trust is the most important element for any relationship to work out. Corporate relationships devoid of trust do not go a long way. The employers should inculcate the feeling that the employees are valued and their efforts are trusted. They are not spied on because of any mistrust. But the purpose of Track time is to help the organisation collectively.

Do not micromanage

Employees can get really annoyed if the bosses start micromanaging as an indirect result of Employee Monitoring.

The managers and supervisors need to give freedom to the employees so that they can work independently. When management becomes one-sided and employees are directed to follow the bosses to the letter, their productivity and creativity decline. This way the employees’ potential is not used to the fullest.

Hence, managers and bosses need to draw a line between Micromanagement and Employee Monitoring. They should let the employees do their craft to the best of their knowledge and ability. If Time Tracking leads the employers towards Micromanagement, it can be detrimental for the health and progress of the organisation.

Conclusion

Tracking the time of your employees is a great practice. But it will only yield great profits if done in the right way.

Why Programmers don’t like Time Tracking Software

Programming and Software Development is one of the harder jobs in the world. The professionals of these fields are knowledge workers and their job often is to think, innovate and produce while using the knowledge and experience that they have acquired over the years.

In today’s fast paced world, all businesses want to make the best use of the time at their disposal, same goes for Software Development firms. Lets see how people deal with Time Tracking Software.

Time Tracking Software in Software Development

Time Tracking is used quite a lot in the field of Software Development. Bosses use the software to know how much of the work is done and how much of it is wasted. But more often than not, developers and programmers are not very fond of tracking time and can live without it.

Why programmers don’t like it:

Following are some of the reasons why developers don’t like it.

Many Time Trackers require the user to input entries again and again during the course of the day. Most software engineers and developers are too preoccupied with their tasks to make these entries. Many a times, they forget doing it.
Even if the developers do not forget about making the entry, they feel annoyed about it. It breaks the natural flow of their work. They get annoyed every time they have to pause and redirect their mental energy towards making an entry in the Time Monitoring Software.
Developers often misunderstand the purpose of Time Trackers. And sometimes the purpose of Time Tracking in Software Development is also misunderstood. The work day of a developer involves writing the code, analysing, thinking, debugging, some more debugging, meeting with team members, discussions, research, maintaining documents etc. Not all of these tasks explicitly end up producing the desired results. But all of these tasks definitely contribute to the production of the desired results. When developers are asked to fill in Time sheets, they often face the guilt of being unproductive. They feel that the time they spent doing the research or finding the right algorithm on Stack Overflow might be held against them as a ‘waste of time’. These negative feelings make tracking the time hard.
Development is a technical and creative endeavour. The developers often feel restricted and inflexible when they are constantly watched. With filling time sheets every hour, the goal becomes producing enough work to satisfy the management. It shifts from producing good quality, creative and innovative software. So a lot of programmers feel that their productivity and creativity is compromised.

Why programmers should do it:

The practice of tracking the time is not the evil. But if misunderstood and misused, it becomes a nuisance. Following are the reasons, why developers should use track their time.

Tracking the time while working on a project can give insights about how much work is done. It is a great tool for project management in software engineering.
Time Monitoring can help developers stay focused. While looking up ideas online or doing the research, it is quite possible for developers to wonder off into the land of procrastination and internet memes. But if a programmer is aware of the fact that he will be answerable for the time spent, he is less likely to waste unacceptably large chunks of time.
Good tracking practises can help in effective Time Management. When the managers and developers know about the time that it takes to get a task done, they can set up rational deadlines and milestones for themselves and the team. And this can effectively improve the group culture. Rational goals and deadlines save employees from stress of overwork and burn-out. Employees with good mental health are more valuable then the overworked employees.
Meeting deadlines and delivering the projects timely is the linchpin of a successful software business. By tracking the time, the managers and developers can become diligent about producing good quality work and that too on time. Using a Virtual Office Software can improve the way time is spent. Prioritising the tasks according to urgency and importance can greatly help in producing the deliverables at time.

Choose the Right Software for Tracking Time

Time tracking can become a very annoying practise if you do not choose the right software for your business and team. Knowing the company culture and the limitations of your team, make the correct choice so that it gives a boost to your business. Keep the following points in mind, when you want to choose a time tracker for your developers.

Use a tool that automatically tracks time. Something that works in the background would be perfect. For example, StaffTimerApp only requires the user to start the timer and turn it off. During the rest of the duration, it automatically captures the screenshots of the screen and process them to give statistics of work related and non-work related activities. Therefore, the developer wont be bugged over and over again to track time.

Deploy a software product that is simple to use. You do not need a complex and elaborate multipurpose Time Management system for your developers. Most likely, the developers would already have a few tools that they use for Project Management. So, they do not require to master the use of another tool. in such a case, the use of a MVP like StaffTimerApp can be the better choice.

Conclusion

By using the right Time Tracking software in the right way, you can make the life of the employees easier and boost profits of your company.

Top 5 Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams

The upsurge in the market of Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams and employee monitoring tools suggests that long gone are the days when the employers were limited to the local talent pool. Today, companies and businesses do not feel confined to the 50km radius for hiring the employees.

The unfaltering connectivity has made possible for people situated thousands of miles away from each other to connect, collaborate and push towards common goals.

This new trend in the business world is supported by the many wonderful collaboration tools including online time tracking tools that we have at our disposal. These tools are crucial for a distributed team to survive.

Why Distributed Teams need Online Collaboration Tools

Lack of Proximity:
Proximity is of great importance when teams want to work towards and achieve a common goal. People who are close to us inspire us and keep us motivated. And clearly, considering this point, distributed teams are at a disadvantage. Collaboration Tools make up for the lack of proximity and create a more human connection among the teams. While various online time tracking tools, help keep track of on-going projects.
Different Time Zones:
When you are dealing with remote teams, you are dealing with people who come from diverse countries. The morning for one teammate might be the evening for the other. Nobody wants to work the graveyard shift every day. This problem is also solved by the collaboration tools that are available in the market today. Remote contractors work their part and update the online tools for the other teammates to find out whenever they log in to work. Hence, no matter what time zone the team members belong to, they can collaborate and deliver the results using the online tools. On the other, an employer can easily measure productivity through automatic time tracking systems, no matter the time.
Communication Gap:
Good communication is the key to success for a team. If there is a communication gap in the remote team, people might feel disoriented and confused. Fortunately, this is not a problem today. Instant messaging services like Skype and real-time monitoring like Staff Timer App, have brought teams closer and made their voices heard, no matter how far they are from each other.
Lack of employee monitoring:
The employee Monitoring tool is the key trick of ensuring the productivity of your employees and pushing them towards achieving the goals. Previously, remote employers found themselves handicapped when the question of Employee Monitoring came up. The situation has changed drastically. Many online Time Tracking tools and Virtual Office Softwares equip employers with employee monitoring tool capabilities.

Best Online Collaboration Tools

1. Highrise

Communication with employees can be messy. Communication with clients can be messier. And when the remote employer has to communicate with many employees and many clients, things can get confusing. But Highrise can rescue from all the hassle. Highrise becomes the personal database and online assistant for all the communication. And the employer can control the visibility of the activities by granting access to the employees so that they can assist the employers as well.

The user can also create and track the tasks for the employees through Highrise. It also lets him manage and follow the business deals with the clients.

So if you want to monitor remote teams and you want to be on top of every conversation, use Highrise.

2. Staff Timer App (employee monitoring tool)

Many times in the past, employers felt unsure about hiring telecommuters and remote employees. This is because of the limited employee monitoring capacity while working with remote teams. But now there is a solution.

Employee Time Tracking Software like StaffTimerApp solve all the problems related to remote employee monitoring. It captures screenshots of the employee’s screen after a regular time interval. These screenshots are then processed to calculate the billable and non-billable hours.

Hence, a remote employer does not need to fear being ripped for low quality work. Moreover, the employer can view the real-time progress and productivity of the employees by using the features of Instant Screen Capture and Real-Time Screen Sharing.

3. Basecamp

Working on a project while living away might seem like a bad idea. But it really isn’t. The problem of the communication gap is solved by Basecamp.

Basecamp allows all the team members of a project to engage in collective chats. This way, no one misses out on the important discussion and everything that’s said is on record. Basecamp also gives a common space for saving up the documents. There is no hassle of CCing everyone while sharing the documents.

With this tool, whenever a team member logs in, he can see who did what by when. It also lets the users make interactive To-do lists so that all the projects are under control. So BaseCamp is the ultimate Project Management tool for distributed teams.

4. BeeHopr

The phenomenon of remote work is very thrilling as it opens many doors of opportunities without crossing the physical boundaries. BeeHopr takes this up to another level by building a platform for online business networking. By using BeeHopr, you can meet up like-minded professionals from all around the world.

You can conduct business meetings online without actually leaving your home. You can further your dreams and business goals finding the people who are a great fit for your team.

So if you have a distributed business and you want to find the right employee, use BeeHopr.

5. Slack

Skype was the way to communicate a few years ago. Today, users want much more than the Instant Messaging feature of Skype. Slack provides all that and much more. With Slack, users can have common communication. They can search through the chats for relevant information. Users can create channels relevant to a certain subject.

They can also converse privately. It is a great platform for official communication for a Remote Team. The application is pretty simple to use and has applications for Android and iOS as well. Therefore, users can stay connected no matter where they go.

Conclusion

Using the right tools and mastering their use for collaboration can make the life of a remote team easier and simpler. Using the tools to their full extent can tremendously increase the productivity of the remote teams!

Additional Business and Productivity Trends Resources:

Want to learn more about Business and Productivity trends,

Strategies to Increase Employee Productivity in 2020:

Employers need to prioritize efficiency. They should let employees make a list of daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. By creating a list, they will have a structure and plan to stick to. This will also give them a reason to chase and decrease their chances of getting sidetracked by irrelevant tasks.

10 Ways Managers Can Help Solve Employee Time Management Issues:

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.

Rational and Ethical Employee Monitoring Software

An amazingly large chunk of employees and knowledge workers make use of digital devices to get the work done. Many people around the world spend the 8 work hours constantly using their laptops or PCs and getting the work done.

No wonder, the power of the digital tools and the internet is immense, but it is also an abyss in which people fall often and lose a lot of their time. No matter how diligent you are, you are prone to falling a prey to the tremendously enticing internet and its many forms.

This problem plagues all the businesses around the world but the managers have found the solution in shape of Employee Monitoring Software.

Stealthy Employee Surveillance

Closely monitoring the employee draws many varied opinions and is often seen as controversial. Despite the negative connotations, the industry is on the rise. The worth of Employee Monitoring Industry is $220 million and in the near future it is expected to rise to $550 million, according to 451 Research, a New York Information Technology Research Firm.

The managers feel that monitoring is imperative because they want to save time and money and want the business to progress quickly. The employee tracking software have progressed a great deal as previously they performed URL tracking and keystroke logging to estimate employee activity. Today, they perform stealthy monitoring for the employee activities and keep track of all the activities of the employees.

Is Employee Monitoring Rational

The big question is ‘Is it rational to keep a hawk-eye on your employees’? And if you ask the business managers, they will shed light on not only the rationality but also the cruciality of it.

According to managers, watching over the employees is important because,

It delivers deep insights into the productivity of human resources at hand.If the employees are wasting a lot more time than you can possibly afford, then a good quality software that monitors the employees can guide you towards making decisions for the sake of the sustainability of the business.
Monitoring your employees is not only a way to ensure productivity of your employees, it can save your company from potential corporate data theft. Effective monitoring can make sure that your employees do not fall prey to hazy web applications that steal data and abuse it.
Monitoring the employees would make sure that the employees are complying with the laws and regulations while conducting official activities. Failure to comply with the standard and acceptable practises can land a corporation in messy legal and financial situation. For instance, Irish based book-marker Paddy Power was fined for £310,000 due to non-compliance in carrying out standard KYC checks into clients.

The reasons stated above imply that monitoring practices are, indeed, very important and crucial for the business to sustain and progress.
But is the practise of monitoring your employees ethical?

Is the use of Employee Monitoring Software Ethical

Many employees frown upon the use of Time Tracking and Monitoring tools.

They feel violated. They feel that the scrutiny is slavish. Some employees even complain that been constantly scrutinised makes them nervous and hampers the productivity — instead of improving it.

The balance of monitoring the employees leans in the favour of employers.

There are no laws in the US that prevent employers from monitoring their employees during the work hours. And the monitoring could be audio or visual in nature. So in the legalese terms, it is not a felony to watch over the employees.

To make this legal procedure ethical as well, companies can and should follow some guidelines to make the whole process bearable and seamless.

If your company monitors the employees, make sure that this is clearly mentioned in the company policies and is common knowledge among the employees. Monitoring employees without informing them might be legal but it is definitely not ethical. The full disclosure about stealthy monitoring will make the process a lot more ethical and acceptable.
Set boundaries for the monitoring practices. The surveillance should only happen during the work hours, not during the break hours and certainly never after the work hours. Moreover, only personnel concerned with Human Resources affairs should have access to the monitoring tools.
There is a thin line between monitoring and interfering in the work activities. Employee surveillance should not give the employers and managers the license to question each and every move as it is hurdle in smooth work flow. Too much vigilance can deter the productivity as employees inevitably get confined to follow the set patterns and do not tread the unexplored terrains.
Employees and employers need to develop a bond of trust. Only then, the employees would understand that the monitoring is carried out to boost the productivity and take care of compliance issues instead of targeting the employees negatively. By doing this, it will be easier for the employees to accept the monitoring practices.

Conclusion

The realm of monitoring and surveillance of employees is grey area. But it’s legal nature and utility to save businesses from disastrous situations makes it a reality of the Corporate World.

Use Virtual Office Software for Sustainable Environment

Planet Earth has been heating up. The Glaciers are melting. The icecaps of North and South Pole are melting. Floods are becoming a frequent occurring. All this calls for a change in the way humans have been living their lives because this way is disrupting the ecosystem of the planet.

Although Global Warming has been a reality for more than a century, it is only now that the politicians, influential personnel and the world leaders have started taking notice. The Paris Climate Accord of 2015 was noticed all around. And it made even more headlines when Donald Trump decided to walk out of the agreement.

The agreement pinpointed ways that could be employed to cut down carbon emission. These included changes like shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. These all changes are hard to make because they require infrastructural changes of billions of dollars.

But there are some subtle ways that have the power to bring about great change for the environment. One such way is the democratization of Virtual Office Software. One may wonder how the extensive use of these software cuts down carbon emission.

Following are the ways that it would happen.

How Virtual Office Software helps towards a Greener Planet

Virtual Office Software not only makes employees happy as they can work from the comfort of their homes but it can also have a great impact on the environment. If this lifestyle change is embraced all across, it can make a great impact on the ecosystem.

Teamwork’s time tracker calls for a shift from the traditional strategies of management and record keeping that use paper. Gone is the time when extensive ledgers were updated everyday for the purpose of effective human resources management. Now, most contemporary managers make use of digital software for management and record-keeping. These modern tools are not only more reliable but also have other advantages. The paper saving helps the environment in various dimensions. Fewer trees would be cut down to meet the ever-increasing need for paper. Hence, more trees mean less carbon dioxide as trees consume the carbon dioxide. Moreover, less fuel would be used by the paper production industry when the demand of paper becomes less.
The advent of Time Tracking Software and Employee Monitoring Software empowers the people to do remote work and telecommuting. With this facility, the people can work from their homes. They would not need to travel every day to the workplace. Imagine! If you could save all the fuel that you spend every day, imagine the reduction of carbon footprint by your effort. If a major chunk of workforce becomes remote, collective effort by all the people would make a huge difference.
When people work from their homes, the employers save the cost of maintaining a workplace. For example, electric power is used less. Now just think for a second, if half of the workforce starts working from home, so much of electric power will be saved. Less use of electric power means fewer fossil fuels are burnt to produce it and hence less CO2 is released into the environment.
In the remote work environment, the communication is carried out through digital media. Since emails, instant messengers, voice and video chat options are used, less paper is consumed. There is no need for formalities like official memoranda to be sent out every day. Employees do not use notepads and paper for note taking as often. Hence, the use of paper is less. And the advantages of less paper use are aforementioned.
With the use of remote employee monitoring software, less wastage is produced. The burden of office building waste will reduce. Today, most of the modern and developed countries have set up recycling plants to incinerate and recycle the waste and garbage. And these plants also expend fuel and give off heat and carbon dioxide. If Corporate Sector reduces the amount of litter produced, a major difference will be made.

Conclusion

Virtual Office Software has been a pretty awesome tool. It has made us change our work life and work habits. It has changed the way we conduct business. And more often than not, these software is advertised as a great asset to businesses and contractors and it enables them to expand their businesses and increase their profits.

These certainly are the advantages of this genre of software. But undoubtedly, the most far-reaching advantage is that these software will reduce the carbon footprint on the planet as they initiate a lifestyle change that asks for less fuel consumption and hence less carbon dioxide is produced.

Use Virtual Office Software to help your Blogging Business

During the early years of the new millennium, a blog was primarily a forum where a single individual shared his views and opinions about a certain niche.

Perez Hilton, who often annoyed celebrities with his ramblings, was one of the pioneers of entertainment blogging. But over the past several years, blogging has evolved into an elaborate field.

Today, there are many diverse kinds of blogs, covering every area one could possibly imagine. With blogging being an elaborate, innovative and fast paced field, more often than not, blog owners hire writers and authors who share the same passion and ideas as them.

Food bloggers hire chefs who have a knack for experimental cooking or a food journalist who visits restaurants and produces honest reviews. Similarly, entertainment bloggers hire writers who are up to date about the happenings of the la la land.

Since finding people in close vicinity, who have such precise qualities, is hard, bloggers often hire remote writers who can produce exactly the kind of content that they are looking for. And this is when Virtual Office Software comes into the picture.

Why the need of Virtual Office Software arose

Many writers bill by the hour and this creates an uncomfortable situation for the employers and the employees. Employees often are not sure:

how much time does it exactly take to produce content for an individual writer.
if the employees waste time on activities not related to work and include them in the billable hours as well.
if the employees actually spent time on research or were they simply wondering over the internet.
about the productivity and profitability of a certain writer.

Many of the woes of blog owners could be addressed using Remote Time Tracking software. Even though internet has been popular for more than two decades now, Virtual Office Software has only made it to the market several years ago and they are tremendously effective at helping out employers in managing their teams and giving a push to the productivity.

Writers go through many phases before a good quality article takes shape. This includes tracking information, organising the information, using software for identifying effective keywords and finally writing and publishing the article.

Remote employee monitoring can help both the writers and blog owners in getting a clear picture of how time is spent in putting up an article together.

How a Virtual Office Software helps bloggers

A Virtual office software tailored to the needs of a blogger could boost the productivity of your team and the profitability of your business to a great extent. Following features can especially help a blog owner.

Remote monitoring has become possible by the Software available for Time Tracking. Now a blog owner can hire writers without worries due to inadequate monitoring options.
Precise reports of work progress, productivity and time spent on a project let a blog owner know how apt a writer is. These evaluation statistics can help a blogger do the math necessary to boost profits.
They can help a client in diagnosing habits of employees that cause a decline in productivity. Is the writer not very well versed with the subject and spends too much time on the internet while learning about it? It means he’s not very competent. Does the writer get distracted a lot by all the social media apps, thats a problem that could be solved by diligent tracking.

Conclusion

If you are a blogger and you want your business to become more productive, start using a Time Tracking Software!

How Time Tracking Software makes Freelancing easier?

Freelancing and telecommuting are on an all-time high. Thanks to the wonderful technological advancements in the areas of Communication and Networking. Freelancing has become a choice among tech professionals as it does not hinder their careers and gives them a chance to work from the comfort of their homes.

Many freelancers are able to save time spent while commuting to the workplace. Many employers save money by not having to pay for the office premises and supplies. In short, it is a win-win situation. However, the freelancing does come with many pitfalls.

It is not always a smooth ride and the problems can have many professional and financial repercussions. To solve these issues, freelance time tracking can help a great deal.

Let’s look at some of the downsides of Freelancing and see how effective Time tracking practices can assist us!

How Freelance Time Tracking Helps

Getting distracted

While freelancers are saved from the distractions of water cooler gossips and office grapevines, they are certainly prone to different versions of distractions that are equally or sometimes even more harmful.

The freelancers who primarily work is the software business report being distracted by Social Media a lot. A small trip to Facebook might seem trivial but too many of them can amount to a few hours.

However, worry not freelancers! This problem could be easily resolved by using a good quality employee monitoring software. Today, there are many Softwares out there that could track time correct to the second.

This way, employers and employees could get a better idea of how the work hours are spent. Identifying distractions is the first step of getting over the problem.

Inaccurate billing

Many freelancers bill by the hour. They fill up spreadsheets that later translate into billable invoices. However, the practice of exaggerated billing is very common in freelancing.

Tracking time manually is often inaccurate and can cost employers more than what they really owe. Alternatively, inaccurate billing could also mean that the freelancers get paid less simply because they couldn’t keep track of the time they actually spent in getting a job done.

Automated Time tracking can actually protect everyone from a loss. Accurate employee time tracking, which provides insights into how the time is actually spent, will lead to correct billing. And neither the employee nor the employer will be in a loss.

Loss of productivity

Many freelancers face the problem of procrastination. With no-one to boss around, freelancers are at the liberty of spending the day however they like.

But this liberty can come at a cost. Many times, procrastination causes loss of productivity. Similarly, many times multitasking also causes a decline in productivity. According to a report by the American Psychological Association, multitasking causes a 40 percent drop in productivity.

Complete Employee Monitoring Software and the many innovative features keep a watchful eye over the progress of a freelancer and do not let him get off the track while working towards a goal.

Loss of quality of work

As more and more people from the 3rd world countries have started pouring into the Software business, finding good quality freelancers have become hard.

More often than not, the work delivered by freelancers isn’t of the same quality as promised by their portfolio. This discrepancy later revealed that many freelancers outsource their work on lower pricing and essentially act as a middleman.

There are a few time tracking software that provides an elegant solution to this conundrum. Some apps have the feature of real-time employee monitoring. They give the employer the option of viewing the activities and progress of the remote employee in real-time. Hence, the employer can ensure the quality of work.

Low levels of Remote Monitoring

It is a natural human trait to feel relaxed about work when nobody is looking. That is why many employers still prefer that employees join them in standard office premises every day so that the work is done. Low levels of employee monitoring can prompt employees to slow down during work, procrastinate more and in general harbor more distractions.

Many software equips employers with sophisticated tools for remote monitoring. They provide access to employees so that they can keep a hawk-eye not only on the progress made but also on the activity of the employees. Such features can greatly reduce the pains of freelancing.

While there are many time tracking software out there, the best ones are highly automated. They work behind the scenes and generate precise reports that are indeed flawless. Applications like these have greatly enhanced the confidence for telecommuting and remote working in the eyes of the employers as they get the power of vigilance and rely on the Software for correct management practices.

Keeping this in mind, we are quite positive that more and more people will opt for freelancing in the future!