Tag: Time Tracking

Why Personal Time Tracking is Important

stafftimer effective blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is a personal time tracking?

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

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

How to track time

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

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

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

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

Time tracking software

Time tracking software allows users to effectively track their time.  

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

Employee time tracking software 

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

See Also: Best Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees

Time Tracking: Advantages

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

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

Time Tracking: Disadvantages

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

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

Key Takeaways

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

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

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

Best Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees in an Organization

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

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

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

Choosing a Time Clock App for Multiple Employees

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

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

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

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

Staff Timer 

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

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

Platform: Windows and macOS

 

  See Also: Employee Engagement Activities in Companies

HoursTracker 

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

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

Platform: Android and iOS

Toggl

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

It’s free features include: 

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

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

Time Doctor

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

Its main features include:

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

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

Rhumbix

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

Its main features include:

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

Platform: Android, iOS, and Web

 

     See Also: freelance time tracker

OsMonitor

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

Its main features include:

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

Platform: Windows

Key Takeaways

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

10 best time management apps in 2020

Time management apps are becoming increasingly common due to rising demand. Every business enterprise or startup is concerned about maintaining productivity levels, and that is only possible through an efficient time tracking or project management system.

It gives an accurate picture and insight into employee’s productivity and manifests their peak performance levels. Time monitoring apps bring-in more cost efficiency and transparency into businesses thus generating more revenue than ever before.

Here we are detailing 10 best time management apps in 2020 that you will need to save and manage your time:

Slack – collaboration and communication

Slack is one of the most used management apps that companies prefer. It is basically a tool for communication and collaboration. Slack offers shared channels with search options. It can be integrated with numerous other project management app(s). These are some of the features that make the work convenient and staff members located around the world can connect with each other.

    • You can pin messages and refer to channels
    • Manage and track documents
    • Advanced search option
    • Shared channels to streamline work activities

It’s especially good if you are located in workspaces scattered around the country or world even. You can communicate and coordinate across businesses or units of the same business that require secure communication. Not only this, you can easily streamline your sidebar through it.

For instance, if you need to send frequent messages to some channels more than another. You can make them ascend in the sidebar to ease the process for you. Google calendar app can be integrated to keep your schedule on track.

Platforms: Windows, iOS, Linux

Website: slack.com

StaffTimerApp – Time tracking for employees

Stafftimer App is one of the best time management apps available in this competitive market of time trackers. It assists global teams and also remote workers to track their productivity.

There are some unique features offered on this app which include the following:

    • Real-time monitoring
    • Task assignment via voice clips
    • Intelligence reports
    • Daily work image & video logs
    • Instant screen capture
    • Keystroke & mouse activity

The screenshot feature is optional for example if an employee is involved in fieldwork and employers can simply opt-out of screenshot capture feature and just track the time alone. 

With audio clips process of assigning tasks is expediated in an unprecedented manner. Lengthy emails are outdated now. Even feedback is given via this method. This saves time for both an employer and an employee. On the other hand, Real-time monitoring is a live screen sharing with an employee. An employer can actually visualize, what his staff member is up to? Similarly, intelligence reports will provide insights into how much time was spent on different URLs.

Above all, daily work videos provide employees with an overview of their whole day’s progress. It has a user-friendly interface and convenient for every significant industry like legal, healthcare, accounting, designing, accounting or even freelancing. So if you want to make time tracking your habit, it’s for you.

Staff timer app provides on-demand integrations with any software of your choice.

Platforms: Windows, Mac

Website: stafftimerapp.com

Asana – Project & time management apps

 

Asana is one of the most commonly known and popular products available for project management. It helps you monitor and track your goals and projects to further your business. It helps you decide, and handle your priorities and projects in a structured way.

You can assign tasks and then watch them progress. Never miss deadlines by creating a timeline so you never miss out on anything. There are 100 integrations that help you bring every useful file and document in one place.

    • Activity feed
    • Automatic updates on emails
    • Track tasks and add followers
    • Comment on tasks

You can track the most important or urgent tasks based on customized preferences. Create projects and teams private to protect sensitive information.

Platforms: Andriod, iOS, Chrome

Website: asana.com

Evernote – Note tracking app

 

Evernote is one of the best time managing solutions for note-taking especially if you are not organized and feel lost when you are unable to locate your required document. No matter what device you use, it will store and retain your most important information.

There are various methods through which you can store your information with Evernote:

    • You can type notes, take photos or even add voice notes
    • Less hassle in organizing or searching the notes
    • You can create notebooks that are folders precisely

It does offer an interesting feature of tracking data with the help of geolocation which means you can trace data based on the location when you entered it. Asana has an optical character recognition function that caters to images you upload with text on them. For example, a handwritten note whose image you took and added.

Platform: iOS, Mac, Windows, Android

Website: evernote.com

Remember the Milk – App for managing tasks

 

Remember the milk is a kind of virtual assistant for managing your time and tasks. It offers a smart list option that sets a distinction between personal and professional tasks. It helps you to:

    • Update task
    • Create subtasks
    • Set deadlines ranging from days, months, & years

You can share tasks and lists with others. It’s a free-to-use app unless you subscribe to its premium features. Pro users can add unlimited users, restrict access to edit, and can work in offline status as well.

Platform: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Fire, Apple Watch

Website:
www.rememberthemilk.com

Todoist – Task management lists

 

Todoist is one of the strongest task managers that can handle things from simple domestic task to an important and professional one. It’s one of the most suitable time management apps for both business teams or individuals like freelancers. It can handle both basic and advanced level tasks.

Some of its key features are:

    • SSL secured connection
    • Task priorities
    • Projects and subprojects
    • Active projects can be 80 with 5 members at maximum in each

It offers more than 100 integrated tools. Todo-ist is available on most of the devices with the consistent design shown on all of them. You can pin your important projects, label or filter them accordingly.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, Chrome, Safari, Linux

Website: todoist.com

Basecamp – Organize Projects

Basecamp is one of the most popular project management applications. It doesn’t only keep to-do lists, but also keep notes, files and events’ schedules as well. This app holds central importance for task organization. It has a user-friendly interface with a one-month free subscription.

Its benefits include:

    • Transparent management and accountability
    • More efficient communication and coordination
    • Updated customizations and integrations

Every project depicts outdated to-do tasks and stores all the files associated with each of the tasks even if the deadline has exceeded. Basecamp is suitable for companies of all sizes and even for remote workers.

Many renowned multinationals are its clients. This task manager is supported in multiple languages and an ideal fit for globally sparsed teams.

Platforms: web, iOS, Android, Mac, and PC

Website: basecamp.com

Trello – A work collaboration tool

Trello is an extremely user-friendly task management software that gives an impression of a whiteboard. It’s free of cost and you can create multiple boards with your to-do lists, along with ‘doing’ and ‘done’ task cards.

    • Quick overview
    • Drag and drop function
    • Easy to organize with tags and labels

There are cards within boards where one can add tasks and set the due date as needed. Collaborations are simplified with this software. With the free version, one can have an unlimited number of boards, cards, checklists, and attachments. You can remove or delete the cards from the boards and can rename them anytime. Besides you can add as many members as you like into them.

This software provides seamless integrations with google docs and dropbox. 

Platforms: Web, Mac, Windows

Website: trello.com

Dropbox – Store and Organize files

Dropbox is one of the most widely known and popular file-sharing options. It’s considered the most prestigious document storage and sharing software. It is suitable for both businesses and individuals’ needs.

With the help of cloud storage, it makes the entire process extremely convenient for accessing, storing and retrieving files.

    • Simplified link sharing via email, chat or even a text
    • Provide offline access
    • Online backup and file retrieval
    • Manually determined bandwidths
    • Accessible from any device

Dropbox offers a successful and trend-setting referral program. Through which 500MB storage is obtained with every referral. There are numerous software that allows data sharing but not as efficient as dropbox even that, for free.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android

Website: www.dropbox.com

Proof hub – Project Planning Software

Proof hub brings in many features to eliminate the need of subscribing to numerous apps for task management solutions. It tries to develop a centralized location for communication, project management, and handle teams efficiently.

    • Workflows and boards
    • Mobile and tablet compatibility
    • Advanced search
    • Multiple languages

It helps you upload your documents easily from a centralized location. No more hassle to manage documents through email. It is a reporting software that presents a report on how the resources were used and give the insight to track the progress of various projects.

Remote members can use it to discuss and share ideas with each other as it also serves as a communication tool.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Website: www.proofhub.com

4 Strategies to Improve Your Productivity as a Freelancer

There is no denying that the freelance market is appealing to many professionals all over the world. According to a 2019 study on a US-based independent workforce, the freelance market generates nearly $1 trillion in income. That’s almost 5% of the US GDP.

A 2018 Entrepreneur article reports that there are over 57 million Americans working as freelance professionals as of 2017. Considering the numerous advantages freelance employment brings to the table. That number will definitely rise in the future.

However, even the most hardworking and diligent freelance workers are not immune to procrastination and distractions. Poor productivity is a constant issue for many business organizations that employ freelance workers, mostly remote teams from all over the world. Missed deadlines and late submissions from your freelance workforce can set you back and even cost your business its precious clients and projects.

The good news is that productivity issues are easy to fix. With the following productivity strategies, you can expect your freelance workforce to deliver high-quality output at a productive rate.

Use Time Trackers

Time Tracking Software and apps are not new. However, they are still highly effective tools to keep productivity up in the workplace. The same can be said for professional freelancers and remote teams.

Many companies require their independent workers to install a time tracker on their devices. Many solutions provide a customizable freelance time tracking template that managers can configure so it tracks or records specific information such as hours worked, time spent on breaks, and averages.

Workers log in before their designated work schedule or project-related tasks. They then log out after their shift or once their tasks are accomplished.

Many time trackers are built to document not just hours but record the time spent on work down to the last second or minute. This is an effective productivity strategy especially if your organization bill your workers by the hour.

Activate Random Screen Capture

You can’t monitor your freelance worker’s progress all the time. Yet you want to make sure he or she is spending working hours on actual work. That’s understandable. Your company doesn’t want to pay for unproductive hours.

One way of ensuring your freelance employees are indeed working during their supposed working hours is to capture images of their screens at random times. It helps identify who is working and who is spending their hours doing something else. Such a feature empowers your workers to devote all their billable time to work, driving productivity up.

You may settle for a free time tracking software for freelancers. However, if you want this feature, you may have to invest in premium productivity and time tracking suite.

Give Your Best Tasks and Projects to Top Performing Freelancers

You can create and cultivate a productive environment for your independent workers if you include a gamification element to your approach. Instead of just assigning tasks and projects to the next available worker, you can send your most critical and high-paying jobs to your best freelancers.

Publishing their names as well as their earnings on a leaderboard will definitely entice your freelance employees to perform better and turn in great results to rise up the ladder. Aside from boosting their performance and productivity, your freelance workers become more engaged and dynamic.

By adding an element of competition, you can empower your freelance workforce to prove their worth, which then translates to better results and improved productivity.

Limit or Block Access to Certain Sites and Social Media

There are numerous productivity apps for PC and mobile devices that can track time and capture screenshots at random moments. On top of that, you also want your productivity apps to limit or block your freelance workers’ access to specific websites and social media sites that cause distraction and fuel procrastination.

Such capability is quite useful, especially when social media sites have proven to take much from a worker’s productivity. That said, not all social media is bad for work. Some employees spend their break watching funny cat videos. Others use social media and other sites for research, communication, and collaboration purposes.

Companies should establish guidelines on social media usage by their freelance workers. Many of today’s work processes are built on online connectivity and access to the Internet. That means the complete banning of social media is not a viable option. While social media can be detrimental to a worker’s efficiency and productivity, it can also be a huge asset when utilized properly.

Automation, Collaboration, and Communication are Key

If you want to have a highly effective and productive team of freelancers, you need to put them in an environment that fosters effortless and painless automation, communication, and collaboration.

Your freelance employees don’t want to spend time typing their credentials whenever they open devices and log in to their respective accounts. Many productivity apps automate the logging in of multiple systems and different credentials.

Communication between and among your freelance employees should be instant and smooth. Instead of relying on lengthy email threads, replace them with real-time communication tools and task management platforms for faster and more effective communication, instruction, and deployment.

By centralizing tasks, information, contacts, and more, you can maximize your freelancers’ capabilities and talents, optimize processes, and deliver desired results.

5 Reasons why your Employee Engagement may be spiralling down

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

— STEPHEN R. COVEY

Do you have a high employee turnover rate?

Are you facing a difficulty in figuring out what to do about it?

If you thought of ‘yes’ to both of these questions, this article is for you.

If you want your employees to stay, you need to give them a reason.

Imagine this:

You hire employees at the rate of 10 per month but lose them at the rate of 12 per month. All new ones leave within the first two weeks, including two of the older employees.

The very next month, you hire 20 employees and the cycle continues.

Disengaged employees cost organisations between $450 and $550 billion annually, according to The Engagement Institute.

This needs to stop and here’s how you can do it.

Before I dive into the reasons for your company’s downward sloping employee engagement rate, I need you to ask yourself these questions:

  1. Do you offer your help to your team?
  2. Do you ask for their advice before taking any major decision?
  3. Have you ever asked your team for guidance on your leadership style?
  4. How far has your team progressed in achieving their goals?

If the answers to one or more of the above questions are negative, don’t panic!

There are many companies that face a difficulty when it comes to retaining their employees.

In fact, according to Globoforce, an estimated 36% of the businesses find employee engagement as a top challenge.  

Over the years, we have gathered enough data from our employees and I bring you these few gems of information that I believe will help your business grow.
Let’s get started!

Conclusion

The gist of the matter is this:

To keep the employee engagement rates stable or always going up, you as a business owner, need to take to care of five major things. 

1. Ignoring causes and criticising effects | Focus on WHY, not the WHAT.
    Figure out why your employees may be underperforming.
    It could be a personal or work-related issue. Try to help them.
2. Dragging and ineffective surveys | Plan out and optimise your feedback process.
    No one likes to spend hours filling out a survey with 100 questions on it.
    Be fair and keep them short and relevant.
3. Focus on actions instead of feelings | Perks are temporary, inner drive is not.
    Giving your employees perks will make them happy temporarily.
    Make sure they are achieving personal and professional goals as well.  
4. Lack of Training and Development | Invest today, reap benefits tomorrow.
    Train your employees. Help them grow with the company.
    Stagnant employee development will greatly hinder the company’s growth.
5. Non-existent or rare employee recognition | Acknowledge employees’ efforts.
    Employees work better when they know they are cared for and appreciated.
    Even a ‘Thank You’ goes a long way.

That’s pretty much it!

Feel free to apply these tips to your business and see the employee engagement rates go up in record time!

Team’s productivity and company’s revenues are bound to see a rise too.

Boost Productivity With Top 4 Employee Monitoring Tools

Ever been torn between the ultimate choice of Employee Monitoring Tool for boosting productivity?

This article is definitely going to help you out and decide which one is the best tool for you. Some of the primary factors, that we will be looking at for the purpose of this article are:

  • Affordability
  • Features
  • Services
  • Ease of Use

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is currently the industry leader in when it comes to remote monitoring, time tracking, invoicing and billing solutions. Founded in 2012, Hubstaff since then has seen an upward growth trend in terms of the services being offered as well as the customer base.

There are a total of 3 pricing plans offered by Hubstaff – Free, Basic and Premium. The Basic Plan starts at $5 per user per month and goes up to $10 per user in the Premium Plan.

Hubstaff is not just a timekeeping software but has expanded its features to become versatile. Also, include online timesheets, employee scheduling, payroll software, and employee monitoring. Followed by productivity measurement, GPS tracking, online invoicing and project budgeting.

They offer a wide range of features, which can be overwhelming for people who just wish to use a few of those many features. Many people have faced issues with their timekeeping functions and how it relates to the payroll system.

2. TimeDoctor

TimeDoctor is one of the leading timekeeping software(s) that helps employees monitor their team’s productivity. It helps them boost the numbers by tracking time and progress. It was established in 2012. Since then has expanded operations to over 23 countries and works fully remotely.

With the pricing of TimeDoctor starting at $5.00 per month per user and going up to $9.99 per user per month, it’s pricing is not very different from Hubstaff.

TimeDoctor offers a number of features like time tracking, screenshots, powerful reporting, billing, off-track reminders and even tracking breaks.
It is yet to add integration with mobile phones, which would really boost the ease of use of the application.

3. StaffTimerApp

Staff Timer Tracking software is an AI-driven time tracking solution that uses artificial intelligence to assist employers with real-time team monitoring. It also offers advanced and intelligent reporting and task assignment via voice clips. Staff Timer Application is a relatively young one into the market but has caught on to the ongoing trends quite quickly.

When it comes to the affordability factor, they offer its basic plan from just £2.99 per month per member and goes up to just £5.00 per month per member. It’s the most inexpensive of all the time tracking solutions in the industry. It’s a perfect fit for freelancers, small, mid-sized and large teams.
They offer four main features that include:

  • Real-time reporting
  • Voice recording tasks
  • Image and video proofs
  • Screenshots after every minute, and
  • Daily work videos, created from all the recorded screenshots.

Staff Timer App is simple and easy to use with the option to manage multiple companies and projects using a single platform. With a lot of upcoming features like invoicing, task-wise billing, payroll management, etc. It sure is a promising app in the market.

4. Toggl

Toggle is one of the rising stars in the time tracking industry. It allows people to manage their teams and track productivity. It was founded in 2007 and has made considerable progress since then.

With an affordability score of around 3 on 5, Toggl offers 3 pricing plans. The first of which is the free plan with limited usability. The paid plans start from $5 per user per month and go up to $49 per user per month. With this pricing,

Toggl ranks more expensive than the two industry giants, Hubstaff and TimeDoctor.

The services offered by Toggl include time tracking, flexible and sound reporting, automatic timesheet management and business intelligence reports. Although a bit pricey, Toggl supports integrations with most devices (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.).

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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