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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.