Time tracking has become popular in recent years and is used not only by individuals or freelancers but also by larger companies. Employers use it to learn how much time their workers spend on activities, to manage tasks and projects, and to improve the management of the entire business. All with the help of time tracking categories that make it easier to organize work. But to ensure proper administration, it’s important to use the right time tracking practices. In today’s article, TimeCamp presents an introduction to best time tracking practices – why track project time.
Why Track Time?
The motives for implementing time tracking into the business may be different. They all depend on the type of company, its main goal toward customers, or other internal or external factors. However, an important aspect of such motives is the fact that they may change over the course of years. As things change in the business, so will the motives. And that’s why you should always ask yourself the question: “Why do I want to track time and what is the main reason for time tracking?”
Do you want to implement time tracking because you need to find out what your employers do with their working hours? Or maybe because it helps manage projects? Once you know the answer to the question, it’ll be much easier to manage your business. Nevertheless, the question is always concerned with time data. More specifically, what do you need that time data for? How will it help you? And what are you going to do with it? And among the issues of time data and its reference to time tracking are such questions as the following:
- How will the data help in managing the projects?
- How much time does it take to finish a project?
- What amount of money is being spent on particular projects?
- How much money is being invested in the work?
- How effective are employees in their work?
And as your company grows, projects and priorities change, so will the questions. But it will always be about time data and the question of what do you need it for. Eventually, you will develop your own model of managing things and time tracking.
The Guiding Principles
In order to implement the best time tracking practices, first, you need to focus on the principles that will guide you through the process of and time tracking itself. You also should remember that it concerns your employees, so be ready to introduce your assumptions to them. And to help you with that you can follow these four principles:
- What is the reason for time tracking? Explain to your employees why your company needs time tracking and what are the benefits of it. It should be clear to everyone why you’re collecting them. Otherwise, employees will feel as if they’re being monitored.
- Make tracking time easy. People will get discouraged if time tracking is too complicated. Provide guidelines on how to use time tracking software. Chose the most suitable tool for your company so that it doesn’t lose its purpose.
- Time tracking process should start at the top. If you’re expecting your employees to be engaged in the time tracking process while you’re not part of it, it’s not going to work. Everyone in the company should participate and use task and time management software.
- Know the limitations of your data. You have to be able to draw the right conclusions from the collected data. Learn what you should pay attention to and what to avoid.
Summing Up
It’s all about the data. Once you know why you need, what will you use it for, and what benefits will it bring to the company, you can find out about the best practices for time tracking. But before we discuss it, make sure you understand the core aspects of time tracking listed above.
