We are sure most of you are familiar with the famous saying, ‘time is money.’ The saying is true, which is why many companies live by it. Companies buy time from their employees and sell it as a service to their customers. As a result of this, organizations have introduced time tracking measures into the workplace as it allows them to make better business decisions based on the productivity and efficiency of their staff. It is important organizations understand the importance of tracking time and create guidelines that employees can follow.
Why it’s important to track time
A 2020 Connecteam study estimates that over 75% of the businesses in the US are affected by ‘time theft’. Time theft is what happens when employees get paid for the time they didn’t work. Businesses that are looking to gain an advantage over their competitors should look to implement time tracking as it’s important to know how your employees are spending their time.
Benefits of time tracking
Your organizations will gain a lot by implementing time tracking. Here are a few of the benefits:
Transparency into work processes
Tracking time means you will gain more insight into your business. You will be able to see what tasks are being completed and how much effort and time is required. It allows you to prioritize tasks and activities that require more effort and time than others. Also, you will gain an insight into your team’s capacities and view who the most productive employees are, or which ones take longer to complete their tasks.
Increase profitability
If you want to improve your business’s profitability, you should start by dealing with the issue of wasted time. You can use time tracking to see which tasks are using up too much time. From there you can then eliminate them entirely or find new ways to automate and streamline them. Time tracking can also improve performance, create more accurate invoices and estimates, as well as decrease unnecessary spending.
Bill and pay accurately
Another benefit of time tracking is that it allows you to clearly see the amount of time it takes to finish a project. This is important when it comes to billing a client as you can check the amount of time spent on designated tasks. Eliminate the possibility of mistakes from miscalculation and billing errors that could have a negative impact on you, or on your business.
Improve your team’s productivity
Your employees can monitor the hours they work and their productivity. This then allows them to view opportunities where they can improve their productivity and provides managers with insight into who needs assistance. Managers can also allocate more time to employees struggling with projects to help them be more productive.
Read on: How time tracking helps your business
7 Golden rules of employee time tracking
Rule 1 – Log your time early
It’s important not to get into the bad habit of logging late time entries. The more time that passes, the cloudier your memory gets which results in a bad quality of your logged entries. Ensure you log your entries early so that you have a precise record.
Rule 2 – Quality of entries
When you look at your time entries, you should be able to clearly define what you worked on at that specific time. Failure to do so could result in you being unable to justify what you were working on.
Rule 3 – Don’t spend too long on time entries
While time tracking can save you time and money, it’s important for employees to not spend too long logging their time entries. Dedicating too much time to it could be counterproductive and end up costing you more time and money. Employees shouldn’t be spending more than 5 minutes logging a single time entry. Opt for a software solution that has a user-friendly interface that makes the process quick and easy.
Rule 4 – No need to track every detail
We are all humans and while organizations care about the time you work, small breaks are a part and parcel of a working day. You don’t need to stop tracking time every time you leave your PC for a short break.
Rule 5 – Analyze time reports
There’s no point in asking employees to track time and having access to detailed time reports if you are never going to use them. They can provide you with great insight that you could use to make business decisions that will have a huge benefit. Use this data to identify areas that can be improved and make changes that will benefit your company.
Rule 6 – Educate employees
Educating your employees on the importance of tracking time will ensure smooth implementation. Not only should you educate them on the importance of it, but you should walk them through the time tracking tool, how it works, and what you expect from them. Create guidelines for them to follow so that you can eliminate the chance of confusion.
Rule 7 – Don’t micromanage your employees
It’s important not to monitor what your employees are doing every minute of the day as it can lead to a lack of trust. While some employees may take longer to complete a certain task, it could result in a higher quality piece of work. Remember that time tracking isn’t the only metric you should use to evaluate your employee’s performance.
Use Vault for time tracking
Now that you have seen the importance of time tracking and the 7 rules your employees should follow, why not pick a time tracking solution? You should choose one that allows you to bill with ease, is simple to use, provides you with unique insight, and can improve your team’s productivity. Luckily for you, Vault does all of that.
Read on: The best time tracking software for projects
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