How to improve project management by automatic time tracking

Time translates to dollars and each member of a team is paid for their time. For the sake of fairness, it is important to treat time as gold because it is. Employees need to maximize their time in given tasks because each minute gained or lost are dollars going either in and out of a company. To show that you have the skills  what it takes to be on the job you have to show that you can turn in dollars, meaning you have what it takes to use time efficiently and to come up with outstanding results. Luckily, project managers nowadays can get hold of a time tracking software to make sure that every minute and every second is well spent.

Better Chance of Meeting Deadlines

If you need to meet deadlines then a time tracker is an absolute lifesaver. With a time tracker you will know how long you have been spending on a project and in what phase of the project you are in so you have a bird’s eye view on everything. If you notice that your team is already putting in all the effort but you still sense you are going eerily slowly you can look at the time tracker to see where the roadblocks are. For example, an employee may be spending too much time on a larger task instead of helping team members on more important points or the team in itself may be overwhelmed by such a huge task that they need help. Knowing all the details can help you fix unpleasant situations and move your project forward.

Your team’s work will never go unpaid

A time tracker records every effort of each employee’s task on the job so all those meeting and overtime will never go unpaid. A time tracker gives an accurate report of how employees spend their time. Every single minute will be billed and each minute has a comprehensive report of tasks being done. With a regular timer, they may end up forgetting about those important tasks such as sending an e-mail to a client or planning with a colleague. With time, tracker all those essential and important tasks are always being monitored.

Improved project estimations

It is easy to make the wrong estimations if you don’t know exactly how much time a project is going to take. By using a time tracker, you have a more realistic and exact prediction of how long a project is going to take. For example, if you know that a photoshop project would take 50 hours based on previous experience you can easily set up future similar projects with the same expectations and allow the correct time and budget for it. There will be less miscommunication between you and your clients, and there are better chances of you being able to deliver around the expected time.

Avoiding Work Overload

When you know the realistic time table it takes to finish a task you will be able to appropriately give just the right number of tasks to each of your employees. There are fewer chances that your employees will be overworked or stressed since everyone is working within realistic expectations. You won’t be taking projects whose deadlines are impossible to meet and overworking your employees in the process. There will be less frustration in the workplace overall. You can discover workflow inefficiencies as well and free time for useful work. You can discover the most productive activities and you can discover employees who need more support and finding out under what conditions they perform their best.

Prioritization

Not all tasks are created equal. In fact, some tasks can be labeled as less important or not important or of utmost importance. Labeling tasks can help in prioritization and there will be less confusion on which tasks need to be fulfilled first. Your team can focus on problems that are truly urgent so you can avoid a major disaster or consequence in case the problem doesn’t get solved immediately. You can also get this opportunity to spot if your employees are focusing on the non-important tasks. Take this as an opportunity to state your expectations so they can focus on immediate matters.

Time Tracker for Small Businesses

A time tracker can be a lifesaver for small businesses and it can help you have a more cohesive unit that can achieve results. When you know exactly what everyone is doing you have the chance to be strict and influence employee behavior for better outcomes.

It’s important to choose a helpful time tracker app

The time tracker app you choose should be packed with powerful features that will be useful for handling your employees. Time trackers with computer usage and productivity are helpful to project managers so you can have a better view of each employee’s contribution to the team. Read also: https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2021/06/top-desktop-time-tracker-apps/.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.