How to enhance projects efficiency with time-tracking software

How does your team work? Are they wasting time? Are available resources being fully utilized? Do they choose the shortest path to achieve the desired effect? All these questions help to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular team.  

Efficiency gains don’t happen overnight. Even if you know what steps to take, this does not mean that your employees will be more productive tomorrow. To achieve this goal, you need to show consistency and patience. As well, time tracking software for projects is a solution you’ve been looking for. 

Why time-tracking is necessary

Effectiveness

Most systems have a performance measurement function that is calculated based on completed tasks and hours worked. This helps both to control working hours and optimize processes within the company. You can understand when an employee is most effective, which tasks he does faster, and which ones require more time and resources. The manager, in turn, uses this data to properly distribute the workload and set deadlines.

Discipline 

Many employees work more efficiently if their working hours are clearly recorded and they report on completed tasks. During the pandemic, in connection with the transition to remote work, programs, and sites that record work processes have become more in demand.

Automation and security 

With the help of programs, a pass system, and face recognition, it is possible to simplify the processes of fixing late arrivals, missed deadlines, absences from the workplace, and overtime work. The systems also help protect trade secrets and make it harder for attackers to access corporate data.

Overworking

When an employee works more hours, extra hours are treated as overtime and are paid accordingly. However, according to judicial practice, if an employee does not have time to perform their tasks for an eight-hour working day or work shift, and there is no order from employers to involve them in overtime work, such work is not considered overtime.  

Delays at work may be due to the slow pace of the person’s work or the fact that they do not cope with their duties. Such work is usually not paid extra. In the case where there is an order, additional hours are paid accordingly: the first two hours at 1.5x the hourly rate and the following hours at double the rate. There should be no more than 120 hours of overtime per year for each employee, regardless of his job responsibilities.

If the employer sets the employee work tasks that must be completed after or before the working day (meetings or other assignments), judicial practice assesses this as follows: these actions are performed by the employee voluntarily. 

Employees have the right to get up and leave. They can’t be fired for it. Thus, if you have been assigned an overtime task, you have the right to refuse it and tell the manager that you will perform it during your working hours, or ask to register this work as overtime.

How to improve employee efficiency

Set up regular feedback 

It is an important point for any growing business. And well-known companies, like RMClient, prove it. Regular feedback allows to set up the workflow in the company in such a way that the work of each employee can be evaluated using feedback. Without receiving it, employees may not find out about their inefficiency, which means they will not begin to change this situation. 

Large companies are so successful because they are constantly looking for new ways to become even better. Their continuous improvement process is based on feedback from customers, suppliers, employees, and so on.

Create incentives for employees 

Another way to increase the effectiveness of the team. Numerous studies conducted in different countries have shown that rewards help employees feel more important. 

This, in turn, helps increase employee engagement, another factor that affects efficiency. By creating positive incentives, you motivate people to perform better.

The first incentive option that comes to mind is a salary increase or some kind of financial bonus. Yet, any top manager will attest that incentives are not limited to money. 

Here’s what you can do to make your team members feel valued and perform at their best:

1. Offer additional paid sick leave or vacation days. 
2. Go to lunch together. 
3. Allow your employees to be late on Monday morning (for some time). 
4. Praise an employee during a conversation with the boss or send a thank you letter by email, putting in a copy of the boss. 
5. Announce achievements publicly.
6.  Send a personal thank you note. 
7. Allocate a convenient parking space. 
8. Update hardware if possible.

Use team building 

We live in a world where maximum attention is paid to customers. At the same time, business owners regularly forget about their main asset – employees.

To increase efficiency, you can hire a team-building specialist or conduct several team-strengthening activities yourself. This will increase trust between employees, help improve communication, speed up conflict resolution, and so on. The effectiveness of the team largely depends on the relationships in the team, so this point cannot be ignored.

Team building training allows you to focus on certain aspects of achieving the goal, such as efficiency, communication, and others. In addition, it is a fun activity that will help employees get to know each other better.

Start group chats 

The use of new technologies (for example, special time-tracking software by RMClient) can significantly increase the effectiveness of the team.

Start by creating group chats, as imperfect communication can cause serious problems. For instance, companies can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year due to a simple misunderstanding. Group chat can greatly increase the effectiveness of communication. This tool is much faster and more convenient than traditional email. The same user can open the application from different devices, so employees can stay up to date with all the happenings, regardless of location.

Automated time tracking 

Timesheets that employees have to complete on their own at the end of the working day are not the best tool for increasing efficiency. 

The automatic time-tracking system is much better:

1. Firstly, its use greatly simplifies the life of HR specialists. They do not have to spend hours checking the logs of other employees and correcting errors.
2. Secondly, employees will work more efficiently because it will be much more difficult (or even impossible) to trick the system.

Conclusion

Increasing the efficiency of employees and business is a goal that all companies strive for. Its achievement allows you to create a comfortable working environment, increase engagement, optimize resource management, and, ultimately, increase profits.