So, you’ve taken the leap and committed to implementing software for your team to time track. Now you’re wondering – what’s the next step? How do you get everyone on board and continue to motivate them after the initial interest has waned?
Time-tracking software has a major impact on productivity, visibility, profit and employee management – but you already knew that if you’ve dived in and made the all-important decision to take control of the business’ billing and reporting.
Not everybody likes change, but as the world advances technologically and competing businesses begin finding those narrow margins, you’ll want to keep up.
Look at it this way: Making time tracking software a core part of your firm is like the blossoming of a relationship. It’s hard work in the early days, but after pushing past the uncertainties and nurturing the process, things become natural and comfortable. Oh, and it requires a continued commitment from every party involved.
Committing to the time track
Here are some words of advice to get your time tracking software in motion, and some words of encouragement to keep it moving as the initial intrigue begins to wear off.
Bring everyone into the loop early
Employees want to be involved in ideas and changes that affect their day-to-day working life – it’s only natural. As the ones that bring time-tracking software into the mix, it leaves bosses with the task of showing the team how the new technology fits into the company’s projects, management and finances. The more they know, the more likely they are to use it continuously and accurately.
It’s pertinent to show employees, whose data will be used to make business decisions, the importance of their time in the office or with clients. During the implementation phase, everyone will be intrigued to test out the software and see what else it effects – but interest can often fade out as time goes on.
This is exactly why bringing everyone together to educate them on the practice of using time-tracking software, as well as its specific uses at their company, is of the utmost importance if a continued positive impact is to be achieved. If people can see the big picture, and can see their work as contributing to a common team goal, it will inspire company loyalty and drive up productivity.
It’s been said before, but the benefits of time tracking are tenfold. Productivity is boosted, visibility is clearer, and everything billable gets charged. Businesses get a 360-degree view of projects, so success and failings are brought to the forefront with ease. Simple as that.
Just make sure that knowledge is shared with the entire team – not just those who will be analysing the data. Everyone needs to be on board to make it work.
Don’t turn into Big Brother
Chances are that when you introduce time tracking, it will be met with resistance. It can lead employees to feel as though they are not trusted, or even worse, that the higher-ups are setting them up.
As mentioned above, communication is therefore a crucial step to convey the actual purpose of installing this software. Take time to explain the change does not imply a lack of trust, but you simply want to streamline your business processes, improve productivity and meet client expectations. The demands to track time could intimidate many employees, or they could feel that they’re constantly being watched and evaluated. With poor implementation, the process can become more stressful than helpful to everyone involved.
While many will see time tracking as an omniscient overlord clocking their every move, the reality is that the team benefits of time tracking far outweigh individuals’ minor frustrations.
It’s important to remember that people aren’t numbers, and though data helps to find those all-important margins in a business, decisions need to be carefully analysed – with all factors considered. Sure, it can be used to highlight some areas of improvement, but don’t lose sight of what’s most important to a company – its employees.
Streamline employees’ time tracking
It needs to be quick. It needs to be easy to use. And it needs to fit in with the company’s specific time tracking needs. Organisations often find themselves so tied up in their efforts to track time that it gets completely out of hand and more time is wasted. Spending 15 minutes or more a day logging hours is far too much and you may as well revert back to the old pen and paper time cards… well, maybe not, but you get the picture.
TallyPro’s free tailored option, such as the solution installed at Strutt & Parker, gives businesses a platform to adjust the software to suit their needs.
For Strutt & Parker, a prestigious estate agents, a key requirement was the ability to log different types of work – management work – fee-based work and administrative tasks. Management jobs and administrative tasks can be ‘cleared down’ at the end of the financial year, whilst retaining the underlying data for employee performance analysis.
TallyPro created a standalone data entry module enabling Strutt & Parker employees to enter their own time sheets without having the main programme installed on their workstation. This kind of streamlining means that the true value of time-tracking software is realised consistently – as it has done for the last 20 years of working together.
Not everyone is tech-savvy, so even though our software is simple to use, it is important that everyone is trained in using it properly. If results are to be seen, effort during the implementation is primary to success.
If you choose TallyPro as you platform, we’ll be there through it all. From the first exciting moments to the unwelcome break-downs – we don’t let your time tracking, and therefore your hard-earned money, slip through the cracks. The switch-over process should be as seamless as possible, with limited interruption in a company’s daily operations, and that’s why TallyPro continues to work with you throughout your journey.