by Julianne Mercer, Negosentro.com |
Many of us often say that we are busy doing something or the other thing. That could be our profession or hobby. But we never ever even think about how many hours exactly we are spending on each of those things. Why I am stressing on this part is because once you know how much time you are spending on each of job or task you think is important then you may start thinking about a different angle to complete the job at a much earlier time and thus achieve your goals.
As someone rightly said, “The first step toward change is awareness.” Knowing how much time you spend on each of your activities will improve your efficiency. Calculating activities like how much time you spent on working at your office will add up quickly. The best way to do this is to track your time.
Time Tracking Software
Measuring hours isn’t a rocket science. All you need is the right time tracking software that accurately measures time spent on each activity. If you have a business that frequently depends on employees working efficiency then this time tracker software not only helps in improving productivity but also gives the motivation to complete the given task in time.
The software will show a significant impact on overall productivity of your business. It maintains well-performing employees motivated so that their performance will get seen and rightfully paid. In addition, it holds stragglers in check or brings concerns to the management knowledge in a timely mode. For example, one of the group member struggling with a particular task. If self-employed, you can introduce the training and professionalism in yourself to evolve into a developed business.
Better Transparency
Clients need to see how much you spend your time on each project or assignment. This is especially true if you are a freelancer. One of the hardest parts of working as a freelancer is that clients (Most of them) equate work efficiency to time you spend working. Freelancers often don’t get credit if the work is done too quickly or when clients think that they didn’t spend enough time working on a specific project. So by using this tracking software you can send screenshots and maintain complete transparency so that they can see too what you are doing.
Here are some of the essential things that may happen if you maintain this level of transparency.
— You don’t have to defend yourself. Your tracking software will speak for you.
— They may offer more business as you are making things easier on them
— They may likely recommend your services to other businesses because they know how you work.
Track What’s Essential
You can track every little thing that you will spend time working on and also track analysis but know what it is worth Stick to one thing that you want to improve your efficiency in the long-run. Of course you can track your eating, exercise, etc. but personally, I am more interested in knowing how much time I am spending on work at my office. You don’t have to analyze your personal life as it can make you more conscious.
Impacting Change
Once you figure out after several months of time tracking, you can sit and analyze thoroughly those hours and see what can be changed. When I first tracked time of my tasks I was completely unknown of the results. But once I knew what was going wrong and where I am spending more time immediately tried to change that. And that is why tracking your time = Getting your tasks done quickly.
Grows Your Business Effortlessly
Right from starting day of your business if you maintain robust processes such as time tracking, invoice practices, etc. then the whole business improves efficiency and productivity than you thought you would whether it is a freelancing job or a business (Small or medium). Also, you can use your information to make smart moves in your business and your systems to reduce the minimal errors that often take in an administrative desk.
Accurate Project Estimate
As you track time for each and every project or task and differentiate your activities by task, it will be easier for you to estimate the accurate time for project completion and prepare new quotes for new projects. This way, there will be more chances for your business to witness profitability.
Streamlines Your Billing Process
Whether it is legal services or app development services, the number of hours you spend servicing your clients should actually make you money for your company. If you are memorizing or copying the time spent on each project from your sticky notes will only make a loss for your business in some or the other way. Because most of the times, you either would be over calculating or under calculating the hours spent. So I think, you should actually be utilizing an integrated project management, time tracking, and billing structure. Having such features in one system will save you not only time and money but also enhances your work productivity and efficiency.
Let You Know More About Customer Engagement
After tracking time of all your activities, you will get a useful, helpful data that gives you insights on various aspects and whether you are making profit or loss. Find out the toughest projects that are giving you hard time so that you can know how much time ideally you should spend to get the desired results and what kind of niche you should interact with frequently.
I personally believe that the main hurdle that is stopping from achieving our dreams is finding the time to pursue them. And as far as tracking time is concerned, it is an effective way to find out where your time is going and in which direction.
Already used a time tracking software for your business? Then please let us know what software you used and how it worked for you in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you.
