There are many complaints you might hear from people who have never made any effort to improve their efficiency. “It’s too much of a hassle”, “We don’t know where to start” and “The schedule is unpredictable” are just some of the common ones. These sentiments are voiced only by those who have never had the proper tools to manage time efficiently; however – thanks to time tracking software, nothing is impossible.
Tracking time and managing your time efficiently is not just a matter of looking at the clock every 30 minutes – on the contrary. It’s about dividing your tasks into manageable slots, about making sure the whole team is on the same page, and about doing more with fewer resources. Here are the top reasons why time tracking software helps you run your business more efficiently.
Staying on schedule
When you’re absorbed in a certain task, it’s easy to lose track of time. This can lead to a whole range of annoying situations, such as missing or being late for meetings, giving information at inappropriate times, or having to rush during the next project. Staying with a certain schedule is important, especially if you’re working in a team. A good time tracking app can help you stay on track.
Projecting estimates
Once you start tracking, you start keeping records about what can reasonably expected from people and from a team – and this means management is able to project deadlines and cost estimates with better accuracy once a new project comes along. This is an invaluable planning tool.
Fair billing
By keeping track of the amount of time you and your team spend on a certain project, you’ll be able to bill your client in a much better way. Fair billing will then, of course, lead to better customer relationships and, in turn, to more income in the long run.
Keeping track of progress
Management will have an easy way to estimate how the project is going, and how much progress has been made. Hence, management knows what to pay attention to.
Focus
Employees who can manage their time are employees who are able to focus better; they know that a certain allotted time is to be spent on a particular task, whilst other time should be spent on other tasks.
Time management is an annoying phrase because it seems that time cannot be managed – after all, it passes whether we pay attention to it or not. But it’s not really about time, in the end. It’s about organisation, about understanding what needs to be done (setting priorities), and about making sure that it gets accomplished by a certain deadline. It’s about efficiency – and this automatically leads to a happier and more successful business team.
