With the COVID19 pandemic continuing to rage, most companies are left with no option but to extend Work From Home facilities for their employees. In order to ensure everyone’s safety, only those employees are being called to the office premises whose presence is highly necessary.
These sudden changes require implementation of innovative strategies for the smooth functioning of work between remote working teams. One such strategy that has proven to be very powerful for almost every industry is that of time tracking.
Time tracking as we know it, is a way of ensuring employee productivity by assessing the amount of time taken by them to complete a task. Although it is a very powerful business tool, there are a lot of misconceptions in many employees’ minds about its actual purpose. With this article, we are attempting to bust the most common myths associated with time tracking:
Myth 1 – Time Tracking is a waste of time
Tracking time the traditional way by manually writing it down is actually a waste of time. This is why companies are now opting for a time keeping software that provides real-time timesheet data automatically without any effort.
The biggest benefit of a time tracking software with billable hours tracker is that it works in the background without causing any distractions to the employees, so they don’t end up wasting any time in tracking time. It also sheds light on the current status of the project by showing all the tasks that have been accomplished.
Myth 2 – Employers use time tracking software to control their employees
Working from home can sometimes get cumbersome due to frequent interruptions and thus requires more focus. Employers overlooking multiple teams remotely require a high level of management to ensure timely completion of all projects. Employers don’t “monitor” time in order to find mistakes but to assign work more efficiently in case anyone is overburdened.
Time tracking brings clarity about the overall situation and helps employees be aware of their responsibilities within a project. This leads to them learning to schedule their work better on their own, and not the other way round feeling like they are being controlled by their employers.
Myth 3 – Time tracking makes you feel overloaded and stressed
Since time tracking gives an overview of how an employee is spending their time, it gets associated with the negative connotation of having to constantly do something to be seen as productive. There’s hardly anything more stressful for an employee than having to be accountable for every single minute of their work hours.
It is important to acknowledge the fact that using a time keeping software can decrease the amount of pressure on employees by making them aware of their most productive periods in a day as well as negative work trends. This helps them to work smarter and prioritize important work.
Myth 4 – Time tracking leads to employee burnout
Expecting employees to work non-stop is the recipe for a disaster. Adding to that the effort of constantly providing time entries can get overwhelming. Moreover, the unexpected shift to remote work model has blurred the lines between work time and family time.
In this situation, time tracking can in fact make a positive impact by allowing employees to work more diligently during their work hours and then enjoy their time-off post work with no stress. It gives them better control over their own time so it doesn’t negatively affect their work-life balance and prevents any burnout.
You can read more about managing a remote design team.
Conclusion
Increasing work productivity is essential but not at the cost of employees’ mental health. We hope we have managed to bust the most widespread myths about time tracking and clarified how it actually simplifies employee routines.