A few decades ago, the only means employers could use to monitor the work of their staff was a sheet of paper with indicated task and its duration, handed in daily and not always showing the real state of things.
Nowadays, the automated time tracker software not only takes the burden of viewing heaps of daily reports off the boss’s shoulders. It also presents a much more efficient way of controlling how employees spend their time at work and raising their productivity.
Basically, a time tracking software is installed on each employee computer and gathers information about everything done on it throughout the day, saving the data on a server for easy access anytime.
If you would like to try this solution, but think that it is suitable only for the companies with office staff, you’re mistaken. So, here are some of the cases of time tracker use for different business spheres.
Legal sphere
Attorneys-in-law, lawyers, and other law firms employees usually spend some time working on their computers. However, due to their occupation specifics, they are required to frequently leave the office – to meet a client, attend a court session etc. This makes tracking their billable hours hard, but not impossible with a time tracker software.
First of all, keeping track of the hours worked on their office PC is simple – you’ll see the detailed report of all resources used and their exact timing. As to the situations when the person is absent from the computer, enabling offline activity tracking in the time tracker is the way out. It means when an employee returns to the computer, s/he will be asked to indicate the reason for absence. This way, you’ll know how much time away was spent for work-related activities and how much – for personal matters.
Web agencies
Whether a web-development company, a SEO agency, content studio or a web-agency of some other kind, where computer is the major tool, tracking work time is beneficial not only for an employer but also for employees.
First, the person in charge will know for sure how much time the subordinates spend for which activities and websites. This can help take excessive usage of non-work related resources under control.
Secondly, implementing a time tracker software allows introducing flexible schedule, work from home and use freelancers’ work – and see the detailed account of each minute worked.
Finally, it can be the means of accountability, showing the clients that employees are actually working on their project and counting their billable time efficiently.
Marketing
Aside from the abovementioned ways of using of a time tracking software, it has a special feature helpful for marketers and their bosses – taking screenshots at the set regularity. It can be an excellent means of solving ambiguous situations.
For instance, using social networks for product promotion is frequently one of the duties of a marketing specialist. But how do you know whether the time spent on Facebook was really productive and the person wasn’t just chatting with friends? Thanks to the screenshots feature, everything will be cleared up in moments.
Finance
A time tracking tool can really come in handy to people handling financial operations.
It counts overall time worked by each employee to the minute, so using this data an accountant will be able to ensure the fair compensation for each company worker and save company funds.
This also means transparent reporting to clients who outsource dealing with their finances to your company and ensure accurate billing, which can be a serious competitive advantage.
Medical centres
It’s quite a nuisance to control medical staff on duty, due to the character of their work, numerous emergencies, etc. However, time tracker software can significantly ease this task.
First, it will help to limit the number of distractions or unproductive resources usage by employees when working by the computer.
Secondly, offline activity tracking reports will show what a team member is doing when away from their PC.
Third, using webcam shots feature it is easy to check the presence of a worker at their workplace and their occupation, which is especially useful for night shifts staff control.
Bottom line
You haven’t found your business sphere in the list or are still not sure whether a time tracker will be useful for your business? Then, there’s no better way to find out than to try it. Sign up for a 14 day trial of Yaware.TimeTracker and test out the full package of features.