It’s been an object of fiery disputes whether it is ethical to use time tracking software and whether it really provides an insight into employees’ computer performance. Now, it is generally accepted that every employer naturally needs to control the workflow in the company, therefore time tracking apps can be very useful.
Time tracker ethics and benefits
As to the ethics issue, there are actually two sides of the coin. On the one hand, many employees dislike the feeling of being watched that comes along with the time tracker service (and wears off pretty soon). On the other hand, an employer who pays to get the work done wants to be sure his subordinates dedicate their work hours to their duties. Moreover, using automatic software that never interferes with the work seems to be an ideal solution.
But time tracking is not only about control. It provides a number of features that help staff get more productive by making them accountable for every minute of their time and thus focus on the primary tasks. Also, it provides better visibility of the company processes, showing bottlenecks taking up too much time. It is very well fit for tracking time of remote workers or freelancers, eliminating billing problems and ensuring fair compensation.
Time tracking with screenshots: how it works
For some companies or departments within them, it can be very important to keep track of the details of the work in progress. In this case, knowing how much time an employee spent on a specific project is not enough. This is where screenshot feature offered by a time tracking service like Yaware.Timetracker comes in handy. This feature is optional, so you can switch it on/off whenever needed or configure to be used for certain team members/departments etc.
Basically, the app automatically makes screen captures at the specified intervals and saves them on the server for access at any time. Also, each screenshot can be categorized as productive or unproductive and framed green or red respectively, depending on the resource used at the moment of capturing. This is very convenient, especially when there’s no much time or need to look into every capture.
Deeper insight into employee activity
Frequently, time tracking with screeshots. is looked at with hostility, because it is “too much”. In fact, it is a great way to obtain better visibility of what an employee is occupied with at the given moment. Many freelancers consider this feature an advantage, since it lets them provide visual proofs they didn’t just pretend to work by the computer, but were doing their work.
Also, screenshots help the supervisor or project manager get the idea on what stage of performing the task each of their subordinates currently is to better coordinate the efforts and ensure meeting the deadlines. It is particularly useful for companies with teams of distant employees working on one project who don’t communicate in person. Screenshots let see the progress and don’t distract team members from doing their work.
Wrapping up
If your company happens to be the one in need of deeper insight into your employees’ activity, you can check out how Yaware.TimeTracker will handle this task. It’s free for 14 days, no credit card required.
