10 fatal mistakes that killed our time tracking implementation
DESCRIPTION
We struggled to implement time tracking in our company. Even in a company that makes time tracking software! It is known that tracking time will benefit in the long term. But still - it is so frustrating and time consuming when again and again, you force people to do something that they don't care! This process can be really painful, for both employees and managers. But at the end, we manage to collect 10 fatal mistakes, so we or you will never make them again. 1) We didn’t explain why it is important to track time 2) We didn’t all agree on the clear structure of projects and tasks 3) Everyone could add new tasks and projects 4) We didn’t clearly tell that this is an obligation 5) Managers didn’t see clear benefits 6) There was no single person accounted for this implementation to succeed 7) We didn’t check how people are filling their timesheets – every single day 8) We didn’t share best practices of how to track time 9) People have never seen how valuable the timesheet reports are 10) We didn’t have a clear image of how the perfect timesheet looks like Though, the first two trials turned into a failure instead of a spectacular success, they helped us learn a lot. They made us more aware of the problems that may occur during the implementation. Mistakes we’ve made gave us a precious knowledge of how it all should look like. Thanks to this, we are able to share it with you. Hopefully, this time the whole implementation will go as smooth as we assumed at the very beginning.TRANSCRIPT
10 Fatal Mistakes That Killed Our Time Tracking
Implementation
#our_way_to_accurate_time_tracking
We struggled to implement time tracking in our company.
In a company that makes time tracking software!
Tracking time will benefit in the long term.
But still the whole process of implementation can be really painful and
frustrating, for both employees and managers.
It’s easy to make mistakes that will turn everything into a failure.
We manage to collect 10 fatal mistakes, so we and you will never make them
again.
1) We didn’t explain why it is important to track time
What we need time tracking for?
***
What kind of problems it solves in our organization?
We didn’t have a certain answer for our own team members.
2) We didn’t all agree on the clear structure of projects and tasks
“If I am spending the time on writing emails, what I should track time to?”
***
“If I am spending the time on helping others, what I should track time to?”
***
“If I am spending the time on a short call which lasts around 5 minutes, what I should track time to?”
Without clear guidelines the employees don’t know where to assign the time in particular situations.
They have problems with signing a coffee break or their own work organization.
As a result time tracking becomes a frustrating experience.
3) Everyone could add new tasks and projects
Too many people had a privilege to add their own projects and tasks. It created some kind of disorder in the structure and in the reports.
The assignments were multiplied, put into different projects or had different names given.
This made the employees even more confused.
4) We didn’t clearly tell that this is an obligation
If you want your employees to obligatory track time you should tell them about it. The command should be explicit
so nobody has any doubts.
We haven’t done this previous two times. We started to record time, but just occasionally and for a short time.
Nobody treated it seriously and we haven’t disapproved such behavior.
5) Managers didn’t see clear benefits
The example comes from the top. In our company the managers were not convinced to time tracking themselves so they didn’t show enough engagement in the process.
And they should feel the duty to accomplish it.
They also should be accounted by the team members for their thoroughness in tracking their own time.
6) There was no single person accounted for this implementation
to succeed
Everyone was his own boss in this experiment and we let ourselves do whatever we want. It’s
not a path that could lead anywhere.
7) We didn’t check how people are filling their timesheets – every
single day
We didn’t monitor how we all managed with time tracking. Everyone was doing it on their own. It’s a big mistake.
To make people do it right, you should check on their timesheets and reports systematically.
First weeks make the habit and show what are the problems with time tracking – how to assign their tasks and what are the
technical difficulties.
8) We didn’t share best practices of how to track time
We didn’t show our members how to register their time in the easiest way.
We didn’t share best practices that could make it a more effortless experience for all of them.
9) People have never seen how valuable the timesheet reports are
We didn’t show people that the hours they registered were actually analyzed and that they are very helpful in our
further work.
It is good to gather your team and discuss the results.
Present them, what do you need those figures for, ex. to estimate the profitability of the projects or the
commission for the salesmen
10) We didn’t have a clear image of how the perfect timesheet looks
like
We had no unambiguous vision of how to measure the progress and couldn’t decide how
we should assess the progress made in registering our time.
THANK YOUMore at: http://www.timecamp.com/blog/