It is impossible to avoid procrastination in our society because our environment fosters a culture of inertia, and it requires a significant amount of work to even entertain the idea of getting things done as quickly as possible. There are many other explanations for that, and an extensive discussion is sure to follow; however, we are not going to get into that right now.
Companies all throughout the world have, from the beginning of time, been concerned with how they assess productivity. Since then, a number of different tools have become available, but it can be difficult to figure out which one is the most effective. Tracking the number of hours a person puts in each week is one of the most efficient methods that can be utilized to evaluate or quantify productivity.
In this post, we’ll explore the benefits and drawbacks of the topic and determine whether or not it’s worth your time and focus.
How are the Working Hours of the Employees Kept Track of?
If you run a small company, all you have to do is walk up to the person in question and politely ask them to send you a text message when they have completed the task. This one is really easy, and it doesn’t require a lot of labor or effort on your part. What should you do, however, if your company has multiple branches and has to keep track of hundreds or even thousands of employees simultaneously? If you still think it is possible to accomplish it manually, you are mistaken since it is extremely unlikely that you will be successful. It will ultimately consume a lot of your time and energy.
The subsequent query that arises to the surface is, then, what could be the most likely answer to that problem?
That’s right! There are digital monitoring tools that have user interfaces that are simple enough that anyone, regardless of their experience level, can install them and allow them to do the work for them.
These tools start keeping track of time as soon as an employee checks in to their account, and they continue doing so even when the person exits their account for a break or to go for a stroll. Therefore, there is nothing that needs to be done manually on your end. As was mentioned earlier, the software takes care of everything. Scrolling through the list of hours worked by each employee and making decisions based on that information is now all that is left for you to do.
Does Monitoring the Hours Worked by Employees Have Any Potential Upsides?
- It should come as no surprise that when people have a deadline looming over their heads, they are more likely to complete the task at hand. There is no need to recreate the wheel; rather, you should keep it rolling and channel this to enhance your needs.
- Tracking employee hours will offer you an overall sense of who on your team is better at a given task and what the flaws and strengths are of each person. You’ll be in a better position to maximize production and streamline workflow when you keep track of employee hours.
- Keeping track of employees’ hours will also foster a cooperatively competitive atmosphere among workers.
It is now up to you to cultivate this culture; for example, you may award a bonus or provide a break if your team completes a task earlier than the other teams that are working on the same task.
- Time tracking is cyanide to multi-tasking. It enables the team to concentrate on completing one task at a time without spreading their attention over numerous projects, which would lower the overall quality of their work.
- Real-Time tracking provides the team leader with the ability to determine how much time, on average, is required to perform a specific task. In addition to that, it enables him to estimate how much time a similar endeavor will take in the future. Because of this routine, he now has the authority to establish goals with pinpoint precision that are in perfect harmony with the abilities of his team.
- If employee hours are tracked properly, the manager will have an easier time determining how much the appropriate employee should be compensated for the work that he or she has put into the project. Everything becomes more see-through. Because of this, nobody will be able to point fingers at being treated unfairly in the end.
Is There a Potential Downside to Monitoring the Hours Worked by Employees?
What on earth could possibly lack a shadowy aspect? If everything were that good, then things would have turned out differently, and the same is true in this situation with regard to the monitoring instruments.
The problem is that the employees can get the impression that they are being watched all the time and that this is because their boss doesn’t trust them or anything along those lines. This could have a negative impact on their mental health.
The solution to this problem, which involves dealing with the employees, is to instead focus on communicating and building empathy with them. Inform them that it is for their good, and draw their attention to the advantages they will reap as a result of it in the long run.
It’s possible that this will soften the blow.
The other side of the debate regarding time tracking is centered on the question of what would happen if an employee neglected to record the time at which he or she first began working on a project. Because we are not robots and because we are not perfect, it is impossible to ignore the fact that mistakes are made.
Setting a reminder or an alarm for the employees to remind them to turn on their time trackers at regular times throughout the day is one solution to this problem. Another alternative is to simply set a reminder.
Conclusion
The most important takeaway is that monitoring staff hours is effective since it helps to maintain everyone’s participation and concentration, which ultimately results in an increase in production. Second, because everyone has their own hours to fill in on the sheet, there is less opportunity for people to communicate with one another. The only thing that is gossiping or putting things off will accomplish is to cost them their salary.
This isn’t dictation because it works better than anything else ever could when it’s done under the guidance of a compassionate leader.
