Today we aim to help you navigate an overly-saturated market of digital solutions. Namely, we will be guiding you on a journey of choosing the best time tracker for your team. One that brings true benefits to your company.
Time tracking software is something every company can benefit from, and there is naturally a big demand for these tools. And, as we know, big demand breeds an even bigger supply. While having options is good, too much of everything is another side of the extreme. With that said, finding the best time tracker for your team is a very challenging task. Not only do you need to find a tool that covers the basics, but also one that meets your unique requirements and is easy for your employees to use. But how do you even start looking?
There is no one for all fit, unfortunately. But there are some basic requirements you want to pay attention to when selecting the software. In this article, we will be talking about the said features as well as a few we believe every company can benefit from. We are hoping to put you on the right path to finding the tool that will help your team excel.
What is a Good Time Tracking Solution?
It is rather objective what counts as a good time tracking solution. However, it is necessary for the tool to have the following features to be considered as one:
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Easy accessibility;
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Intuitive and easy-to-use interface;
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Clear navigation;
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Quick setup;
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Wide customisation options;
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Reporting tools;
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Adjustable dashboard;
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Additional features that support other processes;
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Integrations with other existing tools;
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Simple to use.
As you see, the basic requirements are very simple. But you’d be surprised how many tools don’t cover all of them. This is why it’s best to always try a tool out before committing. And when you do, there two of these points you should pay the most attention to.
The Essentials
There are two key features you need to pay close attention to. While they are pretty much included in every SaaS solution, their functionality and capacities range. You, therefore, need to have standards for what you are looking for. When trialling a time tracker, we recommend checking these modules out first.
Easy-to-Read Dashboard
Every time tracker needs to have a dashboard. This is non-negotiable. Whether you have two employees or two thousand, a centralised, easily accessible overview is a must. However, not every dashboard is as useful as it should be. If it’s limited to the vendor’s default setup and it doesn’t provide you the metrics you need, you most likely need another solution. The very purpose of the dashboard is to provide a digestible overlook at a glance.
The best dashboard is the one you can build yourself. We don’t mean simply arranging the look of it, but controlling what type of information is shown on it, in what format and what timeframes it covers. Naturally, you can’t expect it to display all information available within your tool, but it’s a reasonable expectation to be provided with key data crunched down for you and put in a format that’s easy to analyse on the go. For more in-depth details you will need to go into reporting, which is our next area to cover.
Customisable In-depth Reports
Similarly to dashboards, you don’t want to settle for default settings when it comes to reporting. Every company has different goals and therefore the metrics that matter will be different, as well as the depth to which they need to be analysed. Reports are crucial to get a good understanding of how your company is progressing, and therefore you need to be sure you are getting all you need from them.
Unfortunately, no vendor will know all ins and outs of your business, hence no pre-set reporting templates will fully meet your needs. Sure, some can check many boxes, but there will never be an exact match. To address this issue and help their customers reach their full potential, some digital tools introduced a system allowing users to build their own reports. At Timesheet Portal, for example, we offer 40+ in-built reporting templates you can edit using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Additionally, you can build your own templates from scratch, with no limit to how many can be created.
Useful Modules
Different solutions will bring on a variety of different modules. What you need largely depends on your goals. However, there are some very handy nice-to-haves that every company could benefit from. Consider adding them to your strategy.
Onboarding Platform
Every company has some sort of onboarding process. It is a must from a legal standpoint. However, to many, it literally covers just the bare basics - the collection of documents required for compliance. And this is not a wrong approach as not every company needs a sophisticated new hire welcoming programme. However, even if you’re covering just the bare basics, it can take longer than it should.
Sending documents via email may sound like the fastest way of getting them over, but people forget things. Email threads get deleted. Delays happen. And you don’t want to waste time chasing people either. A much better solution is getting an onboarding platform. Bonus points if it’s part of a time tracker. Not only will the onboarding process become completely hand-free and automatically store documents in relevant folders, but you can also limit the new starter’s access to the timesheets if their documentation has not been approved.
Leave Management
Another thing that’s very simple in theory but becomes unnecessarily difficult via email is holiday management. Requests made this way are easy to overlook and without a centralised calendar view, you’re increasingly exposed to the danger of leaving your company understaffed. Given all types of risks that come from running a business, this may not look like a big deal. However, companies lose copious amounts of money by not handling their holiday matters properly.
A leave module that can be found within some time tracking software addresses this very problem. Depending on the solution, it may even offer more than a centralised view or an easier process of requesting/reviewing holidays. For example, at Timesheet Portal our time off module also takes over tasks such as holiday carryover calculations, a procedure that can get very tricky when dealing with contracted or temporary workers. Not to mention, you can block out any custom whole-company day offs on top of national holidays and such.
Unique Needs
As we’ve already mentioned several times, the exact set of features the best time tracker for your employees will include… Depends on what your employees need. You may not like the sound of it, but business goals come secondary.
Listen to Your Team
Before you set your mind on the specific time tracker, look at the title of this blog article once again. While something may seem like the best solution to you, your team who will be using it may disagree. For this reason alone it’s important to have their insights on matter. If possible, when trialling solutions, get your workers involve too. They are the primary audience and so they will be able to give you feedback if the tool is lacking something.
Despite defining four features we consider irreplaceable in the time tracker, there are plenty of others to choose from. Different companies will prioritise different modules based on their goals, budget, team structure and other factors. Even if your team can’t define what specific features they want, pay close mind to their day-to-day complaints. What tasks do they find tedious, annoying or downright despicable? What are they struggling with? There is a good chance these grievances can be addressed within a time tracker if you just think outside the box.
Summary
Given there are new solutions popping up every second, choosing the best time tracker for your team is a difficult task. Not only do you want it to collect data, but to also improve the efficiency of your team, as well as make some of the internal operations easier. The first of your criteria should be the level at which you can customise the format of the data collected. Namely, the dashboard and the reports. The format and the depth these two offer need to align with your goals, your team structure and how your workers collaborate with one another.
Most time tracking tools come with a variety of additional modules, but we recommend going for ones inclusive of an onboarding platform and leave management. Both can significantly reduce the time spent going back and forth via email, as well as minimise the risk of human error. As for deciding on other additional features, we recommend having a talk with your team. Even if they can’t define the specific functionality they need, the answer is likely hidden within their day-to-day struggles with certain tasks and processes. Listen to them and keep your mind open.
Ready to find the solution that’s perfect for you? It might be Timesheet Portal.
