We have written this article for Managing Directors and Office Managers, to show that timesheet software is more than a tool for digital timekeeping. We will explore how a time tracking solution can improve teamwork in your organisation, speed up digital transformation, drive better decision making and, most importantly, nurture the relationship between you and your employees.
At this point in time, everyone is used to seeing terms like ‘team alignment’ and ‘better collaborations’ when speaking of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions. Simply put, every piece of cloud-based software offers these benefits regardless of the industry it's addressing. The question is, on the other hand, how to effectively utilise these features.
When speaking of timesheet software specifically, it may be unclear how could collaboration and alignment prospects be leveraged. After all, the valuable insights provided by this solution are mostly addressing either the payroll or the management as opposed to everyone at the company.
This is not true. And in this article, we will prove that time tracking SaaS is a great tool for bringing everyone together in pursuit of mutual goals.
What is Timesheet Software?
Timesheet software is a digital version of traditional paper timesheets. Both are used for the same purpose: tracking employee hours, time off, holiday accruals and keeping track of workflows for adjusting payrolls. The key difference is that paper timesheets are prone to get lost, forgotten to fill out, take a long time to process and are highly susceptible to human error.
A timesheet software keeps all your data centralised in one place, is easily accessible via browser or a mobile app, and is capable of generating custom in-depth reports within seconds. Best time tracking solutions are also easily integratable with other software, such as payroll systems.
This means that you don’t have to insert timesheet data into your payroll software manually; when two solutions are integrated, it will be uploaded there automatically.
Digital Transformation is a Mindset
Digital transformation is one of the buzzwords we heard across every industry, yet many people cannot define it when asked. In short, digital transformation means the adoption of technology in order to increase the effectiveness of business processes through collecting more data.
However, many make the mistake of thinking of digital transformation as a process itself - but in reality, it’s a mindset. Onboarding multiple solutions and keeping them siloed won’t drive changes.
Adopting solutions and tying them together, on the other hand, will not just result in more in-depth insights but will also create better visibility across the different departments, therefore creating team alignment.
Working Towards Mutual Goals
In other words, a less traditional but more accurate definition of digital transformation is the following:
Digital transformation is the adoption of digital solutions that tie different business procedures and teams into one. It creates a mindset of working together on different elements of a process aimed at achieving mutual goals.
If you’re getting confused about where timesheet management fits into digital transformation - don’t worry. We are about to explain that.
The Impact of Timesheet Software on Your Team
Although time tracking systems are assumed to be of use for the management and payroll departments only, they play a role in the day-to-day lives of other staff too.
Logging one’s time spent executing a task gives each team member closure on how long do they need on specific jobs. It allows them to allocate their time better when they have an estimate based on previous experience of how much time certain processes take. This is especially handy when dealing with repetitive tasks, e.g. weekly system updates.
This can also hint to an employee what their weaknesses are, where they struggle and what hinders their productivity. But these are individual benefits - let’s talk about the impact timesheet software has on your team.
Improved Alignment and Visibility
As we’ve already covered, a centralised document system is one of the key traits of SaaS software. Another factor prevalent in cloud-based solutions is that they can be accessed, used and edited by multiple users in real-time.
A tracking system for edits also makes it easy to track who was the last person to make changes, enabling reverting back easily if the data has been overwritten. The combination of these two features is the origin of a statement that SaaS systems are notorious for creating better alignment and smoother collaborations.
A timesheet SaaS keeps the entirety of your team in the loop of who’s working on what and how long has it taken them. On our Project product, we also have a feature for submitting expenses related to the tasks executed, complete with easy submission of receipts. In other words, having a centralised hub for time keeping creates full visibility among your teams on the workload across the organisation, as well as budget expenditure.
Smarter Work Distribution
This visibility, in turn, enables alignment as transparency leads to identifying strengths and weaknesses among processes across the entire organisation and not separate departments. Our system specifically also shows who’s currently on holiday or has an upcoming time off, which also allows for better planning of communications and work allocation better.
Additionally, this provides insights into the individual performance and skill sets of employees. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each worker allows the management to create better teamwork strategies where people don’t just get to showcase their expertise but also have an opportunity to improve on areas they lack in.
Automation Builds Trust
Automating internal processes means less human error. It’s an especially effective trust-building tool in areas that affect the employees directly.
For example, passing the task of approving holiday requests and calculating holiday accruals to automation takes a lot of work off the manager’s hands. The process of determining whether the time off date requested clashes with other employees is what usually causes delays in approving holiday requests.
This often leads to the employees being left hanging for days on end and doesn’t guarantee their request being approved. Which leads to frustration.
Streamlining Employee Expenses
Management of employee expenses is a known pain point in any industry. There are many hoops to go through for both, the management and the worker, to ensure they are covered in time and correctly.
Delays and mistakes in the process are common, and, unfortunately, can have a long-term negative impact on relationships. In the worst scenarios, they can even lead to legal issues. This is why one of our software’s focuses is to make the process of submitting, calculating and approving employee expenses quick and error-free.
Here’s a formula for establishing a trust-driven relationship with your employees through expense management:
Easy submission + quick approval+ accurate reimbursement = happy employees that know they’re taken care of.
Summary
As you can see, it’s not just a fluff that SaaS solutions can have a huge impact on how your company operates from within. Whether it’s a CRM or a timesheet management system, when utilised correctly, every cloud product can create team alignment and drive digital transformation.
Timesheet software, although not often perceived as such, is a particularly powerful tool in improving both, the performance and relationships in your organisation. And this is the secret juice of every successful company: seamless collaborations and mutual goals.
Are you ready to take your teamwork to the next level? To embrace digital transformation and accelerated growth it offers? Book a demo today and we will aid you in your journey.
