Today, we aim to help you navigate a crowded market of digital solutions. Specifically, we will guide you on choosing the best time tracker for your team—one that truly benefits your company.
Time tracking software is something every company can benefit from, and there is naturally high demand for these tools. As we know, high demand often leads to an even larger supply. While having options is beneficial, too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. Therefore, finding the best time tracker for your team is quite a challenge. You need a tool that not only covers the essentials but also meets your specific requirements and is easy for your employees to navigate. But how do you even begin your search?
There is no one solution that fits all, unfortunately. But there are some basic requirements to consider when choosing the software. In this article, we will discuss these features as well as a few that we believe every company can benefit from. We hope to guide you towards finding a tool that will help your team excel.
What is a Good Time Tracking Solution?
It is fairly objective what constitutes a good time tracking solution. However, the tool must include the following features to qualify 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 can see, the basic requirements are very simple. But you’d be surprised how many tools don’t cover all of them. That’s why it’s best to always try a tool out before committing. And when you do, there are two points you should pay the most attention to.
The Essentials
There are two key features you should focus on. Although they are mostly included in every SaaS solution, their functionality and capacity vary. Therefore, you need to set standards for what you're looking for. When testing a time tracker, we suggest starting by examining these modules first.
Easy-to-Read Dashboard
Every time tracker needs a dashboard. This is non-negotiable. Whether you have two employees or two thousand, a centralised, easily accessible overview is essential. However, not every dashboard is as useful as it should be. If it’s limited to the vendor’s default setup and doesn’t provide the metrics you need, you most likely require a different solution. The primary purpose of the dashboard is to give a clear overview at a glance.
The best dashboard is the one you can build yourself. We don’t mean simply arranging its appearance, but controlling what type of information is displayed, in what format, and which timeframes it covers. Naturally, you can’t expect it to show all the information available within your tool, but it’s reasonable to expect key data to be streamlined for you and presented in a format that’s easy to analyse on the go. For more in-depth details, you will need to delve into reporting, which is our next area to cover.
Customisable In-depth Reports
Similarly to dashboards, you shouldn't settle for default settings when it comes to reporting. Each company has different goals, and therefore the metrics that matter will vary, as well as the level of analysis needed. Reports are essential for understanding how your company is progressing, so you need to ensure you extract everything you require from them.
Unfortunately, no vendor will know all the ins and outs of your business, so no pre-set reporting templates will fully meet your needs. While some can tick many boxes, there will never be an exact match. To solve this issue and help their customers reach their full potential, some digital tools have introduced systems allowing users to build their own reports. At Timesheet Portal, for example, we offer over 40 built-in reporting templates that you can edit using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Additionally, you can create your own templates from scratch, with no limit to how many you can make.
Useful Modules
Different solutions will bring a variety of modules. Your specific needs mainly depend on your goals. However, there are some very useful nice-to-haves that every company could benefit from. Consider including them in your strategy.
Onboarding Platform
Every company has some form of onboarding process. It is a legal requirement. However, for many, it simply covers the essentials — the collection of documents needed for compliance. This is not necessarily a wrong approach, as not every company requires a sophisticated new hire welcome programme. Still, even when covering just the basics, the process can take longer than it needs to.
Sending documents via email might seem like the quickest way to send them, but people tend to forget things. Email threads can be deleted. Delays occur. And you also want to avoid wasting time chasing individuals. A much better solution is to use an onboarding platform. Bonus points if it integrates with a time tracker. Not only will the onboarding process become completely automatic and store documents in relevant folders, but you can also restrict the new starter’s access to the timesheets if their documentation hasn't 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 at risk of leaving your company understaffed. Considering all the risks involved in running a business, this might not seem like a big issue. However, companies can lose significant amounts of money by not managing their holiday arrangements properly.
A leave module in certain time tracking software directly addresses this issue. Depending on the system, it might do more than just provide a centralised view or simplify the process of requesting and reviewing holidays. For instance, at Timesheet Portal, our time off module also manages tasks like holiday carryover calculations, which can become quite complex when dealing with contracted or temporary workers. Not to mention, you can also block out any customised company-wide days off in addition to national holidays.
Unique Needs
As we’ve already mentioned several times, the exact set of features that 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 second.
Listen to Your Team
Before you commit to a specific time tracker, revisit the title of this blog article. While something might seem like the best solution to you, your team that will be using it may disagree. For this reason, it’s crucial to seek their insights on the matter. If possible, when trialling solutions, involve your workers too. They are the primary users and will be able to provide feedback if the tool is missing features.
Although we identify four essential features in the time tracker, there are many others to choose from. Different companies will prioritise various modules based on their goals, budget, team structure, and other factors. Even if your team can’t specify exactly which features they want, pay close attention to their daily complaints. What tasks do they find tedious, annoying, or downright despised? What are they struggling with? Chances are, these issues can be addressed within a time tracker if you think creatively.
Summary
Since new solutions emerge constantly, selecting the best time tracker for your team can be challenging. You want it not only to collect data but also to enhance your team's efficiency and simplify internal processes. Your primary criterion should be how much you can customise the data format, especially the dashboard and the reports. The format and depth offered by these should match your goals, team structure, and how your workers collaborate.
Most time tracking tools come with a variety of additional modules, but we recommend choosing ones that include an onboarding platform and leave management. Both can significantly reduce the time spent on email back-and-forth and minimise the risk of human error. When deciding on other extra features, we suggest discussing them with your team. Even if they cannot clearly define the specific functionality they need, the answer is probably found in their daily challenges with certain tasks and processes. Listen to them and keep an open mind.
Ready to discover the solution that’s perfect for you? It could be Timesheet Portal.