Best Time-tracking Tools for Better Productivity
Published: 07/11/2022
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The aim of this article is to summarise which type of time-tracking tools best suit your needs. It’s a useful resource for project managers in the final stages of selecting their software. You will also find a comparison of three time-tracking solutions, highlighting their main differences despite similar methods.
When discussing productivity in a business context, we naturally link it to success. Well, rightly so - the more gets accomplished, the faster you reach your goals, right? However, this easily understood idea is often hard to put into practice because there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on where you are in your growth journey, your priorities, industry, ambitions, and many other factors - your KPIs and metrics for productivity will vary greatly.
Once you determine the numbers you’re tracking and the benchmarks you aim to achieve, you will face the challenge of reaching your targets. What we have observed is that despite working hard and minimising procrastination or idle time, many companies inevitably find it difficult to meet their productivity goals. The science behind this issue is straightforward. So, let us explain it.
It may seem self-explanatory, but surprisingly many people do not fully understand the concept: you cannot reach the peak of your productivity unless you know the exact use of your time. When you have precise metrics of time spent on various tasks, you can identify problem areas such as inefficiently long processes, workforce shortages, and many others. Simply put, you would not realise the issue is there otherwise, and therefore would be unable to start addressing it, causing your productivity to continue slipping.
Moreover, when you start fixing productivity-draining processes, you'll regain time. This allows you to apply it to other, more growth-oriented tasks, further enhancing overall performance. And this cycle continues indefinitely. Another advantage of time-tracking tools is that not only do they record your time, but most also take just a few minutes to generate visual, easily analysable reports. This alone saves you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent organising your data into a clear format.
Undoubtedly, every vendor will always claim that their solution is the best. And they are justified in doing so, as for some, it truly will be a game-changing tool that elevates their business. However, it might not be the same for you. Below, we will discuss a few factors that will help you determine whether the software you are interested in is genuinely the best value for your business.
A rule of thumb is that if you need a process to work around another process, the latter is either broken or outdated. It is very similar to software. If you need to change your operations to accommodate the proper functionality of the solution you choose, then this is not a solution for you. To put it simply, digital tools are intended to adapt to your processes to enhance and optimise them, not the other way around. We always say that time-tracking tools should not be used to scrap your existing processes and build new ones from scratch. Instead, they are meant to fix and improve what you already have.
Another important aspect is to be mindful of the human factor. Different people in your organisation may have varying levels of technical savviness. Therefore, if you adopt an overly complicated platform, a portion of your team isn’t likely to use it or may misuse it, which could cost you time instead of saving it. It’s especially important to assess the level of technological comfort among the teams that will be using the tool most frequently. Remember, the best time-tracking tools don’t have to be complicated, unless you need them to be.
Instead of wasting money on multiple standalone tools, start building an integrated tech stack. This approach will help you reduce costs, save time switching between apps, and minimise manual data entry. When you integrate solutions, you often also increase their functionality - meaning the number of tools you need decreases too. Our preferred setup is to combine a time tracking solution with an accounting package and a marketing automation tool - it covers all key business areas with just three tools.
Furthermore, when integrated, the data your software captures will no longer be isolated. The tech stack is intended to be comprehensive across your organisation, meaning different departments will have access to the same information. Much productivity is lost due to a lack of communication between teams that do not normally collaborate and therefore have no visibility of each other’s activities, leading to repetitive tasks. An integrated tech stack resolves that issue.
We recognise that we are just one company among many in the crowded world of time-tracking tools, but we also understand what sets us apart. While it’s unrealistic to expect we have 100% unique features that can't be found elsewhere, it is our approach and presentation that distinguish us from the rest. To demonstrate this, we will highlight the key differences between Timesheet Portal and other popular options on the market.
Most solutions offer relatively similar features, such as bulk uploading timesheets, automated reminders, and invoice automation. However, Timesheet Portal is notably advanced with its timesheet customisation options. It provides over 40 prebuilt templates that can be easily modified, as well as the option to create your own templates from scratch, allowing it to adapt more quickly and seamlessly to your needs and branding. Furthermore, the detailed options available when adjusting timesheets make it particularly easy to calculate overtime, irregular rates, and almost any other scenario you can think of. Other tools definitely fall short in this area.
Ultimately, most solutions on the market focus solely on recruitment, whereas we offer two distinct products for recruitment and project management. Additionally, it is common practice to hide the tool’s pricing. Timesheet Portal, however, features an interactive system that enables you to build your package and provides a price estimate in your chosen currency. We also offer a range of core functionalities, such as reporting, free of charge. In contrast, the industry standard involves a separate product that incurs additional costs.
A desktop time tracker is often considered a standard tool in the industry. While its fundamental concept is similar to Timesheet Portal’s, the implementation differs significantly. For example, these solutions include a small timer that automatically tracks your staff’s hours, instead of requiring employees to manually input their time in Timesheet Portal. Although the former may seem like a simpler method, it comes with a major drawback - the timer will continue running unless the employee explicitly stops it. In contrast, Timesheet Portal allows you to easily set rules that prevent workers from exceeding their contracted hours within specified date ranges.
We once again want to highlight issues with reporting, which is quite limited in the solutions mentioned earlier. It doesn’t provide much detail nor allows for deeper analysis. Timesheet Portal, however, is all about customisation - and this extends to reporting as well. You can create your own report templates using a drag-and-drop interface, making them as detailed or as concise as you prefer. The reports can also be customised to include your branding and chosen metrics, and they are generated with just a click. There are no limits on how many you can create, export, or save as templates - how you use this feature is entirely up to you.
One of Timesheet Portal’s most distinctive features is that we don’t sell you pre-built package deals and expect you to make do with what you receive. Instead, our model is designed to allow users to shape Timesheet Portal into what they need it to be. In other words, no two companies will ever have the same functionality from the same product — because Timesheet Portal will be tailored to their unique processes, not the other way around.
The best thing about building your own Timesheet Portal platform is that you aren’t committed to keeping it in the same shape and form forever. We make it easy to upgrade within the platform itself instead of having to chase our sales reps. That said, we also won’t be chasing you with the goal of selling - we empower you to upgrade yourself whenever you need to, to the extent you desire. Since there is hardly any limit to how far you can go with it, we can confidently say that our software is designed to grow and scale with you.
You are probably thinking that upgrading is always easy because every vendor is eager to charge you more—dohngrading, however… Well, that is not how we operate. We understand that circumstances change constantly, especially when working with small businesses or startups. Not to mention, we operate across many dynamic industries affected by external factors like changes in law and compliance all the time. This is why downgrading is also just a click away—no time wasted chasing a salesperson.
To be truly productive, you need to be aware of where you and your team spend your time. There are plenty of ways to record this: paper, Excel spreadsheets, or time-tracking tools. The latter is the approach we recommend most because it offers many additional features that can boost your productivity. Furthermore, good software will enable you to continue optimising your processes as you go, constantly enhancing your team’s performance.
There are plenty of solutions available on the market, and we are just one of them. However, we have years of expertise behind us and continuously refine our system to meet our clients' needs. We don’t second-guess them either - we listen directly to you, through the challenges you face or frustrations you experience. Are we the best? Of course, we are. We are the best fit for the companies we serve, just like any other tool out there.
Do we seem like a good fit for you? Let’s confirm that.