“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time”
– Jim Rohn
Project time and project costs have a very close relationship. For the same type of project, the volume of work is directly proportional to the cost and time required in order to complete the whole project.
Employees get paid based on their work hours, but how do you know they are making their hours useful?
Time helps yield better results but wasted time affects the quality of work and leaves clients disappointed and money wasted. As a result, project time tracking is essential for organizations to track their employees and project progress to maintain the focus and develop a sense of control to complete the project within the given time frame and budget.
In this article, we will briefly discuss why organizations should use project time tracking , a guide to how time tracking can be used effectively, and a few recommendations of tools that would help you manage project timelines.
Why should organizations use project time tracking?
01. Increased productivity:
By tracking time, business owners can better understand how much time employees take to complete tasks and how they utilize working hours. They can optimize productivity and track their progress to be more efficient.
02. Flexibility:
Time tracking enables employees to sync and manage their time based on the completion of their tasks. If the activity is completed ahead of schedule, they can devote that time to other duties, and if any task takes longer than anticipated, they can divide the time accordingly.
03. Reduced cost:
Wasted time on projects costs billions to companies. According to a recent study by salary.com, employees wasted time costs $759 billion annually to businesses. Hence, tracking time can help businesses to save costs and improve productivity.
Time tracking also helps businesses to calculate the return on investment on each project for future investments and projects.
04. Better task distribution:
Project time tracking enables businesses to examine their process and find out where the time is wasted to optimize their process effectively. With the help of timesheets, teams can easily distribute tasks and set realistic deadlines.
05. Greater focus:
Project time tracking makes the team more efficient and focused. Teams can manage their time better, and they can check each other’s progress as well. By tracking time, they can ensure time management and develop a better focus to meet deadlines.
How to track time effectively?
- Track your time accurately by analyzing how much time do you spend completing each task
- Track your time every day at specific times to ensure you manage your time effectively. Making time tracking a habit could help a lot.
- If you do not have a time tracking tool, maintain a timesheet. Write down your start and end times in a sheet that you can go back to at any time.
- The most effective way to track your time is to use a time tracking software. It will automatically record your time and data
Steps to project time management
We have discussed the basics of project time tracking. Let’s look at how it works for better project delivery.
Step 1:
Track and maintain a record of your previous year’s time expenses and plan your future accordingly. Develop a new workflow that improves the previous year’s mismanagement in time.
Step 2:
Analyze what you have achieved at the end of the year, what your progress is, and how much change you need to bring for better project time management.
Step 3:
Now finally, analyze the collected information. This would help you understand the capabilities of your teams and employees. Hence, it helps you with task distribution in your next project.
Top project time tracking software
| Harvest | Harvest is a great tool for project management, and it also runs the financial aspect of the business. It automatically tracks time and generates the report. |
| TimeCamp | It is a one-click and automatic time tracking software that also provides a calendar and generates a timesheet. The report has a very readable format that can be easily understandable. |
| KonarkPro | KonarkPro is one of the best time tracking software that helps keep a track of the work hours and increases productivity. It generates insightful reports so that employees can analyze and utilize their working hours in the best possible way. |
| Everhour | Everhour is a project management and collaboration tool that works on Trello, Asana, and others. It accurately tracks time for budgeting, payroll, and invoice. |
Wrapping up
Time tracking is one of the most essential tasks for a company to make the best use of time, save money, increase employee productivity, and deliver projects on time.
Use a time tracking software that suits your business operations to improve efficiency and discover what changes it brings to your operations.