Time tracking is a widely-adopted practice in the professional services sector. Yet, there is still a lot of time that gets lost due to inaccurate timesheets. AffinityLive estimated the cost of untracked time to be $7.4 billion a day in the US alone.
This article shows you:
While reminding employees to fill out their timesheets on regular basis may increase the accuracy of their time entries, the fundamental problem is with the technology itself. Many teams rely on outdated employee time tracking software: spreadsheets, clunky forms, or even actual paper timesheets. No wonder employees don’t feel particularly excited about tracking their time.
Mobile time tracking apps provide an alternative way of gathering timesheets. Since they require less effort than most of the traditional time tracking tools, their impact on your team’s timesheet accuracy might be significant. The effort itself, however, is not the only upside of mobile time tracking. Read on to find out more about this approach.
Mobile time tracking is the process of recording working time with mobile devices. Employees can clock in and out using a dedicated mobile app. Some mobile time tracking tools offer GPS tracking and geofencing as well. Data from employees’ devices is synced with the company-wide application, so managers can access their team’s timesheets.
The main advantage of mobile time tracking is that it allows for greater flexibility than traditional time tracking tools.
The very fact that it works on mobile devices means that employees can track time on the go. For some lines of work, it’s a necessity, but even people who leave their desks only occasionally will appreciate this option. The ability to record time in real-time will greatly increase the accuracy of the timesheet.
In the report quoted at the top of the article, respondents were also asked about the frequency in which they fill out their timesheets. People who do it at least once a day are more accurate than those who fill out timesheets once a week. It may come as no surprise since it’s very difficult to remember the exact length of e.g. a meeting from 5 days ago. Yet, filling out timesheets retroactively may be the only option for employees who work on the go, unless they’re equipped with a time tracker in the mobile version.
Mobile trackers are also handy for team members who forget to record their time entries in time. When they notice that fact, instead of waiting for the next working day, they can fill out the timesheet right away, using their phones.
Mobile time tracking apps are designed to require minimal effort from the employees. One tap to start tracking time, one tap to finish. Developers of mobile time trackers come up with additional features that further simplify the lives of their users. From “you’re clock is still ticking, but you seem to be inactive” reminders to intelligent suggestions, mobile time tracking is all about increasing the efficiency of your employees.
With a variety of employee time tracking software available on the market, you can find a tool that works for your team’s line of work. For instance, employees who travel from job sites to job sites will appreciate tools that automatically track their routes and time spent at each location.
Some teams, e.g. the ones responsible for putting together advertising events, will be happy to have an app that works on different platforms. This way, they can track time when they work on their computer and use a mobile time tracker for when they’re out in the field.
The bottom line is: try to pick a tool that works on your team’s preferred platforms and that will make tracking time as simple as possible.
Teamdeck, a complete SaaS resource management software, has been equipped with a time tracking tool, project scheduling software, and leave management system features from the very beginning. The newest addition to the app, however, allows for tracking time on the go.
We prioritized building a mobile time tracking app in order to increase the efficiency of our customers. The goal was to provide a lightweight solution for employees who use Teamdeck just to track their time and check the upcoming assignments. Now they can do it from anywhere, without having to log in to the web app.
The power users of Teamdeck: project managers, resource managers, and team leaders will still largely rely on the web version to plan their projects or access team analytics. In the event of having to check on their team’s schedule or timesheets, they can do it via the mobile app as well.
Teamdeck’s mobile time tracking app is available for iOS and Android devices. The app is free, just log in with the credentials you use for Teamdeck’s web version.
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