5 Tips on Introducing Time Tracking Software in your Workplace
7 July 2021 / 6 min

5 Tips on Introducing Time Tracking Software in your Workplace

Table of Contents

With the pandemic forcing individuals to work remotely, the importance of accurate time reporting is vital in ensuring that employees maximize the resources available to them. Using time tracking solutions, organizations can determine how employees are spending their time and how much it actually takes to complete a task. However, regardless of its overwhelming advantages, introducing a time tracking software solution in the workplace can be a delicate process.

According to eLearning Industry, employees can take up to 2 hours to refocus on their work after encountering distractions like texting and social media. Hence, having a time tracking tool is crucial to help foster accountability and productivity during their work hours.

In this article, we’ll discuss several ways on how to get employees to track time and buy into this idea to boost productivity and increase overall accountability. 

1. Outline the Purpose and Benefits

One way for leaders to introduce time tracking software in the workplace effectively is to outline the purpose and benefits it can bring to their employees.

By communicating to your teams why time tracking is important and how it will improve employee efficiency, you can make them feel more secure and receptive to the idea. Schedule a meeting with your employees rather than sending out an email prior to implementing the change. This way, you can reduce misunderstandings and unanswered questions regarding personal privacy. 

2. Establish What the Time Tracking Solution Will Not Be Used For

It is not uncommon for employees to feel like they are not trusted and being micromanaged when implementing a time tracking solution. Sometimes this can lead to employee hostility and result in your best employees even leaving due to reduced autonomy. Therefore, it is important to make it clear what the time tracking solution will and will not be used for. 

A rule of thumb is to emphasize that time tracking will not become the primary source of assessing individual performance or quantifying productivity. You may also want to highlight how time tracking will give them a technical advantage when collaborating with multiple departments. This way, you can reduce pressure and allow them to work without feeling that their every move is being evaluated.

3. Train Employees to Use the Software

Understanding how to use a time tracking software solution can go a long way from fully embracing organizational change. As a business leader, you must ensure that employees have the adequate training and knowledge regarding the software to maximize its full benefits and reduce frustration. More often than not, traditional employees resist to using time tracking solutions or any other technology because of the fear of appearing incompetent in front of their colleagues. 

After all, technology is constantly changing and evolving which means there is a good chance that they may not be able to use the software correctly. By providing the necessary training, you can improve utilization and personalization of the software and make it easier for employees to embrace time tracking. When conducting software training, you may also want to consider running the software with a small group of individuals to better understand its overall performance. 

4. Encourage Employee Feedback

Encouraging employees to provide feedback regarding the implementation of time tracking software will signal that you are not only making this change for your personal gain. By being open to feedback, you can make yourself vulnerable which is critical in building trust in your ideas. It is, however, important that you should provide flexibility throughout the implementation process. 

This means considering the learning curve and the resources it takes for everyone to get started. You should also highlight that nothing is set in stone and if the time tracking tool does not work, you can always change it anytime. Moreover, you must also keep the discussion going and address employee concerns even after the implementation journey to ensure that it won’t adversely hinder efficiency. 

5. Choose the Right Software

Implementing time tracking will already create questions and uncertainties among employees which means that you don’t need to make things even more complicated. An excellent way of doing that is opting for a user-friendly time tracking solution that employees will find easy to navigate. However, this can be challenging considering that most software providers often advertise how their products are better than the competition. 

Therefore, you must create a checklist of features to narrow your options and find the solution that fits with your operations and budget. Ideally, asking for a comprehensive product demonstration is a best practice to determine whether the software is geared with innovative time tracking methods that would improve your processes. You should also ensure that your chosen provider will offer 24/7 support to ensure that you can address employee concerns as you go through the process.

Reducing Employee Resistance to Time Tracking

Many jobs nowadays can be done remotely, making it easier for people in various industries whether it’s in ecommerce, marketing, customer service or psychology careers, among others.Tracking employees can be a touchy subject but it does not have to be. One way of ensuring employees stay proactive in implementing time tracking is to use the latest employee management tools. AtTrack is an automatic time tracking software solution that helps businesses increase productivity and secure revenue.