WorkflowMAX Blog

Instead of looking at employee time tracking as an admin hassle, here are 17 ways time tracking software can help you earn what you deserve for the time you put in. 

1. Keep track of contractors 

When you’re employing freelancers or other contractors, you need to keep a careful eye on their workload and hours to be sure you’re not blowing your budget.

Get your contractors to fill out the same timesheets as your staff. Keeping an accurate record of their hours with a time tracking software ensures you’re only paying for what’s actually done, and also lets you track the performance of different contractors so you can allocate work to the right people.

2. Prioritise projects

With time tracking software like WorkflowMAX that has job scheduling, you can use the calendar, milestones and staff allocation features to make schedule adjustments. You’ll find it’s an easy way to reallocate hours and shift deadlines for high-priority projects.

 3. See the status of a job at a glance

With so many different people working on different parts of a project (and several projects on the go at once), it can be difficult to know the status of each task as you require it.

Not so if you’re using time-tracking software! Simply log in and you can see the status of every single job. You can narrow down your view to a certain department or job type, and if your software is in the cloud, you can access this data from anywhere in the world.

4. Improve project schedules

Do you find projects and milestones regularly run late? If so, it’s a good time to have a look at your project timeframes and schedules. Are you being too ambitious with your schedule? Your time tracking software will tell you how many hours each job task takes. If you see consistent patterns in certain project types or stages, perhaps you need to adjust your schedule to a more realistic timeframe.

5. Track time across different devices

If you have remote workers, team members out on site, or staff working all across the world, you can still maintain consistent time keeping. With a cloud-based time tracking app, your whole team can quickly and accurately enter time, no matter where they are or what they’re doing.

6. Focus on strategic projects

One of the biggest benefits of tracking time is your ability to report on that data. You’ll have access to a goldmine of data on your staff, jobs, suppliers and profits which you can use to help focus your strategic direction and measure the progress of your goals.

7. Compare projects over time

Want to compare features of different projects past and present? Need to see if you’ve improved the speed of a certain type of task? Want to see how the ratio of different project types changes over time? If you’re recording the data, then you can find the answers.

8. Raise your rates

How do you know when it’s time to raise your rates? You could use the data you’ve collected from your time tracking software. That’s right. A look at the time spent on each task, as well as the charge-out rates for your staff, and your overall profit on a job, should quickly give you an indication if you’re pricing accurately. If not, it’s time to crunch the numbers and make some changes!

9. Provide additional value when selling

If you want to sell your business, being able to provide potential buyers with your timesheet records could prove extremely valuable. Records show you’re running a professional operation with a reputation for accuracy, and buyers can see at a glance exactly what kind of output they can expect from the team.

10. Review team performance
When your annual performance reviews approach, it can be great to refer to data. You can pull numbers on individual employees and how they compare to the rest of the team.

This data is also useful for team members to see how their performance stacks up, and it can help you identify strengths to emphasise and weaknesses to work on.

11. Manage the dreaded scope-creep

Scope creep impacts all service businesses in one form or another. Clients think they want one thing, and end up adding a whole bunch of different tasks to the job. Before you know it, you’re tackling a whole different beast to the project that was originally agreed, with a blown-out timeline and hours to match.

When time and budget are being monitored through your time tracking system, you’ll be able to identify and manage scope creep almost before it happens.

12. Identify areas for improvement

When conducting a productivity audit as part of your continuous improvement strategy, you can look for areas and tasks that your team struggles with. This bottleneck might be pointing to a process that needs adjusting.

13. Present a professional face

Clients love to ask questions. What’s the status of my job? Who’s working on this stage? Where in the process are we? Time tracking software lets you answer these questions quickly and accurately.

14. Check if you’re making money

By having visibility over exactly how much time is being spent on different jobs, you can see whether you’re actually turning a profit or not.

Do you need to adjust your pricing? Are you putting too much effort into job types that don’t pay off? The only way you can gain these insights is to track the time and then analyse it

15. Find out if a team member is overextending themselves

A person might put their hand up to take on a variety of projects, but then realise they’ve taken on too much. Or maybe someone’s home life needs more attention at the moment. 

An online employee time clock can help with wellbeing and balance because you can easily see who has been assigned to what, and how many tasks each team member is working on. So you should be able to head off overloading problems before they become a serious burden.

16. Accurately report hours for compliance

In some industries, hours worked by your team are required for reporting and compliance reasons. This can be a huge task to compile and send off at the end of each month or quarter.

But not if your team is accurately tracking their time! If you use a cloud-based time tracking software like WorkflowMAX, you’ll be able to quickly run a report to pull out the information you need. Compliance can be done in a matter of minutes.

17. Reward excellence

Many staff – especially those not used to time tracking software – worry that clocking their hours will make them look as though they’re slacking off. In fact, the opposite is usually true. An accurate log of hours worked lets you, as the business owner, see when good work is being done so you can reward it accordingly.

If someone is consistently performing above their targets, it may be time to consider a promotion. Likewise, you can incentivise staff to challenge themselves with friendly time-based competitions or challenges.

Successful time tracking is all about recording data in your business, then using that data to work as productively and profitably as possible. We hope we've given you a few ideas to think about and put into practice.

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder.

Team productivity... it’s what everyone wants and needs for small business success. But inspiring team productivity can be difficult. Your employees are from different walks of life – with a huge variation in personalities, working styles and strengths.

How do you successfully motivate and inspire a diverse group? Here are 31 unique ways to increase team productivity, while still empowering them as individuals.

Motivate them with team building exercises…

1. Hold a team building day. Team building exercises build a culture of trust and support, which is essential for productivity. These team outing ideas are a great place to start.

2 - Host a hackathon.

A ‘hackathon’ is a day where people from different areas of your company join to collaborate on a project from scratch, usually completing it in 24-72 hours. It’s team building, skill sharing, and incredibly fun.

3. Have a family day. It’s important that your workplace is inclusive for loved ones. Try to have a family day at your business at least once a year. This helps to solidify team bonds, boost motivation, and strengthen employee loyalty to the company.

4. Creative brainstorming sessions. Starting a big project from scratch? Get your team moving with an innovative brainstorming session. These unusual meetings help to stimulate creativity while unifying your team.

5. Start an exercise challenge.

An exercise challenge is great for team bonding. Hold a regular lunch-time walking competition, cycling group or morning squat challenge. It’s been proven that exercise boosts productivity - and you’re less likely to suffer the afternoon slump.

Try new ways of working...

6 . Use agile methodology. Agile is the name of a project management strategy that was invented by software developers in the 2000s, but many different industries can use the agile methodology to their advantage.

7. Hold daily stand-ups. A 5-10 minute team chat in the morning is a great chance to update each other, address any challenges and get the ball moving. Keep the time limit strictly under 10 minutes. This can replace the need for long meetings later in the day.

8. Create awesome meeting agendas. When long meetings are necessary, stick to a clear and concise agenda.

9. Keep your workflow visible. One of the best ways to increase productivity is with a visible workflow board. Everyone can see what team members are working on and the status of projects. Try an online system like Trello or use WorkflowMAX  for job, task and staff management.

10. Have a reward system. Your team should have clear targets, along with incentives for reaching them. Fun social events like team dinners, a day trip or sports matches give them something to strive towards.

11. Delegate by interests. Try to assign tasks to team members based not only on their strengths, but also their passions. You’ll see an immediate increase in productivity if they’re interested in the project, or when it aligns with their personal career goals.

12. Start a mentorship program. 

Have a sign up form so staff can express their interest in learning particular skills. Then arrange for them to buddy up with a work mentor. When team members upskill, your whole company benefits.

13. Offer internal training. Your staff will be happier and more productive if they’re constantly learning new skills. This is especially true if they get to choose their development path. If they express the desire to study part-time at university, consider offering a flexible working scheme.

Add some spark to your space…

14. Create the perfect workspace, whether that space is at the office or at home. Take some time to reassess your surroundings. Natural light, ergonomic chairs, plants, temperature – they’re all important for employee happiness and efficiency.

15.  Encourage clean eating. A healthy team is a productive team! Sign up for a weekly fruit box, or supply a nutritious staff breakfast once a week. Some cafes also offer corporate membership deals – pick one with healthy, diverse food options.

16. Invest in a water cooler. Water has been proven to increase productivity, so do everything you can to make sure it’s consumed. A water cooler or filtration system will encourage staff to stay hydrated in the office at all times.

17. Build fun communal spaces. Stuffy, formal meeting rooms don’t do much to inspire productivity. Create colourful break-out areas with bean bags, couches and interesting decor. 

18. Limit distractions. Open plan offices are great in some ways, but they can make it difficult to focus. Create a ‘quiet zone’ for anyone who needs privacy to work on a solo task. If this isn’t possible, consider implementing a ‘no interruptions’ time of day, e.g. 2pm-4pm.

Measure team productivity…

19. Implement time tracking. 

Employee time tracking is one of the most powerful methods of measuring productivity. It can show you where business profits are being made and lost, and which projects are problematic.

20. Keep individual time logs. Encourage your team to track their own time as well. This can help each team member identify their personal productivity hurdles. Armed with these insights you can develop better habits together.

21. Try a team pomodoro timer. Your brain can only focus for a certain period of time. Using Teamodoro on a big screen encourages your team to work in synchronised blocks, with short breaks in between. It’s not for everyone – but some work groups swear by it.

22. Have a peer review system. Create a formal channel so your team members can increase their productivity and performance together, through a constructive feedback process. 

Understand each other...

23.  Celebrate workplace diversity. Hold events to celebrate different nationalities and cultures in the workplace, including diversity training days. This will help your team members to understand, enjoy and respect each other’s differences.

24. Share your DiSC profiles.

A team DiSC assessment is a great way of identifying the individual personalities within your team, and how you work best together. 

25. Respect individual habits. Some team members work best at their desk, others increase productivity by being active and moving locations. Some like music while others prefer silence. Do your best to accommodate and respect individual preferences. Productivity is never one-size-fits-all.

And finally...

26. Eliminate excess tasks. Is your team bogged down with unnecessary meetings, small non-urgent tasks or office maintenance? Try to ‘trim the fat’, so your team can focus on big projects without distractions.

27. Set a powerful example. A team is only as good as its leader. If that’s you, make sure your own personal productivity is at its peak. You can’t expect the team to move mountains if they don’t have a strong role model.

28. Have an open door policy. Nothing hurts productivity more than confusion or a lack of direction. If you’re leading a team, keep an open door so they can approach you with any challenges and reach a quick resolution.

29. Minimise chatter. Is your entire Tuesday morning spent gossiping about the latest Love Island? Workplace friendships are beautiful, but they can be distracting for co-workers. Try to create ‘social spaces’ in the office that are separate from your quiet, working hubs.

30. Embrace the latest tools. Don’t be afraid of the learning curve – those who are scared of technology get left behind. Online productivity tools can have a huge impact on your team’s overall efficiency.

31. Set realistic goals. One of the best ways to increase productivity is by setting realistic goals. Your team should always have specific targets to strive for. They should also understand how these goals help your overall business objectives – helping to foster a sense of unity and purpose.

As Xero's WorkflowMAX approaches its retirement in June 2024, it's important to start planning for a smooth transition to a new job management software that aligns with your business needs. However, researching and evaluating software solutions can be overwhelming. This guide aims to assist you in scoping and evaluating potential job management software solutions, so you to make an informed decision.

The importance of software scoping and evaluation

Understanding the importance of software scoping and evaluation is key before embarking on the research and evaluation process. It helps identify cost-effective, easy-to-implement solutions that offer a great user experience. It also helps prevent costly mistakes and helps ensure your chosen system remains relevant in the long term.

Scoping a software solution

Scoping a software solution involves assessing, among other things, the features, capabilities, cost, implementation timeline, and user experience to determine the best fit. Start by identifying your organisation's needs and objectives, then create a list of required features. It's a good idea to highlight things which are must haves and things which are nice to have. This narrows down the potential solutions and facilitates the evaluation process.

Features to consider

When scoping a software solution, it's crucial to thoroughly consider the features and capabilities offered by each option to help ensure it aligns with your organisation's needs. When evaluating software, you may want to look for: 

• Automation features that can streamline processes and help reduce manual labour
• Integration capabilities that allow seamless connectivity with other systems such as your CRM or accounting software
• Robust security measures to protect sensitive data from malicious attacks
• Scalability to accommodate future growth and ensure the software can adapt to the changing needs of the business

Tips for evaluating software solutions

Once you have a shortlist of potential software solutions, it's time to evaluate them. Here are some tips to help you in the evaluation process:

• Request demonstrations to gain a better understanding of the software's features and functionality. You want to be able to see your business reflected back at you in the new software
• Test the software through free trials - it's a good idea to take a real life job (with personal data changed of course) and see if there are any limitations or surprises
• Ask for references from other customers

Important questions to ask

When evaluating software solutions, ask the right questions to gather essential information. These questions could include:

1. What features does the software offer?
2. What is the cost and implementation timeline? Is it per user or bundle of users?  
3. What features are add-ons and do they cost more?
4. How secure is the software - does it offer multi-factor authentication (MFA) and what infrastructure does it use?
5. Is the software scalable?
6. What support options are available and do they cost extra?
7. What is the user experience like?
8. What reviews exist about the software?
9. How many POs or jobs can the system handle without performance issues?
10. Does the company provide regular updates and enhancements?
11. Is the company well-funded?

Avoiding common evaluation mistakes

Here are some potential pitfalls to avoid:

• Not properly scoping and evaluating software solutions
• Skipping the testing phase before making a decision
• Neglecting to ask for references or demonstrations
• Failing to consider cost, implementation timeline and user experience

Creating a software evaluation report

After evaluating the software solutions, create a comprehensive report that includes an overview of the solutions, your evaluation criteria, and conclusions. The report should provide a clear comparison of the evaluated software solutions.

Seek expert advice

WorkflowMAX has a global community of very passionate software implementation partners who can help you navigate this transition. If you have more complex business requirements, or simply no time to focus, reach out to a partner for support. Many partners have developed one-off WorkflowMAX transition packages that include needs analysis, discovery, scoping and evaluation to help you choose the right solution for your business. Visit our Partner page to find a partner.

Scoping and evaluating software solutions may seem challenging, but by following these steps, you can navigate the process with confidence. 

Wishing you all a very happy and relaxing holiday period. Our crew will be taking a short break, but we have small team to support you throughout the entire holiday period.

As the CEO of WorkflowMAX, I wanted to reflect on just how far we’ve come since acquiring the WorkflowMAX brand from Xero back in March and building our new product. I couldn’t be prouder of my leadership team Ryan Kagan, Chris Galt, Millie Vingrys, Joanna Bellis, James Carroll, Natalie Prescott Brann, Kaia Kaldoja and Kuang Gan, and I’m thrilled at what we’ve achieved in such a short but focused amount of time.

Last month alone, we welcomed our first Max baby and added another seven people into new roles, taking our wider team to north of 40.

We’ve had an amazing response to our new partner program with 45 official implementation partners and advisors coming on board so far.

The team has jetted around the world, making new friends in Singapore and London, and connecting with many Xero partners and customers around New Zealand at the #Xeroroadshow. We’ve demoed live to over 4,000 potential customers and partners across multiple time zones to share our progress. We’re injecting fun wherever we can!

Our global product and technology teams came together in the Philippines for dedicated time and team building, and to stress test our new product to make sure it’s ready for you all. We’re investing heavily into developing a strong and sustainable business with a product that you can rely on, and hopefully, one you’ll continue to love using.

We launched our beta program in early December and are laser-focused on taking all the feedback in and making sure that you enjoy a seamless experience when you migrate over.

Thank you to everyone who is playing their part in helping us launch WorkflowMAX in February 2024.

We can’t wait to welcome you all to your new home for job management. 💚

Cheers Vince

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