Why do we even do time reporting?
So, what is the purpose of time reporting? Some would answer that it’s so we can do salary payments and invoicing at the end of each month.
Others would argue that it is so that we can measure productivity and performance for different projects, or for teams within a company.
But time reporting is really about the co-workers themselves and their ability to monitor their working hours and ensure that they are achieving a healthy work-life balance.
Our memory is a fickle thing. While we can recall with ease what we did yesterday, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember what we did just two weeks ago. As our brains attempt to streamline and organize by forming links between pieces of information, what we remember becomes less nuanced. And when your business relies on billing the hours you work , it’s easy to forget where the time went. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, our brains are designed for this kind of efficiency. But when it comes to business, time is money—and you need to know exactly where your time is going so that you can make sure you’re getting paid for every minute on the clock.
When a time reporting system is too difficult to use, employees will wait until the last minute—when their manager needs it for invoicing purposes—to report their hours. But studies show that the more often you register your work hours, the more total hours get reported.
A bad time reporting system will actually cause co-workers to report hours less often, leading to them having to work more hours to get their weekly total up, which in turn lead to bad culture and work-life imbalance.
Time reporting can reveal much about a company’s culture and how it conducts its business. It says more than it does about employees' working hours.
Reporting often is a great way to stay on top of your job. Although it may seem like more work to report every day, in fact you’ll find that recalling memories from the past five days each week is faster than trying remember an entire week at once. You spent less time on reporting, you get more hours reported and don’t have to work “hidden” hours to fill your time sheet. The business can rely on your hours being more accurate and that you remain balanced when it comes to work-life balance, keeping you focused while working.
Of course you need help monitoring how well your reporting habits are working out.
It is for this reason that Treks has created its own unique Key Performance Indicator, or KPI—called TRAI—to inform you about the time lag between your reporting and the actual work being done.
As a manager, you can reach out to co-workers with low TRAI scores and encourage them to report more often. Increasing revenue and at the same time improve work-life balance for your co-workers.
If you’re not sure if Treks is right for your business, try it out for free. You get a three month trial for free, no signup fees. No obligations. After three month you decide if you want to continue using Treks by upgrading to the paid plan.