As remote work continues to be commonplace, businesses are faced with new challenges in managing employee productivity. Without the face-to-face interactions of a traditional office environment, ensuring team members effectively manage their time and contribute to the organization's goals can be difficult.
But with the help of productivity tracking software, managers can stay on top of employee activities and gain valuable insights into team performance. Explore the benefits of using work from home productivity tracking software and learn how to choose the right employee monitoring tool for your organization's needs below.
What is productivity tracking software?
Productivity tracking software is a tool that can monitor employee activities during the workday. This involves tracking the time spent on different tasks, which applications or websites are being used, and other data points that help managers gain insights into team productivity.
With the right productivity tracking software, leaders can quickly see where employees may need more support to complete tasks, which technology or tools are best leveraged and where bottlenecks may hold up work. Knowing how much and how well your employees work can also help managers prevent burnout.
Key features of productivity tracking software
Common features of productivity tracking software include:
- Time tracking tools: Managers can track the amount of time employees spend on different tasks throughout the day. This helps them identify areas where employees may spend too much or too little time. Managers can then adjust workloads accordingly.
- Application and website monitoring: Managers can monitor which applications and websites employees use during work hours — helping them identify potential distractions or areas where employees may need more training.
- Task and project management tools: Many productivity tracking software tools include features for managing tasks and projects. This helps ensure employees stay on track and complete work on time.
- Reporting and analytics capabilities: Productivity tracking software often includes reporting and analytics capabilities, giving managers the insights they need into team productivity and identify areas for improvement.
By offering a comprehensive suite of tools, productivity tracking software and solutions like ActivTrak help businesses gain real-time insights into employee activities to optimize team productivity. This can be particularly useful for remote teams, where it can be challenging to monitor employee activities and ensure everyone is staying on track.
The benefits of productivity tracking software
Tracking productivity can help organizations and workers in several ways. Key benefits include:
Increased productivity
The top benefit of workplace productivity monitoring software is the opportunity to improve productivity. By gaining insights into how employees spend their time and finding ways to improve, you can make sure everyone is working to the best of their abilities. This is especially valuable for use with employees who work from home since it enables managers to better understand their workflows. This makes it easier to provide feedback to improve performance.
Improved time management
It’s much easier to eliminate time waste if you can identify it. Productivity tracking software can accurately show what time employees spend on what tasks, so you can better understand how long projects actually take. By doing so, managers can more accurately forecast results and manage employee workloads which can reduce burnout.
Enhanced employee accountability
When employees know their activities are being monitored, they’re more likely to stay on task and focus on their work. This can help prevent distractions and increase productivity, while also creating a culture of accountability inside the organization.
Streamlined workflow and task management
With built-in project and task management tools, productivity tracking software can help streamline workflows and improve collaboration between team members. With a centralized platform for managing assignments and tracking progress, managers can ensure that tasks are completed on time and within scope.
Data-driven decision making
Detailed reports on team and individual performance can help managers make data-driven decisions regarding resource allocation, workload management and other business-critical decisions. This can help optimize operations and drive better outcomes for the organization as a whole.
Better communication and transparency
Productivity tracking software can help increase transparency within the organization, allowing employees to see how their work contributes to the overall success of the company. Many productivity tracking software tools include features for communication and collaboration, making it easier for remote teams to work together and stay connected.
How to choose the right productivity tracking software
Finding the right productivity tracking software for your organization means taking a good hard look at why you need it, what your budget is and how your team will respond to it.
1. Assess your business needs
Before selecting a productivity tracking software tool, it's important to assess your organization's unique needs and goals. Consider factors such as the size of your team, the type of work being done and the level of data security and compliance required. If you have hybrid or remote workers, you’ll want to factor this into your decision, as some solutions may be more suited to track employees who work from home.
2. Compare features and pricing
Once you have a clear understanding of your organization's needs, it's time to compare different productivity tracking software options. Look for tools that offer the features and capabilities that align with your business goals, while also remaining within your budget constraints.
3. Evaluate the user experience and support
It's important to consider the user experience and support offered by different productivity tracking software vendors. Look for tools with intuitive interfaces and responsive customer support teams to ensure that the employee monitoring tool is easy to use and that any issues can be quickly resolved. If the software has a component that allows employees to use it, make sure it’s just as intuitive as what you access. By doing so, you can ensure employees will be able to track their progress which can help them stay motivated to achieve goals.
How to address privacy and trust concerns
One of the top concerns with employee monitoring solutions is how they may affect your employees. Many may be concerned about privacy, including what management is tracking and why. Employee monitoring software may make employees feel like the organization doesn’t trust them, which can lead to lower productivity and higher burnout rates.
Here are a few steps you can take to address privacy and trust concerns:
Establish clear policies and expectations
It's important to establish clear policies and expectations regarding the use of productivity tracking software. Be transparent about what data is being collected and how it will be used, and ensure that employees understand the benefits of the tool.
Balance monitoring and employee autonomy
Another key factor in building trust with employees is to balance monitoring activities with employee autonomy. Ensure that employees have the flexibility to manage their own time and work in a way that is most productive for them, while also providing guidance and support as needed.
Ensure data security and compliance
Finally, it's crucial to ensure that any productivity tracking software used by your organization is compliant with relevant data privacy and security regulations. Look for tools that offer robust data encryption and other security measures to protect sensitive information. This is especially pertinent if you’re looking for productivity software to track employees who work from home. You want them to feel confident that only their work-related productivity data is being collected.
Get work-from-home (WFH) productivity tracking benefits from ActivTrak
Monitoring your remote employees can help increase collaboration and productivity. See how your employees perform so you can reward good work and provide support to employees who may need it. Set up a free demo to see if ActivTrak is the right solution to help you track employee productivity for your remote workforce.
