Creating and maintaining a productive working environment carries its own set of challenges, but the long-term rewards are not only welcome but also necessary to survive and grow in the competitive market.
That is why modern companies are making tangible changes by introducing contemporary solutions to age-old problems - employee monitoring software included.
Nevertheless, many are still struggling to recognize the need for implementing such solutions even after they start to feel a negative influence on the way the company does business.
Here are some of the red flags that signal you should start making changes as soon as possible.
Uneven Workload
You've noticed that some of your employees are working overtime to keep up with the responsibilities, while others seem to have free time on their hands. While it's normal for the pace of work to fluctuate, it's unfair and unprofessional if that becomes a common occurrence.
In that sense, employee productivity monitoring software can provide up-to-date and objective insights into the workload size of all employees and thus point to the areas that require adjustments.
Keep in mind that having certain team members constantly carry projects while others make small contributions can seriously impact the productivity of the entire team and company.
It's unreasonable to expect those whose plate is always full to be able to keep up with that tempo of work without it causing burnout and affecting their morale and effectiveness.
Hence, it's up to the managers to keep a close eye on the size of team members' workload via high-quality project management tool with time tracking and allocate as evenly as possible. Even more importantly, they should possess the skills to assign assignments according to team members' professional capabilities and interests to ensure high productivity levels, which is what tools like this can greatly help in acquiring.
Falling Behind Schedule
Closely related to unevenly assigning workload is missing project and task deadlines and thus having an unstructured workflow. This can happen when teams are still in the structuring phase (either recently created or constantly adding new members and not paying special attention to the onboarding process).
Employee monitoring software can facilitate synchronization with new colleagues.
While it is expected from newly hired employees to bring new energy and fresh best practices to their new working environment, they should still be able to quickly assimilate to the team. The reason for that is to avoid negative disruption of the team dynamics and provide quality contributions fairly quickly.
However, even teams that have been together for a while can be asynchronous, which will eventually affect team dynamics and overall performance levels.
For whatever reason, one team member can slow down another - or worst-case scenario, the entire team's process. In this regard, time tracking software with screen capture can be instrumental in pinpointing potential issues in meeting task deadlines.
Having a clear picture of what can impede an employee in performing their duties diligently is the first step toward resolving the issue. Whether that falls under employee's lack of skill, resources, or simply poor time management, such software can provide relevant answers and a solid basis for creating the appropriate tactics to ameliorate the situation.
Team Conflicts
It's not unusual for team members to come into conflict regardless of whether they work from the same location or remotely.
Therefore, having continuous access to objective information from employee monitoring software provides a foolproof way to investigate the source of conflicts in a team, as well as find a way to resolve them successfully.
The strategies for this differ.
For one, when employees have unobstructed access to their own working performance statistics, they have a means of increasing their productivity and accountability at work on their own.
On the other hand, friction among team members can be caused by irresponsible workplace behavior, such as irregular attendance, unproductive working hours, lower productivity, and poor quality of work. In this sense, employee productivity monitoring software can be a great asset for managers to resolve the issues by using objective information to tailor their response.
Billing and Payment Issues
Having a firm grip on the financial state of company affairs at all times is a must. Not only does it enable steadfast development, but it also firms the bond between the company and its business partners or clients.
For instance, if your company has the habit of hiring freelancers for big projects or performing specific tasks, it's important to be able to follow their progress at all times, as well as pay them accordingly. Time tracking and billing software is an indispensable tool in this sense, as it is able to gather data accurately and calculate payment amounts accordingly, thus enabling the successful creation of a fair-payment system companies can stand behind.
Moreover, most such tools allow companies to limit the number of hours their freelancers can log and bill and therefore keep the spending within the budget.
On the other hand, agencies of all kinds can use the same tools to give unobstructed access to their clients when working on commissioned projects so as to enable clear paths of communication and transparency in their work. This is yet another way time tracking and billing software can improve the relationship between a company and its clients, as well as clearly displaying all project-related costs to both sides.
Conclusion
In a company that is run like a well-oiled machine, all aspects of doing business are regulated via numerous highly detailed operational policies. On the other hand, it's natural to be completely shell-shocked by external forces that fundamentally change the way it operates.
The key to successfully weathering any storm, however, is in the ability to quickly adapt to the new circumstances and make the appropriate changes in order to continue growing in a steady manner.
In this sense, having access to modern tools like employee monitoring software just as you start seeing the negative effect of changes (or even beforehand) can make the transition smooth and effortless.
