Project tracking software enables management teams to equate project indicators, including costs, timelines, and personnel, with estimations generated during the planning process. Meanwhile, Managers use this data to update stakeholders on the overall health of the project. This article will lead us to Project management and time tracking software.
What is Project Time Tracking?
In simple terms, Time tracking in project management involves maintaining a number of time members of the team spend doing all or part of the job given to them.
Time tracking examines overall staff productivity while also providing the team with a mechanism of evaluating the performance of foresight indicators such as rapid velocity, project estimations, projected sprint length, and so on. It can also be used to bill clients when you are paid by the hour.
The purpose of Project Time Tracking
The first purpose
Time tracking enables team members to increase their productivity and complete tasks more quickly than they would otherwise. Hence, the goal is to determine which jobs take the most time and how you can ensure that your staff is working efficiently.
Second purpose
It keeps you focused on critical tasks from a psychological standpoint.
It also assists you in identifying activities that are a waste of your time.
Third and the last purpose
It reveals the underlying tendencies that explain why some jobs are completed faster than others.
Similarly, you’ll be able to determine which members of your team are really quick at specific activities and assign them to those duties more frequently.
Steps to discover the duration your team invests in projects and activities.
1. Choosing an Adequate Tool
Time tracking is about more than just making visually beautiful project dashboards; it’s also about measuring the duration your team spends working. However, You must document your requirements so that you may conveniently choose a tool that meets them. You and your team must respond to questions like “What are we seeking to achieve?. “What time tracker allows us to do this in the fewest steps possible?.
Here is an answer to the second question. Strive for project time tracking software, like Kissflow Project, that offers what your team needs in a straightforward and clear way.
2. Include everyone on your team.
To gain your team’s acceptance and use of time tracking. You must demonstrate how it will enable them to perform their best work while also, highlighting what you can change to improve project delivery. Otherwise, as we all know, attempting to implement change carelessly will lead to stagnation and unnecessarily impeded efforts.
3. Encourage your team to use their trackers.
Just like with any transition, your employees will have to be reminded on a frequent basis to keep their time reports accurate and up to date. Importantly, Collect feedback from your staff to see whether it is truly useful and supporting them in being more productive.
Project Tracking In Management
Project tracking is all about watching project progress in order to identify any issues and take appropriate action as soon as possible. In addition, to check project performance on a frequent basis, in order to discover any deviations from the project management strategy so as to keep projects on track
Benefits in Project Tracking Management
There are numerous advantages to project tracking. Ranging from greater project success to the formation of a solid group. Read on to know more.
#1.Problem identifiers
Problems and issues have nowhere to hide with project tracking. Because any potential problems are immediately identified. Hence, this enables leaders to intervene and retake control of the situation. Moreover, members of a team can help each other and keep each other motivated to complete tasks. Also, problem-solving preserves the project’s structure and free up resources to focus on what matters. Once the challenges have been resolved, the project will be able to resume its normal course, with success on the horizon.
#2.Accurate and available information
First of all, stay current and obtain the most up-to-date information accessible. Everyone involved in the project must be able to observe the project’s status and progress in real-time. However, it is critical for senior management to make choices on behalf of the team at the project’s highest level, alongside team leaders. And, reporting to top management should be straightforward with cloud-based easy project management software. Teams can be linked, as well as project objectives and activities, by tracking projects. Keep in touch and see your dreams come true.
#3. Motivation in the Workplace
Collaboration is an essential component of any undertaking. If each member understands their job, they will be able to work toward the group’s goals. Moreover, as projects develop and the job list shrinks with each passing day, team motivation to continue and complete the project grows. More importantly, Project tracking keeps everyone in the picture and on the same page by encouraging collaboration and establishing an empowered team.
#4.Simple and accurate reporting
Reporting is frequently a difficult activity that project managers are forced to perform. Senior management desires a rapid overview of all projects. So, using a single system to organize and track projects speeds up and simplifies reporting. Because time is money, having all information in one location, with more detail available if needed, is ideal for reporting to top executives.
What are the most effective methods for properly tracking projects?
We’ve all heard that project tracking is vital to growth and achieving the final goal. So, are there things you can do to improve the way you track the project? Continue to get the answers to that question.
#1.Map out a plan, before starting your project
The desire to leap directly into a project without appropriate preparation is a major reason why project tracking becomes challenging. However, With plans and goals in place, you’ll be able to see how the project is moving. Before you begin a project, you must have the following items: objectives, task lists, team members, length, and any potential issues. You can track any modifications you need to make if you have these items spelled out from the start. Notwithstanding, these may alter throughout the project, but knowing this information at the start establishes a baseline for the endeavor. If you and the executives outline the deliverables with clear, measurable outcomes. Then you have a high-level framework of deliverables leading to that outcome.
#2.Look for warning signals and deal with any problems that arise.
The warning indicators are basically what can make or fail a project. But, If you don’t notice any warning signs, your project will fail. Project Central displays warning indications for things like tasks highlighted in red with approaching due dates. However, If there are a lot of jobs that aren’t getting done, it can be a good idea to enlist the help of others. So, you can get your project back on track by reviewing these warning signals and correcting difficulties as soon as possible rather than letting them fester and escalate.
#3.Keep an eye on the job schedule.
After the project has been planned, the work can begin. High-level deliverables can be divided into smaller tasks to provide clarity and direction on what is expected of them. As a result, individuals should be aware of what a decent job entails before beginning employment. Moreover, the status of the project can be determined by reviewing the plan and tasks. Being proactive in the work involved in the projects guarantees that nothing falls through the cracks, potentially preventing the project from being completed. If you want your project to be a success, you must constantly monitor it. A tight work plan provides the team with deadlines and goals to meet.
#4. Strictly consider tasks as complete when they are done.
When growth is slow, it may appear to be a good idea to begin marking jobs as completed when, in fact, they are only partially completed. These misleading reports make it difficult to see the true project progress. Some tasks may therefore be marked as completed, despite the fact that they are not actually completed by the end of the project. When development is slow, it is vital, to be honest, and maintain a level of realistic reporting.
#5.Be realistic with your estimates and actuals.
Establishing a culture in which people can be open and honest, helps for accurate project estimates and reporting. Allowing you to track progress at frequent milestones. However, Deadlines and budgets are frequently overestimated, resulting in project stress and, eventually, failure. Projects should be run on a foundation of factual, fact-based facts, rather than the deceptive optimism that can result from the fear of sharing negative news. Projects can only be effectively managed if everyone knows what is and is not being done.
#6. Consider the Future
When tracking initiatives, always keep an eye on the future. Know that whatever you’re doing now is leading up to a bigger aim in the future. After the project is finished, consider what worked and what did not. This information is critical for tracking future developments. Each effort gives a valuable set of lessons that can be used in future endeavors.
Software with Time Tracking in Project Management
There is no replacement for excellent project management software. More professionals, however, are understanding that time tracking has the potential to improve the process of planning work, predicting more accurately, and charging clients with remarkable precision.
The following are the time tracking project management software
#1. HubTask time tracking project management software
Hubstaff Tasks is a visual drag-and-drop time tracking project management software. Meant to improve team efficiency and alliance. Additionally, Hubstaff Tasks provides all of the greatest components of Agile without complication or unwanted functionalities.
#2. Mavenlink time tracking project management software
Mavenlink is exclusively for agency teams, in order to assists project managers in getting the most out of their teams. It is a project management system with time tracking capabilities. Moreover, it enables project managers to acquire a comprehensive understanding of their teams’ operations and the status of their projects.
#3. Replicon time tracking project management software
A multi-product enterprise-grade for project management and time tracking solution. Ideal for project managers in charge of large teams. Replicon’s apps, which are based on a cloud-based system with a focus on security, function across a variety of devices, allowing your team members to log their time and work from anywhere.
#4. Wrike time tracking project management software
Wrike is an excellent software that combines project management features with strong collaboration assistance and time tracking features. From Amazon to Capgemini, it is use by prominent companies all over the world. Wrike has capabilities that will make the life of any product manager a dream come true.
#5. ProofHub time tracking project management software
ProofHub is a well-known project and time management software. The program is intended to assist growing teams and enterprises in more efficiently planning, organizing, collaborating, tracking, and delivering work.
#6. Trigger time tracking project management software
The software was created with consulting teams in mind. Moreover, It provides a platform for all of your team’s work for each client. Meanwhile, it is ideal for project managers that oversee many teams for various clients. It also makes it simple to organize all of your data into one spot.
#7. Avaza time tracking project management software
Avaza offers strong and simple-to-use business solutions. And, project managers can benefit from drag-and-drop task management (which supports estimations and real-time progress), planning tools, and automatic work reminders.
The software interacts with email, by allowing your teams to collaborate on projects in real-time. Plus, a content management system, which allows you to store papers online for your entire team to view, helps to support this.
#8. Harvest time tracking project management software
This is an application for individuals who want to track how much time their employees spend on each project. It is also useful for individuals who want to handle tasks and projects at the same time.
Moreover, the program analyzes your team’s data so you don’t have to. It has extensive time tracking tools that allow your team to track the hours they spend working on all of their devices (Harvest supports Android, iPhone, Apple Watch, and a variety of desktop operating systems). It creates reports that include billable and non-billable hours for all of your team members.
#9. Dovico
Dovico is a well-known project management software that includes time tracking. Even Allianz and Burt’s Bees are among their clients. Dovico Timesheet is available as a stand-alone product with a variety of free app add-ons. Plus, Its robust features can assist you in keeping track of all of your employees and managing large teams.
It is also a useful and simple-to-learn software solution that supports time and expense tracking, as well as additional functionality that allows you to measure billable and non-billable time and automated e-mail notifications that help you remember to do important tasks.
#10. Buddy Punch time tracking project management software
As a time clock application that runs on the internet. Its user interface is completely customizable. You will be able to integrate the Buddy Punch with the majority of payroll administration software. Moreover, It will assist you in project management by tracking the time for a given project and job codes.
In addition, Buddy Punch has the ability to automatically divide calculated time into categories such as regular time, overtime, and double time. it may also provide flexible, dependable, and simple personnel management, allowing you to put up a customized overtime regulation on a per-employee basis. Automatic breaks, vacation monitoring, GPS tracking, and other time and attendance solutions are also available.
#11. Hubstaff time tracking project management software
Hubstaff is a complete, free time tracking software product that is ideal for remote or dispersed teams. Moreover, Secondly, It is a lightweight local time tracking program that features screenshots, time tracking, and project management. Thirdly, Its simple layout and design make it very easy for your team to enter their time and for you to follow their progress.
Finally, with Hubstaff, budget management is absolutely simple. you can quickly set time limitations and budgets for your team to bill against. As well as a maximum number of hours you want a member to be able to work in a week, and the app will automatically prevent them from exceeding the limit.
#12. Monday.com time tracking project management software
Monday.com is a project management software with time tracking elements that has stripped away many of the unnecessary features of traditional management programs in favor of basic, visually understandable layouts that aid in the clarification of work sequences.
#13. Traqq time tracking project management software
Basically, Traqq is a work time tracking platform that improves productivity and performance. By utilizing automatic monitoring techniques such as screenshots, screen recordings, team activity levels, app, and online monitoring.
With a decent Internet connection, the time tracker works both online and offline. On Windows and Mac platforms, and syncs all of your data. With this, you can track and analyze everyone on your team’s activity levels.
#14. Actually time tracking project management software
It is, in fact, a straightforward and easy-to-use time monitoring tool. This software is appropriate for small and medium-sized project teams. With Actually software, entering project hours on desktop and mobile devices is simple, without the frustration of cumbersome forms, timesheets, and user interfaces. Plus the online timesheets, that identify your top performers and coordinate your underperformers
#15. FunctionFox time tracking project management software
It was created by creative professionals for the creative industry and includes tools to help you manage your projects successfully. So, users can track billable and non-billable work whether they are working alone or as part of a team. And, FunctionFox is intended to save administrative time while increasing production.
#16. Forecast time tracking project management software
Basically, Forecast makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help your estimates improve and become more accurate. Moreover, the total time spent on tasks is automatically benchmarked against your predictions. And the AI learns from this to improve future forecasts, lowering the risk of under-or over-estimating your projects. This will significantly increase the effectiveness of your resource planning, allowing you to boost delivery and profitability.
#17.ClickTime time tracking project management software
This is Practically a project time tracking software that is used by firms who need to account for labor expenditures effectively. ClickTime is popular among project managers and accounting departments because of its ability to set project budgets, staff cost rates, and custom billing rates.
#18. DeskTime time tracking project management software
DeskTime is a straightforward time tracking program that includes essential features: firstly, staff monitoring, secondly, project management, and finally, productivity analysis. Furthermore, this productivity tracking software is intended to assist bosses and their teams in identifying unproductive practices by categorizing web pages and programs as “Productive” or “Unproductive.”
However, this software doesn’t just track time, but it also evaluates your daily productivity and efficiency depending on the URLs, programs, and apps you categorize. Moreover, This indicates that the more time you spend on productive applications, the more productive you are on a daily basis.
#19.ProofHub time tracking project management software
It is an internet project management and time tracking tool with strong collaborative capabilities. The software includes an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for teams to get started.
As soon as you begin working on an assignment, an automatic timer begins monitoring every billable hour. The advantage of ProofHub is that you can also enter time manually. The time data is saved in elegant timesheets that you may utilize for billing.
#20. Hours time tracking project management software
Hours is a time clock software with basic time tracking features that are suitable for users who do not want complex features. Hence Hours, which is available as a mobile app, allows you to retain a running list of timers and rapidly switch between tasks.
You may color-code your tasks and projects in Hours to help you manage them. For example, by using a different color for each activity or project, you can quickly distinguish between them.
#21. Timecamp time tracking project management software
Timecamp is an internet time tracking service that allows employees to track their work time both manually with timers and automatically with the desktop client.
Additionally, the program allows project managers to collaborate, log billable work hours, and keep track of project progress. It also enables the creation of automatic staff payroll and the sending of invoices to clients. Furthermore, it is employee productivity tracking software that allows you to observe if your staff are being as productive as you need them to be during the workday.
#22. TimeDoctor time tracking project management software
This software combines time tracking, staff monitoring, and project management. It’s an effective employee monitoring tool because it provides you with detailed information on your staff. Moreover, the Time Doctor time tracking system keeps track of the websites and apps each employee visits. It also enables managers to take desktop screenshots to observe what their staff are working on at any one time, reducing the likelihood of slacking off.
#23. Toggl time tracking project management software
Toggl makes it simple to establish projects, assign roles, and estimate schedules and budgets for each project. In this manner, you can quickly see which of your projects is behind schedule and over budget, and then organize your time and resources accordingly.
#24. Tick time tracking project management software
For those that have a particularly significant project coming up, Tick is the software to utilize. It’s a project-based time tracking software that keeps track of time against your expected project timeline and budget.
For example, when you add a new time entry to Tick’s timesheet, the app will immediately update how much time you have left to accomplish a job or project.
#25. RescueTim tracking project management software
RescueTime is a time tracking device that not only analyzes how much time you spend on certain URLs, programs, and apps. But also shows you how productive you were throughout the day.
What Is a Tool for Tracking Projects?
Is There a Task Tracker in Excel?
With the help of this simple Excel task tracking template, keep track of your tasks. This open-source task tracking template includes a list of tasks that are each editable, along with their start and due dates, levels of completion, and remarks.
How Can I Manage a Project in Excel?
You may plan out a project timetable and project phases using Excel, which can also produce a visual timeline chart. You can make a Gantt chart, a common project management tool that plots tasks according to how long they will take, when they will start, and when they will complete.
Why Should I Use Microsoft Project Rather Than Excel?
With the aid of projects, managers can plan projects from start to finish and follow them from planning through reporting. In addition, if a user already has a plan prepared in Excel, they can easily import it to Project by following the step-by-step directions provided by Project to map Excel columns to project columns.
Does Google Offer a Project Management Tool?
The answer is no, Google does not have a native application or piece of software for project management. However, there is a substitute that you may use to make project plans and Gantt charts. Google Sheets is the name of it. There is no requirement for coding knowledge; all you need to do is enter your data, click Share, and then add your team.
Project Tracking Software FAQ’s
What is the best tool for tracking a project?
- Kissflow Project.
- Trello.
- Asana.
- Zoho Projects.
- Wrike.
- Monday.com.
- Proofhub.
- Clarizen.
What is the best way to track projects?
- Start with a project outline.
- Create deliverables and milestones.
- Set realistic, clear and measurable goals.
- Use a project tracker template or a project tracking software to keep track of time, costs and tasks.
- Meet regularly with team and stakeholders.
- Have clear deadlines.
- Support transparency.
What is software project tracking?
A project tracking system assists you to recognize all of the tasks that are required to complete your project successfully on time. The project tracking system provides a highly-standardized, automated technique of budget and planning management across a diverse group of activities
Conclusion
With project tracking software, work is made easy, faster, and productive. Relieving you from unnecessary problems and delays.
- Project Management Reporting: Examples, Software & Tools
- Email Tracking: 7 Best Email Tracking Tools
- Project Time Management: Processes, Tools & Software for Effective Management
- Project Planning Software: 60+ Best Software in 2023 (Free & Paid Options)
- Project Management Software: 31+ Top Best PM Software For Business
