Category: time recording, work logging

The best time management software of 2023-2024

Are you looking for software to help you handle time management in your company? Then you are in the right place.

Our time is the most precious resource we have. And so far we can all agree.

But we know that it is not easy to learn how to manage time, and this is as true in life as it is in the workplace.

For those who have the professional need to monitor not only their own time, but also that of their team, finding efficient ways of approaching this task is crucial: it will help reduce stress and increase company well-being and satisfaction.

It follows that the benefits of accurate time monitoring in work projects are manifold:

  • reducing work stress and increasing productivity
  • meeting deadlines
  • assessing the value of the activities in which you invest the most time
  • the precise calculation of time spent on typical tasks and thus more awareness when making budgets
  • finally, and this applies to teams of any size, this will be complemented by shared responsibility for the work done

And if this list of benefits is not enough for you, take a look at the exhaustive list of reasons why time management is a key activity for your company.

Time management is probably one of the most important monitoring activities of any company, from the smallest to the largest and most structured.

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But it has a weakness, which is constancy: we do not always have enough of it to find the right tools and so we risk relying on temporary or inconsistent solutions.

Therefore, shared efforts are needed, along with patience in implementing registration and monitoring, regularity in putting them in place and continuing them over time, but also courage to change course when we see that things are not working as they should.

Time management software is like a fellow traveller who accompanies and guides us in this task.

We need to try out several of them to find the ideal one because, although they are similar, they do not all work in the same way.

Two macro-types of software

Platforms that monitor work schedules and allow the creation of timesheets fall mainly into two categories:

  1. simple time recording apps
  2. comprehensive project management solutions that also integrate other functionalities.

Our advice is to combine time management software with other planning solutions, hence choosing a tool from the second category.

In this way, all parties are involved and working time is a piece of the puzzle that fits in with the others, which is useful for analysing the functioning of projects and the team as a whole.

One example above all?

The typical case where past timesheets are used to estimate the cost of future activities and plan the budget of new projects accurately.

We have already outlined the many advantages and techniques you can implement using a comprehensive time management tool within the broader framework of integral project management.

Our ranking

And here we come to the point. What are the best tools on the market?

So which ones meet the need to combine time management with other aspects of management and which have another feature that we find advantageous, namely flexibility? We are here to tell you.

We tested several software packages, among the most popular on the market, that have time entry and time tracking as their focal point, and came up with a ranking.

Hopefully this will be useful to you!

1. Twproject

Twproject time management

Twproject is the tool that makes flexibility in timesheet recording its strong point.

With Twproject, every insertion mode is covered in order to meet personal needs.

In fact, the platform offers the constant possibility to monitor the recorded worklogs in real time, highlighting overruns compared to the planned schedule and being able to adjust them if necessary.

The recorded data can be easily exported: by person, project, customer, dates and much more.

This data fits into every single aspect of business management with Twproject, from the planning phase, continuing through execution and up to the final invoicing phase of the work performed.

In addition, Twproject has a notification system to help you always remember to record your worklogs, so that you do not miss any information.

Best features:

  • Various recording modes: it is possible to enter the hours worked with timesheets showing a chosen time interval, or with a stopwatch that can be activated when needed, or also through assigned ToDos.
  • Various registration accesses: on any page of the platform you can enter your worklogs, starting from the dashboard and continuing on the individual project and phase pages, on the ToDo list or even on your timesheet, with different time intervals.
  • Calendar: customisable at time interval level (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), integrated with the timesheet page.
  • ToDo: very flexible and user-friendly tool. Through ToDos the worker can enter the hours worked on individual tasks, manually or with timers. When a ToDo is closed, the worklog window opens automatically.
  • Costs: the budgeting function (for project or phase managers) automatically reports the hours worked on the various nodes of the WBS. In the cost statement, it is possible to view the details of the activities performed by each worker. In addition, a comparison between estimated and performed work can be displayed and additional costs can obviously be added.
  • Revenues: this section also distinguishes estimated from invoiced revenues, and it is possible to save invoicing documents.
  • Worklog management: this function allows you to view the progress of worklogs and also to approve worklogs entered by the project manager. By default, all worklogs have the status “to be approved”, but it is possible to customise this option according to business needs.
  • Workload analysis and management: based on the workload entered, from availability, and taking into account any absences, it is possible to plan in advance the workload of operators or to reschedule assignments in progress. The workload in Twproject is very efficient and also allows to distinguish between routine and direct project activities.
  • Project planning: the hours worked in certain projects can serve as a planning source for subsequent similar projects. Twproject offers tools for detailed planning and allows the project to be broken down into its single phases, assigning specific characteristics to each of them.
  • Interactive Gantt: the first and most useful planning tool is the Gantt chart, which allows you to set phase timings, deadlines, milestones, etc.
  • Statistics page: it collects the worklog data entered to generate graphs on the progress of the project or its phases, relating this data to costs. On this page it is also possible to view the situation at any point in the lifetime of the current project.

Pricing: from €4.89 user/month.

Pros: Twproject is the collaborative tool par excellence, it allows timesheets to be placed in a broader framework, it allows the manager to have budgets, operator load, statistics etc. under control, and the workers to always have a clear idea of the use of their time. It also helps not to forget to enter the hours worked. It adapts to the needs of any team.

Cons: We do not detect any cons.

For those looking for a comprehensive and collaborative time management system, the best choice is Twproject: simple and adaptable to every need, it allows work to be monitored effectively.

2. Timey App

timey app

Timey App is a web and mobile app making time tracking and  project management working together.

It is designed to help  individuals and teams track the time they spend on different  tasks and projects, as well as manage and organize projects.

Best features:

  • Time tracking: Timey simplifies time tracking with clock-in and clock-out features, ensuring precise time recording. It also  effortlessly records break times, allowing for accurate time  tracking and better resource management.
  • Kanban Project Management: you can visualize project progress  through the intuitive Kanban cards, making it easy to transition  projects between “waiting,” “in progress,” and “completed”  stages. 
  • Project overview: you can keep all project-related information in one place with the project overview feature. Monitor tasks,  work hours, reports, and milestones to ensure everything stays  on track.
  • Time-off scheduler: keep track of team’s time-off  requests, including vacation days, personal days, and sick days.
  • Billing Clients: create and send professional invoices to clients, with the ability to track payment status and add discounts or taxes.

Pricing: $6 user/month

Pros: Timey simplifies time tracking, streamlining the process for individuals and teams. Its intuitive interface and mobile accessibility make it easy to track time accurately and efficiently.

Cons: while Timey is a powerful tool, it might have a learning curve for some users who are new to time tracking software. Training or tutorials may be required to fully utilize its features.

A software solution for different individuals or companies that need time tracking and managing tasks or projects.

3. Clockify

clockify

Clockify is an application for recording working hours and creating timesheets that allows you to track work between projects and make it billable.

It also provides information on work habits and reports on team performance.

Best features:

  • Stopwatch or manual time tracker: allows you to record working times and mark them as billable. The recorded timesheets can be edited later to add more information.
  • Calendar: it can also be integrated with the Google or Microsoft calendar, it offers time-off management functions with request and approval protocol.
  • “Kiosk” function: it allows you to create access points to which you log in in order to monitor work times on certain projects. Several users can be logged in to the same kiosk at the same time.
  • Dashoard: it allows you to view statistics on how the team used their time.
  • Reports: They enable data to be exported according to different criteria.
  • Scheduling and project management: task allocation with a simplified operator load view; project management also has basic functions.
  • Budget: it is possible to enter supplementary expenses in addition to personnel costs and subsequently create receipts to the customer.
  • Maps: it monitors the movements of logged users over a given territory, a useful function for teams working on the move.

Pricing: basic licence from $3.99 user/month.

Pros: User friendly, easy to use; accessibility from various devices and good mobile app version.

Cons: little or no customisation. Not suitable for large teams, companies with several departments, etc. Lack of Gantt.

An application that started with the function of time tracking and later expanded to other basic project management activities.

4. Harvest

Harvest

Harvest is a web-based timesheet management system that has a strong connection with budget and invoicing management. For other functionalities it relies on integrations with other parallel systems.

So it can be a convenient solution for freelancers or small teams.

Best features:

  • Projects: it is possible to create projects by customer, of three types: consumable, fixed cost and non-billable. Each project has predefined tasks on which employees work.
  • Timer or manual recording via the weekly planner. The timer does not stop if you change windows or also if you close the browser.
  • Budget per project: settable in hours or money. Addition of extra expenses.
  • Invoicing: functionality with many options to create invoices from the hours worked on projects.
  • Summary graphs: line or block graphs to display trends in income and expenditure and hours worked, divided into billable and non-billable.
  • Team management: it shows a summary of hours worked, reports overruns, but has no real workload balancing functions since it does not allow reallocation of tasks.

Pricing: single pro licence $10.80 user/month.

Pros: a specialised tool offering various analysis tools, including “what-if” scenarios.

Cons: Client-based project management: may not be suitable for teams working differently. It is not possible to mark hours worked at several levels, but only for specific tasks of a project, i.e. not on phases, not on the project in general, etc.

Harvest offers analysis tools for time tracking and is suitable for those who rely on detailed chronological reporting; it has some rigidity.

5. TimeCamp

TimeCamp

TimeCamp is a time tracking application that pays attention to project budgeting and transparency in communication and time management.

Best features:

  • Types of insertion: with stopwatch or manual insertion.
  • Automatisations: automatic entry with url and keyword analysis to identify the project being worked on; “idle tracking” functionality that automatically pauses the stopwatch when the user is not active.
  • Status of timesheets: they are all subject to manager approval.
  • Different views: classic timesheet view or “calendar” style.
  • Reports: presence of more than twenty types of pre-built reports to check the productivity progress of the work group. Possibility of creating customised reports.
  • Invoicing: from workers’ timesheets, to which different hourly costs can be applied, invoices can be created and exported directly.
  • Budget: creation of a budget with addition of expected costs. Notifications in case of overruns.

Pricing: starter licence from $2.99 user/month.

Pros: Useful for those who need a basic tool. For all other project management functions it relies on external tools, allowing some integration.

Cons: Lacking in project management, it has no planning functions apart from time schedules.

Innovative tool with some interesting automations, more suitable for freelancers than for structured companies.

6. Sunsama

Sunsama

Software that uses agile methodology for task management and tracking. It makes main use of the kanban board, within which it inserts timings.

Best features:

  • Customisation of working methods: provides many options for personal planning and time management.
  • Task management: tasks can be added from the calendar, which has a kanban board style view, and assigned (if desired) to a channel and then placed in the right place on the day, week or month. There are tasks that can be set as routine tasks and added by default.
  • Task start and end dates: these can be set as desired.
  • Channels: sort of areas within which you can place your tasks. It is also possible to have sub-channels. Otherwise, tasks remain uncategorised.
  • Archive: can be customised or made automatic. In the latter case, it automatically takes care of saving past tasks.
  • Operator load: it signals in red if an assigned task causes an overrun of the scheduled working hours.
  • Review: it has weekly review functionalities in which the achievement of objectives is analysed.

Pricing: single licence $20 user/month.

Pros: Tool with a strong focus on personal well-being and on balanced working time management.

Cons: Sunsama is a good tool for personal productivity. But it may not be the best pick for larger team projects and collaboration with co-workers.

The philosophy of agile working is reflected in this application both in terms of graphics and content customisation.

7. ActiveCollab

ActiveCollab

Project management tool with time tracking functionality that allows you to monitor and manage work time, per project, per customer, per scope or per assignee.

Best features

  • Project management: it allows you to create projects with data such as description, category and customer. Customers can be included in projects but you can choose to hide certain activities from their view. There are no project sub-phases.
  • Task management: each task has an assignee and a delivery date.
  • Stopwatch: must be activated on projects by the project manager and at that point allows monitoring of work times.
  • Timesheet: it is also possible to add the hours in the timesheet afterwards, and it will show any case of over- or under-hours in different colours.
  • Resource management: it is possible to create different professionals with customised hourly costs, and to change the hourly cost according to individual customers.
  • Reports: they can be filtered by time frame or even by customer or type. They show progress on the work done.
  • Budget: it makes it possible to distinguish between worked and estimated hours, also in percentages, and to calculate the billable total.

Pricing: pro licence from $8 user/month.

Pros: good comprehensiveness of the tools available, ease in learning.

Cons: poorly customisable reports and interfaces. Lack of main dashboard.

A software suitable for different types of professionals and companies. Its lack of flexibility is compensated for by the variety of functionalities.

Final remarks

Thus, we have seen which are the best tools to help managers and workers keep track of the time spent on various tasks, projects and other deliverables.

A good choice will lead to more informed business decisions and an overall increase in productivity and profitability.

Therefore, the ideal is to find a tool that caters for individual needs, takes into account personal peculiarities and at the same time incorporates this activity within a broader framework, so that time tracking does not remain a stand-alone element, isolated from the rest of the business processes.

With Twproject, all resources involved can follow their own patterns and record the work as they see fit. The project manager will later be able to analyse this data with ease, as it will already be correctly integrated under every aspect of project management.

So hopefully we have persuaded you that time management is not a struggle against time. On the contrary, it means embarking on a journey and learning along the way, acquiring the practice that only the right experience can give you.

Try Twproject free of charge for 15 days and don’t miss out on any of the details of your working time!

Track time with Twproject – Simple as it should be

In the workplace everyone has their own habits and what a project manager soon learns is that the way of recording the time spent on the various tasks is very different depending on the person involved.

Some people focus on a task and complete it without distractions, putting off logging time spent until the end.
Others prefer to range between multiple commitments in a day and gradually register their timing.
Yet others find it useful for concentration purposes to activate a stopwatch that monitors project activity, turning the counting off and on when switching from one task to another.

But not only are we all different on a personal level, it is also the role we play that certainly determines how we count our time and categorize our activities in order to ultimately obtain a reliable work report.

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In my experience, managing a small team of developers, coordinating and analyzing their work, mediating between the needs of clients and those of my colleagues, I find it useful for me to keep track of the projects regularly. Several times a day, I insert worklogs for projects I deal with, and for what purpose.
On the other hand my coworkers, most of them developers, find it better to follow a task from start to finish and then write down the activities performed and the total times.
In short, each experience and each person is unique.

In a recent article, we talked about the fact that one of the main resistance factor in the transition to a new project management system is the desire to migrate all the procedures used in the company so far within the new tool. This can be a blocking factor if you do not find a system that accommodates individual needs but at the same time shows advantages in terms of practicality and depth of analysis.

Finally, in addition to the different work and personal needs, in our opinion an efficient tool for recording working hours should give the possibility of entering timing at different levels of hierarchy in a project.
A project manager may need to enter his timesheets at a more general level than the workers engaged in project sub-phases.
An executive will be placed in a further grade, and so on.

worklog

The importance of accounting

Regardless of the method chosen, there is no doubt that for correct project management it is essential that each participant takes into account their working times, known as worklogs. Recording the hours or days that have been spent in performing a phase and more generally a project is useful both for those who carry out the time analysis and for those who carry out the work.

On the one hand, the transparency of work increases and this allows project managers to know in detail the operations that their team carries out to reach the objective; on the other, it helps workers to better plan their times and also to have an extra tool to report any work overload should this occur.

It is important that everyone feels comfortable with this monitoring operation. And as we have seen, the requests of companies, combined with the attitudes of workers, can give rise to various methodologies for tracking worklogs.

For this reason Twproject, a tool characterized by an extreme versatility in many respects, has developed a diversified method of entering hours according to the preferences and needs of individuals.

In Twproject there is not just one way to mark your worklogs, but you can use different tools and methodologies.
Let’s see them in detail.

Timesheet

The first element of the menu item dedicated to this topic is the Timesheet. Here you will see all your assignments, i.e. projects or phases in which you participate. From this table you can enter your worklogs with a brief description of the activity performed and you will easily see how many hours you have left to complete your total working time. The integrated agenda, showing your appointments, will help you fill the table out.

No other project management software offers such a detailed entry method, which proves to be very useful at the end of the project or at any time you need to report on the activity carried out: with a simple click on the chosen assignment you will see the total list of all the worklogs entered up to that moment by a resource.
This view can be very useful for providing a report on the work performed, for drawing up a final balance sheet and so on.

timesheet

Time counter

This type of worklog is useful for those who work on one project at a time. On the main page you will find a widget from which to select the assignment and start a stopwatch. The same operation can be done from the relative Time counter menu item, which opens a specific pop-up with the list of projects and sub-phases assigned to the user.

From the moment you activate the tool, it will start counting the time even when you browse other pages and you can stop it at any time by clicking on the button in the menu item, possibly inserting a detailed description of the activity carried out and also if necessary changing the total duration.

time counter

From the to-do list

Finally, for those who are used to orienting their daily activity on the basis of assigned tasks, the to-do list is the mainly used tool. To make work easier for this category of people, with Twproject it is possible to insert worklogs directly from the to-do list.

At the closure of each to-do, but also during ongoing processes, you can add the hours worked, while the description will automatically be pre-filled with the description of the to-do itself. From the list it is also possible to start an automatic counter, so as not to have to worry about calculating the times at the end.

to-do list

An easy and suitable solution for everyone

These three tools, or rather methods, allow you to freely choose how to monitor your own work and that of the other members of your team.

And for the forgetful, Twproject has a way of signaling, with a reminder sticky note, in case you miss recording hours for a few days.

In this short video you can find a summary of what has been explained so far.

As you have seen, Twproject offers a solution suitable for multiple work styles and will help you not run into internal resistance and finally have greater control over your work and that of your team.

If you like, you can do a free trial and experience what we have shown you.
Don’t waste any more precious time and start tracking your work now!

Choose the most flexible tool: try Twproject.

Start now

Project workload: how to plan it to the best

A project manager has to deal with customer expectations, project deadlines and evolving priorities, all of this while trying to coordinate and manage the team and respond to stakeholder demands.

Let’s face it, it is a demanding job that takes time and effort to manage all the parts and sometimes hours are never enough!

Project managers are involved both in managing the workload of their team as well as managing their workload.

The organization and time management skills are therefore essential to ensure that the work is done as efficiently as possible.

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This is why it is so important to think about how to prioritize and organize the workload.

Keeping the workload under control saves time, simplifies processes, reduces costs and improves productivity.

Here are four suggestions for effective workload management.

1) Set clear expectations

We spend most of our working life managing the expectations and priorities of other people.

And when those expectations are not clearly communicated, the project team does not know the limits and rules in which it should operate.

Clearly establish goals from the beginning and organize regular meetings for each new project and during the lifetime of a project, clarify the situation with the entire team.

All those involved in the project should know the general vision, the role they play and how they should behave.

These meetings serve to set the basic rules, answer questions and doubts and make sure everyone is moving in the same direction.

Internal planning documents are valuable for these initial conversations.

These documents serve as a framework for project expectations and typically include:

  • Context on the problem that the project should solve and the motivations;
  • Goals and requirements of the project;
  • Summary of the solution;
  • FAQ, frequently asked questions about the project.

The planning documents also serve as official documents to consult during the entire duration of the project.

The project document can also be reviewed during meetings with customers and other stakeholders to remind them of the goals and direction of the project.

Establishing clear and realistic expectations at the beginning of a project and ensuring that these are accepted and respected by all stakeholders is the key to avoid potential disappointments and mistrust.

2) Communicate consistently

Even the smallest misunderstandings can cause stress, frustration and resentment among the employees.

A clear and coherent communication from the beginning can help to avoid these negative emotions and feelings.

A structured communication process is essential, especially when activities become more complex.

project workload

Not only it is necessary to make regular meetings with the team in order to remember the goals of the project and to align on the activities, but also to share the feelings the various members and if they have particular worries.

This dialogue also helps to understand how and when it is necessary to make transfers of resources to provide better support to the team and make it work better.

Even if everything is done for the best, deadlines and costs are in line, and the team is doing a good job, it is right to inform employees that their work is appreciated.

The key is to help them understand and stay focused on the big picture and goals, support them and continuously recognize how their contributions are driving the project.

3) Distribute the workload

What are the skills of the project team?

Who is actually available during the entire duration of the project?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of each collaborator?

Often there is the temptation to overload the best employees at the expense of others.

However, this behavior will not only lead the top performers to a possible crisis, but also the other collaborators to get bored and lose interest in the project in general.

A solution could be, for example, to leave to the more performing team members the most complex tasks and everything else is distributed evenly in the team.

Clearly, staffing needs will change during project execution.

For this reason, you need to be aware of how each member of the team spends their time, so that there is space for flexibility to adjust the course when necessary.

The resource program, like any project activity, must also be strategically planned.

Moreover, it is also necessary for everyone to understand expectations and how everyone is contributing to superior goals.

In case of doubts or problems, the team should not be afraid to communicate or and should not find blocks to communication in the work environment.

It is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure a fair amount of work for all team members, based on their individual knowledge, skills and experience.

4) Always analyze

You can not manage what is not measured.

Therefore, it is essential to have workload management software available to keep track of project successes and challenges.

However, in particular situations, such as meetings, it is possible to use also other effective tools for managing workload … such as a notebook and a pen.

Every day, when analyzing the situation of the project, it is possible to take note of any opportunities or possible risks.

During meetings with employees and stakeholders, you can take note of doubts, questions, feedback, impressions that are exposed.

Over time, by reviewing the notes, you will be able to keep track of project results and resource trends.

Perhaps a customer’s projects exceed the budget everytime?

One of the team members is constantly overloaded with work while another continues to ask for more responsibilities?

If you create a constant habit of taking notes and examining them every week or month, you can identify what works and what does not and start solving the recurring problems, so that they do not persist.

Some useful questions to ask are:

  • What worked well in this project?
  • Why did this project exceed the budget?
  • Has this project been profitable?
  • Who is overburdened with work?

Understanding and recording these data helps identify which process changes are needed, so you can iteratively improve your priority and organize the workload.

It is clear that the use of a special software is essential to simplify and optimize the outputs of this analysis.

In fact, the classification of data allows an analysis of them, as well as the strategic use with a view to improving the company.

Proactively making intelligent decisions about the flow and workload of the team becomes functional thanks to the use of integrated project software.

Do you have any suggestions on how to manage the workload to the fullest?

What were your biggest difficulties?

Leave us your comment.

Start planning the workload of your project.

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How to manage the workload of a project: 6 key suggestions

Managing the workload of a project, is getting the right balance of tasks for each team member, is one of the most critical tasks that a project manager has to face.

In fact, the equitable distribution of the workload in a team is definitely a challenging task, and the temptation to entrust more projects to the best performing worker is always lurking.

But in the planning of a project, it is also necessary to be fair.

The excellent management of workload and team performance are therefore a essential goals.

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In the continuos dialogue with the Project managers, we receive frequent and common questions:

  • What matters to customers and / or stakeholders?
  • How is it possible to obtain the best results?
  • How is it possible not to overload resources?
  • How can resources be used wisely?
  • How is it posible to obtain more from low-performing resources?

Here, then, a simple 6-step approach to ensure the correct management of activities and workload within the team.

1. Check the current workload

If you the project is starting from scratch, it is necessary to examine the current situation of the team.

Are the team members also following other projects? What are their other daily activities to keep in mind?

It is possible to manage in an optimal way only what is known.

Some people may be available to work on the project activities just for a limited time of their day / week, on the other hnad, others may be available full-time.

It is therefore essential to know this aspect in details in order to manage the workload equally.

2. Report of skills and absences

It is possible to better manage the workload of the team, if the project manager knows when the individual employees are absent: holidays, company outings, etc.

It is important to include these absences in the planning in order to not assign work during these periods.

Assigning an activity to a resourse that will be out of office or not available will certainly end up in a delay of the delivery.

In the same manner, it is important to speak with each employee in order to be sure to know all of his skills and competencies.

Each person can be a valid “player” if his strengths, skills and responsibilities are well known.

In this way it will be easier to assign an appropriate job and thus move towards excellence.

A collaborator may be able to work in different areas thanks to new knowledge acquired, or to deal with more technical tasks thanks to new skills developed.

workload

Therefore, the suggestion is to cyclically verify the “new skills” learned from the individual collaborator.

Normally, during the planning of the project, a list of all the work and the various activities is drawn up.

The tasks will be assigned according to the function, position and specific strength of each worker.

3. Set expectations

Setting goals and skills is not enough.

The task of the Project Manager is also to constantly remember the pre-established goals and to underline the level of commitment expected from each team member.

This helps the team to focus.

There must be a clearly expressed and shared value to which everyone should equally contribute with his talents, skills and energy.

One of the difficulties in ensuring that a workload is fair is that employees never work at the same pace.

In other words, even when the workload seems “fair and even”, it may not really be that way.

It is important to ensure that employees understand that hours can not be compared with productivity.

In fact, for two hours worked, two employees can produce different results.

The best way to do this is to praise the truly satisfying and successful performance of the project, regardless of the working hours.

A project manager should pay attention to what people are realizing in practice and not just to the number of working hours.

Granted that the time required by a resource to finish a certain activity is not really exaggerated.

4. Identify the overworked staff

This means to identify those resources that have already received more work than they can actually do in the time available.

If a collaborator really has too much work, it is possible to divide the activities into smaller blocks to distribute to several other resources.

Or postpone the deadline of a certain activity in order to lighten the daily workload.

Also for the overall workload management, it is possible to follow the 80/20 rule.

  • People should be assigned to specific tasks only for 80% of their time.
  • The remaining 20% will be used to answer phone calls, attend team meetings, deal with the clients and so on. This 20% should be distributed evenly throughout the week. It is better to fill people’s time for – for example – 6 hours a day, rather than giving them a fixed day “free” from specific activities.

There may also be the case where a person seems overburdened with work, even if this is not the reality. This can occur when the resource is not able to manage its work efficiently.

There are possible interventions to offer in these cases, such as a coaching with a more efficient colleague or a training course.

But we must also consider the fact that some people do not belong to the jobs they are in and therefore may not be suitable for the task assigned.

In this case, it may be necessary to change the role and function within the organization.

5. Identify the “free” staff

Team members are motivated when their day is full of meaningful tasks.

This makes them feel important for the project.

A time management system will help to understand if the employees are working on priority activities, or in general on activities important for the project, or not.

In some situations, the collaborators themselves can ask for more work. On the other hand, they could also say that they can not take on further tasks.

This is where the workload management capability of a project manager comes into play.

Are the team members really too busy or are they just working on the wrong tasks? What if they were just incredibly unproductive?

Some people do not give the right importance to their work and they do only the bare minimum.

With this kind of people we need to be clear.

They will have to know that the level of commitment could have consequences in terms of the possibility of promotion, financial incentives and prestigious assignments.

The more the team’s strengths and working patterns are known, the easier it will be to correctly manage the workload.

6. Inform about changes in planning

Obviously, even with the best planning, the development of a project may require an immediate change of priorities.

If you intend to change an assignment in the resource planning or workload system, it is absolutely necessary to speak first with the relevant stakeholders and collaborators.

This is one of the main tricks to keep the team happy.

Communication in this situation is essential.

It is necessary to explain the reasons behind structural interventions, as well as to highlight the requisites of the resources needed to complete the project. It is strategic to emphasize the need for a project and not make it a personal issue.

The key points to remember

What to do:

  • Spend time on planning in order to reflect on the delegation strategy.
  • Create a list of all the activities that need to be done and then assign tasks based on the specific function, position, and strengths of team members.
  • Create a culture that enhances productivity beyond the hours worked by openly praising an important and successful performance.

What not to do:

  • Being excessively rigid regarding the workload delegation strategy; when priorities change, it is necessary to be flexible.
  • Burn the top performer. Before loading him further, identify if and how it is possible to break down a more complex task into secondary tasks.
  • Let a collaborator “rest on his laurels”. It is necessary to be clear and direct on the general project expectations, as well as on the personal ones.

There are real risks involved in not distributing the workload fairly.

Indeed, if the high performers are overloaded, they will start to resent the fact that they are doing more than their colleagues, in addition to risk the burn out.

If work is taken away from slower people, they will inevitably lose interest.

People also work to achieve success – albeit small – to grow and to be recognized. When this opportunity is not given to them, the risk is high.

This is why in the Twproject software we paid special attention to managing the workload of each team member.

From the planning phase to the monitoring and control phase, it is possible to have a clear picture of the progress of each collaborator’s work.

workload

For each resource the Project Manager can have a graphical representation of the total load per day, (where each color represents a different task), as well as a detailed explanation of the load components.

The functions available are so many! The best way know them is by testing our software

In our software work and load plan interact in order to provide – in real time – the strategic information for the successful outcome of the project.

What are the difficulties you have encountered in managing your team’s workload?

Leave us your comment.

Start managing the workload of your projects.

Try Twproject!

A matter of time: Time tracking in a serious way

Twproject time tracking system is flexible and customizable: because projects in different fields have a different approach to the workflow and the time spent on the project itself, and so different needs about time tracking as well.

Of course TwProject allows time tracking. And it can be done at different levels of depth.

The easiest way comes along with the creation of a project: just name it, give it start and end dates, and it is done, as you can start immediately to track the time spent on the project.

There are many time tracking tools out there: in Twproject time tracking is part of the project management and it is integrated with the others features of the tool.

Twproject time tracking system is flexible and customizable: because projects in different fields have a different approach to the workflow and the time spent on the project itself, and so different needs about time tracking as well.

Twproject time tracking system allows issue / ticket based worklog, time planned worklog, timer based worklog: different positions, different jobs, even different departments of the same company could need a different approach to time tracking. But with Twproject you don’t need different tools for different time tracking needs.

All the different ways to track the time can be monitored, validated, approved: it means that generated costs can be verified any moment.

Meanwhile, everything happens on the basis of the principles of sharing and networking: the expected workflow is micro-managed (in issues) and macro-managed (in tasks) within the team.

The project agenda is shared within the team as well: if something goes wrong and resources have to be reallocated, or the agenda has to be reshaped, for an “emergency”, it will be easy to manage what’s happening also in terms of time tracking: all the whos, whats and whens of the project are in the same place, and the time needed and employed for an issue or task is easy to be checked whenever it is needed and by whomever is needed.

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Twproject 5.6.59805

This release contains some refinements and small bug fixes. You can download new installers here:

https://twproject.com/start/on-your-server/

Cloud customers can write us if they want this upgrade.

Enhancements:

Timesheets overview and alert job: a better view on future days and link from cells to weekly timesheet.

image

Agenda: more space for hours and auto-scroll to current hour.

image

Task editor and resource editor: a new compact set of buttons.

imageimage

 

Bugs Fixed:

  • missing worklog checker job: the first day was always in alert
  • task costs: the first time you insert a budget and save it still says, falsely, “unsaved data”
  • import events from iCal: always says “unsaved data”
  • import events form online iCal: fails on some sites (e.g.: office365.com)

Teamwork release 4.3 available for download

Teamwork 4.3 multi-Gantt view.
Teamwork 4.3 multi-Gantt view.

A free upgrade release for all users of version 4.0-4.2, this release includes some major extensions of functionality; while there is no “revolution”, this kind of release makes your “Teamwork life” more comfortable. Several features requests from the feedback service have been fulfilled. Also the user guide has been updated.

Download this release here.

Multi-Gantt support

This was motivated by this request: “Manage graphical Gantt-type overview of all projects”. We then realized that all it needed was the filtering power of projects search together with a Gantt style visualization. So this is what we’ve done: we added an additioanl visualization of the search results. So for example you can see all your root open project closing in 2 weeks in a Gantt style view.

Also all the Gantt scales have been extended to 5 years.

Import from CSV – Bugzilla

Import of issues and resources from CSV files: issues get imported from the Bugzilla CSV export format, but of course in this way you can import from anything.

Collapsible project trees

Projects trees can be collapsed and there are options to keep them open by default etc. . This was this request; thanks to Halil for the first implementation.

More Twitter integrations

Twitter integration with any action and there is a new portlet for filtering tweets on any topic: see the user guide, section 8.3.3.

Little improvements

– All notifications have in the subject the task they refer to, if it exists (this request).
– Display log on descendants (this request).
– Balloons have no more the confusing Roman number.
– Use  darker gray on Gantt duration background – better prints.
– Search analysis worklog: make the field “action” larger.
– In resource list there is no more the bothering default filter by company.
– Snapshot of a task can be edited.
– Search analysis worklog: make the column “action” larger.
– Issue multi editor: if there is a task on the issue and you have an assignment on it, let the watch icon appear even if the issue is not assigned to you.
– Experimental: supporting SSL over LDAP (LDAPS)

Bug fixes

– Issues didn’t get indexed any more for full text search.
– Order in company news doesn’t work.
– Portlet news doesn’t show news ordered by order factor.
– Resource hourly cost sometimes gets set to zero.
– Meeting: drag&drop multi editor doesn’t work for the just inserted.
– The link to resource drawn by the smart combo if the resource is from another area on which you have no right you see the link but you get an error.
– Search of a string containing ” in issues looped the application.
– Sometimes the rollover menu opened in the wrong direction.
– If you change the allowed file storage roots, disable links to old locations.

Technical notes for upgrade

This release build is 11250; it contains no database schema changes for all users of 4.2.10080 and following. As it contains an issue full-text indexing fix, you should reindex your data: see 17.4 of the user guide.

try darker gray on gantt duration background