Insights
Why time tracking simply doesn't work – and what to do instead
Problem 1: Estimated times are just plain wrong
According to the study Time is money, the accuracy of time tracking is only 67 percent - and that is only if tracked on the same day. If times are only tracked every 2-3 days or at the end of the week, only 48 to 55 percent of the times end up on the correct projects.
Reasons:
- No incentives for accurate time tracking: employees prioritize their value-adding work
- Short tasks are often forgotten (emails, chats and web research)
- Pleasant tasks seem shorter - unpleasant tasks longer
- Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve: the more time passes, the less is remembered.
Problem 2: Agencies lose money due to inaccurate times
According to Harvard Business Review, the U.S. economy alone loses $7.4 billion a day due to inaccurate time tracking. The average agency with 10 employees loses around $580,000 a year due to missing or incorrect project hours in controlling, planning and billing.
Reasons:
- Inaccurate times result in a false impression of the profitability of projects.
- As a result, proposals are often not calculated profitably and budgets are exceeded.
- Likewise, the utilization rate is distorted.
- This causes decisions to be made incorrectly or too late in the planning process.
- This again leads to unused capacity and lost revenue.
Problem 3: Stopwatch software adds to the problems
In theory, it's easy to start & stop timers or write down times on a piece of paper every time you switch tasks. In reality, you're either permanently distracted by that – or forget to click as soon as you really focus on your work.
Reasons:
- Stopwatches and timers constantly interrupt the workflow.
- you forget to press them as soon as you really focus on your work
- At the end of the day you have to estimate times again and end up with low accuracy.
The solution: Automatic tracking – to help you remember
Automatic Tracking is available as an add-on for any project software. It's a new concept that takes the hassle out of time tracking for agencies during the day - and allows them to track time faster and more accurately in hindsight.
1. All programs are recorded fully automatically
2. Remember your day immediately and track times down to the minute
3. Export times with 1 click to the connected software
Quick Insights
➜ According to studies, estimated times are only 36-67% accurate.
➜ Lost revenue due to planning & calculation based on inaccurate or missing times.
➜ Stopwatch software is time consuming and frequently forgotten
➜ Automatic tracking reduces employee overhead and increases accuracy to 95%.