9 Benefits of Time Logging in Outlook
If you own a business or manage one, you already know the advantages of an efficient workspace. Time is the only resource every business has in equal measures. With the growing costs of operating a business, including salaries, taxes, rents, and software being the basics, you need to invest in a good time logging solution.
But What is Time Logging?
To understand this, we need to get to the basics: time logging is tracking where your time was spent and logging the information into a system. It is essentially the act of businesses tracing the working hours of their workforce. Time tracking helps businesses in improving transparency with their employees, clients, and other stakeholders.
Initially, organizations used time logging on a sheet of paper. This sheet of paper was often a spreadsheet where people wrote entry and exit times. With the advancements in technology, many operations decided to invest in facial or biometric systems, thus, replacing the physical spreadsheets. These systems were generally quite expensive and inherently flawed.
How so? Well, the biometric equipment acted as an attendance system rather than a tool that tracks where the time was spent.
Time logging software can be a quick fix to all this. A time logging software tool does exactly what the name suggests: it logs the time the user spends during a workday. It makes life easier for you, as a business owner or manager, and for your employees, by creating a more productive and efficient workspace!
With the growing popularity of the work-from-home culture, it is possible that you might already be using some sort of time tracking software with your workforce. But there are a lot of ways to do this and you need to make sure you find a good solution, so that the system helps you save time rather than taking more valuable time.
Time logging in Microsoft Outlook is an excellent alternative to the manual or biometric tools, and it works with little to no modification in your existing work processes.
The Benefits
Most employers and employees prefer and already use Microsoft Outlook as their calendar system. So, it makes sense that you find a solution that works along with Outlook. But that’s not the end of it. Here are the 9 benefits of time logging in Microsoft Outlook that you cannot simply overlook:
1. Simplicity
We all like to plan our day and avoid wasting time, so we can save as much of it as we can every day for things that we enjoy. And rest assured that’s what your employees want too!
Outlook is an essential part of every business and managing your time within the sector or category you are to spend most of your time makes sense. Whether it be employees or managers, having time logging within Microsoft Outlook makes things simpler, easier and less time consuming. It makes the overall experience hassle-free: the time tracking software knows what the appointment is related to, without you having to punch in time spent.
Had a longer than expected meeting? Or did your meeting get canceled? With an Outlook integrated time logging solution, you no longer need to change that separately in the time reporting software. Everything is linked to your Outlook Calendar, making the entire process extremely simple and speedy.
2. Cost-Effectiveness
By using a time tracking solution that works within Outlook you don’t need to spend a large sum on a new server that will store the time tracking records. All you need is a basic setup procedure and it’s ready to go. All the needed information is easily accessed within the Outlook Calendar, and the time reporting software makes use of it.
The software works on the hardware and software already in use at your workplace. This approach is also easy for your team to understand as it is integrated within Outlook. Doing so saves you the added cost of time and money spent in arranging training programs for your team otherwise.
3. Efficiency
Any employer or manager has the primary job of distributing the workload within the team fairly. Delegating tasks and making sure they are done in the required time is crucial for successful business operations. Let’s be honest, if a team member misses a deadline, you usually either no longer have a happy client or you no longer have a profit on the project.
A good way to meet multiple deadlines is to break down the project. By breaking down the whole, you distribute the smaller loads easily amongst your team members. Logging the time in Outlook makes sure each task was done within the specified deadlines without compromising on quality or risking the last-minute submission.
4. Preciseness
A time tracking solution that works with Microsoft Outlook helps you to be more precise about time logs; in fact, it empowers you to manage all sorts of appointments, meetings, and events in a single place. No matter what industry you operate within, attending to clients, going to meetings, and at times site visits or work lunches can be a vital part of your work routine.
What you might have planned in your Calendar for the day might not be possible if you are stuck doing any of the aforementioned activities. This means you miss already scheduled activities. With Outlook time logging, however, time can be tracked more efficiently, thus, helping you keep a precise measure of where your day was spent. So, neither do employees have to waste time explaining their delays nor do employers have to hear explanations as to where the time was spent.
5. Record Valuable Data
Every business relies on good data. Having a good data set about how your business operates and what consumes the most time can be a game-changer in any industry. Time reporting within Outlook provides you with the important data points that help you run your business better.
This up-to-date recorded data brings you a clearer idea about how much time a project may take. This information comes in handy the next time you take on a new project because now you know how long it is going to take to complete it. This means that now you can create better estimates, helping you foster better relationships with clients.
6. Gain Insight and Control
Time logging brings a lot of value to your business operations. You gain new insight about how long your employees take to complete a task, how projects differ, and what projects bring in the most value. This new insight can help you steer the direction of your business, allowing you to make the right decisions for further growth and expansion.
When time is under your control, you now know which projects can take longer and how to approach them. The added authority also helps your managers and employees keep track of their time, thus, feeling more in command of the time spent on work-related activities, and in return bring more productivity to your business as they strive to improve.
7. Helps You Optimize
Optimization is a never-ending process in any business’s life cycle. As we transition into a technology-oriented workspace, you must operate as efficiently as possible. With all your time logging integrated into Outlook, your management becomes smoother and less bumpy.
Better management helps you optimize your workflow. Outlook timesheet reporting means your employees now don’t have to manually enter time stamps. They can focus on the job at hand. The time logging solution takes all the information it needs from the Outlook Calendar, hence, optimizing workflow and saving time.
8. Increase Employee Morale and Performance
When employees know that they are logging time accurately, it helps them to focus better. It brings a new sense of responsibility and uplifts the general mood in the workspace. They try to optimize their workflow, work harder and smarter to maximize their self-worth.
The transparency also gives them insight into where they wasted their time and where they can improve as individuals. Employees are aware that they are being paid fairly and if they find it insufficient, they know they need to work harder and more efficiently. This creates a healthier and happier workspace – boosting employee performance and morale.
9. Improve Accounting
At the end of the day, every business makes a profit by subtracting costs from revenue. It does not matter if your revenue looks great: if you are operating at a higher cost than your earnings, you are making a loss nevertheless. Many businesses around the world fail, and a very common trigger is failure to manage costs.
With a time logging solution integrated with Outlook, your accounting team can bill your clients better with accurate data. Doing so helps them calculate salaries as well as bonuses based on employee performances.
Conclusion
In summary, time logging can help a business run more smoothly and effectively. With all the benefits mentioned of tracking your time with Outlook, it makes sense for you to deploy such a solution.
Time reporting in Outlook can be an easy and effective solution as it is cost-effective, efficient, and works with little to no learning curve – making deployment and usage extremely simple to manage. It helps you price your projects and products more accurately, thus allowing you to grow your business. Time logging aids employers and managers in tracking tasks that sometimes get unreported. A time logging solution in Outlook with all its benefits is an easy choice to make for any business.
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