Does your Timesheet Software have these Attributes?
Does your Timesheet Software have these Attributes?
Any timesheet software is expected to make life simpler and easier. It should be able to keep time and do so with impeccable accuracy. Some software will have limits on the number of users you can have while some don’t really have any such caps. Many software applications require extensive add-on installations or at least needs some extra effort, be it inputs or supervising the progress of every demarcated assignment and hence developments. You need timesheet software that will not increase the burden of any employee with unnecessary additional tasks. Even if the extra work is to facilitate the larger objective, they are avoidable if you choose the right software.
Since any timesheet software should attend to a plethora of needs, it is imperative to focus on a few of the important features at a time. Here are a few attributes that your chosen timesheet software should possess. These are not specific to any industry or nature of business. It applies to every type of business, regardless of the size of the operation or the nature of work every employee is tasked with.
Timesheet Software with Discretionary Administrative Rights
Any application will have an administrator. There can be several administrators. The ordinary users may not have any administrative rights. While the software you use should allow the primary administrator to determine the scope of rights other administrators would enjoy, there should also be the provision to allow individual rights to every user so that they can input details that they think is important. It is not possible for administrators to know every tiny situation or development in every phase of every project. It is quite possible that some user or employee somewhere will need to make changes to the prevailing schedule or timeline. The milestones or deadlines may have to be reviewed following genuine feedback. In other words, administrators should determine the schedules or timelines for specific milestones but the user or the staff must also be able to make changes. These changes can be ratified later, which is why supervisory control must exist too. An administrator or manager doesn’t have to grant complete authority to every user, only the bit the employees need and those can be subject to approval by the administrator or supervisors tasked with such a responsibility.
Role based Permissions within Timesheet Software
It is absolutely imperative for the software to facilitate role based permissions. A company is a unified entity with every distinct department contributing according to their roles but the same approach to timekeeping cannot be applied universally. Whether it is assigning a project or tracking the progress of a specific activity being done by one department, there has to be role based permissions and the overall approach should also be in accordance to the specific issues affecting a department.
Analytical Reports with Simple Presentations
You would want extensive reports with sufficient data for analysis. Administrators must be able to access every pertinent piece of information to make an informed assessment. Analytics can always get complicated, especially when there are different teams attending to largely dissimilar tasks. It is not wise to ignore any chunk of data but at the same time the reports cannot be a large dump of all the data. There must be analytical reports but they should be presented in a simple way. The representations could be graphical, tabular, pictorial or summaries and ideally there should be more than one form. Only a simple presentation will make quick assessments possible. If any administrator has to sift through big data and then compile all of it to make the reports in the first place then the very efficiency achieved with timesheet software will be undone.
Timesheet Software should facilitate Online and Offline Integration
These days most employees are expected to work online. Yet, many work offline which could be at work or at office or on the road. While working online allows one to have a seamless sync with any timesheet software, it is the working offline issue that might create problems. Some software will show errors or will have inaccurate timekeeping reports when a user switches from online to offline and then reconnects with the system online. Any software that cannot function efficiently in an offline environment, even if it has to work with time and a multitude of project milestones, then such an application is futile. It is one thing to assume every user will be online, either all the time or at specific times. Even if a user is working offline for days, the software should be able to track everything and then sync all of it with the central database once the user gets online.
These attributes are not inexplicable or special requirements. These are basic needs to ensure impeccable implementation of a plan. The grandest of plans can have little value when the implementation is faulty.
Therefore, choose timesheet software that supports your business and fits your needs.
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