The brain is a complex and strange tool. When you read the acronym “SOP” the brain wants to translate it as ‘soap.’ There’s a bit of irony involved here. Like soap, a Standard Operating Procedure helps clean up a business. An SOP is a step by step guide on how an employee’s work process should run.  Without soap, a shower doesn’t really get you clean. This is because it’s missing one of its most important tools.  Similarly, if there is no SOP in place then there is no cleanliness to a job and no order. Once you understand Standard Operating Procedures in this way, their benefits become obvious.

Standard Operating Procedures are in place for specific and detailed guides or guidelines for an employee. Almost every organization or workplace has compiled step by step instructions on how to carry out routine tasks. These step by step instructions are the SOP.

The Purpose Of Standard Operating Procedures

Imagine a place or business that has no instructions written down on how to handle anything. Let’s pretend you buy a new tablet. After purchasing the new tablet, 3 days later it stops working. You go back to the store where you bought it and the employee working that day is new and maybe has not been trained on handling returns or broken items. Without having any Standard Operating Procedures written down that employee would have no idea how to handle the situation.

Now the argument here may be that with good training practices, people should not have to look to written SOP in order to figure out how to handle a situation. That may be true but that is also like saying a pharmacist who has had years of schooling and training does not need written instructions on hand how to handle situations with filling particular prescriptions. Or saying that a doctor who has had years of training and schooling doesn’t need written instructions on anything.

Standard Operating Procedures should be simplified and brief, never hard to understand and concise while remembering not to use vague words. They could be written in an outline, numbered or in a flow chart. If employees are following these step by step instructions the employer can ensure that they are getting consistent and predictable work from everyone.

Standard Operating Procedures also make sure that safety and efficiency are being met in all areas and departments.  Standard Operating Procedures are key to a successful business. And while an SOP might involve a bit of a learning curve, the benefits outweigh any negatives. It’s difficult to understand why an employer wouldn’t use an SOP in the first place.

Benefits of Standard Operating Procedures

Some employers believe that Standard Operating Procedures are not necessary. However, these written SOP can be used for the basis of staff training as well as protection because they are written down. Being able to write efficient SOP can take some guidance and/or creativity. Standard Operating Procedures should be regularly checked and updated. It is common practice for them to be updated at least yearly to keep up with whatever regulations or standards are in any given industry. Here are a list of the benefits of Standard Operating Procedures.

Save Time and Money

Having tasks or goals that need to be completed by various employees should be done in a certain way. If the same task is completed differently the employee could be costing the business time and money. Making sure goals are kept on task and done exactly the same way every time saves everyone involved time and most importantly the business money.

Simplifying Performance Management

Managers can very simply use SOP as a guide and framework to use to judge their employees. It helps employees know exactly what is expected of them from management and ensures they are meeting their time requirements and efficiency from their managers.

Employee Accountability

While Standard Operating Procedures help managers, they also help to hold the employees accountable. By knowing what they are to be living up to as an employee it helps them to strive for doing a better job as well as knowing how their work is being measured. It gives them tangible evidence to see how they are doing and understanding they are not being held accountable by just someone’s opinion.

Improved Consistency and Communication

With SOP it does not matter what employee is doing a particular job, having written instructions will ensure that each job is being done the same way. The communication will improve because no longer will employees be guessing or using communication poorly to try and figure out how to complete a task, it will be able to be done effectively with less communication time.

Avoid Knowledge Loss

There are a lot of times employers have an employee that has been at a particular company forever and knows everything there is to know about policy and procedures. Employers trust that person will be around to relay that information to other employees. A lot of times no one thinks about what happens if that particular employee no longer works at the company. By ensuring that everything is written down in SOP then companies can make sure they will not lose knowledge even if they lose their best employee.

Providing Safe Working Environments

Not only to Standard Operating Procedures improve the efficiency and consistency of a business, they also can help to prevent liability for a company. By making sure that everything is being done correctly, operations can be done safely and effectively.

How To Write A Standard Operating Procedure

Hopefully, the benefits of Standard Operating Procedures are clear by now. Next, we’ll look at how to begin writing an SOP.  Writing an SOP takes a good deal of planning and preparation before you begin writing. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to make it go smoothly.

1.Gather Information

Before you get started it is important to gather as much information as possible. Talk to as many people within your organization whether they be stockholders or employees. It is important to write down as much information as possible and be as detailed as possible. If you have all the information you are more likely to get a clear understanding of how processes around the company operate.

2. Plan the Process and Format

During this step, you are going to plan or outline how you want your SOP to look like. As described before, Standard Operating Procedures can be written in many different formats. Planning the process out first before you begin writing is key. You can have a step by step guide or a workflow chart, it really is up to whoever is in charge to make the decision of how they want it done.

3. Start Writing

Remember this is only a draft at this point. It is important to first get done the details of the operation and procedure. This is not the time to worry about wording but is the time to worry about the details. Make sure all the details are being included so you can have all the steps necessary.

4. Review the First Draft of SOP

This is the time to get all hands on deck. Review the draft with employees and managers. Make sure that all the details are there and no steps have been overlooked. Have employees mimic the exact way procedures are written to ensure that things have been written out properly

5. Maintain the Process

Now that your SOP has been written it is time to make sure that the information and procedures are being maintained! Writing out step by step guidelines are useless if your employees are not following them. Make sure that everyone in the company reviews the final copy of the SOP and make sure it is being followed.

Don’t Miss Out On The Benefits of Standard Operating Procedures

SOP or Standard Operating Procedures are the easy-to-follow instructions on how to perform routine tasks within an organization. Standard Operating Procedures focus on how things are done within a company not necessarily what needs to be done. An SOP is an effective and necessary tool for organizations to have. The benefits of having Standard Operating Procedures in place are clearly seen. Standard Operating Procedures are always precise and clearly written so everyone can understand them evidently. The benefits are saving time and money, simplifying management performance, holding employees accountable, improving consistency and communication, protecting from knowledge loss and creating safe working environments.

Writing Standard Operating Procedures can be done in a step by step matter. Businesses sometimes display their Standard Operating Procedures for their employees to clearly see. Other times businesses may use various apps or written manuals for their employees to reference. There are tools and people available to help with completing effective Standard Operating Procedures for your business.

Give your employees clear standards and they’ll deliver consistently efficient work.  Write out your Standard Operating Procedures and the time spent will be an investment that yields ample returns. Read more about how to find the right employees and how they achieve work life balance.

The post The Benefits Of Standard Operating Procedures In 2019 appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

How To Improve Teamwork

The trick, at this point, is to figure out what are the best tools and technology to best help with collaboration. Before you can dive into the best workflow management software and collaboration tools available, it is important to understand the teamwork tips and defining a good team, along with being a good team member. The following are teamwork tips in building a successful collaborative team:

1. Role Identification and Clarification

Leadership starts at the top and example setting and mimicking will start from whoever is the team leader, boss or CEO. Setting an example of work flow and work ethic is of importance. Also, identifying everyone’s role in the team is of paramount importance. By making sure that everyone understands their role from the very beginning a lot of distress down the road can be avoided.

2. Communication

Ever wonder why a play on a baseball field goes really great and why some outfielders end up running into each other and dropping the ball? Communication. Teams that work really well together communicate clearly, effectively and often. Without clear and concise communication someone will drop the ball. It is important to understand how your team communicates the best and utilizing collaboration communication tools or workflow communication tools to maximum benefit. While also remembering that a huge part of communication is also listening and respecting the opinions of others in the group.

3. Balance and Working Out

No you don’t need to go take a yoga class together, team building exercises can be great for team building. However, looking at team exercise is similar to real exercise, if you do it often enough you will see results. Team building exercises done often can maximize the effectiveness and productivity of a team. Along with exercise comes balance. Having regular team meetings while evaluating the effectiveness of team members and the collaboration of the team as a whole is of maximum importance. Cheer leading squads that don’t practice routines don’t win trophies. Teams that practice by holding team meetings are sure to win the “trophy.”

What Are Some Collaboration Tools?

Collaboration tools are defined as exactly what it sounds like, tools that help people to collaborate. These tools are used to help two or more people attain the same common goal. They are as simple as a piece of paper and pencil but as you can imagine have grown in technology and effectiveness. Finding a collaborative tool that best suits your teams’ needs and/or your companies’ needs is the most important part. With so many options out there it may be hard to pick the best one for your team. Here are 10 different examples of collaboration tools and what they do.

1. Skype

Skype is for much more then just a social platform. Skype allows for multiple people to either audio or video chat throughout multiple devices, so people can be communicating on their phones, tablets or computer from anywhere in the world at anytime. Skype’s free features are attractive to the everyday user.

2. Google Hangouts 

Google hangouts is rivaling Skype and can be more effective for those running a business meeting. Hangouts allows for its team members to minimize time taking notes and can utilize all the benefits of google while communicating.

3. Slack

Slack is one of the fastest growing start ups that is utilized by remote teams. One of its greatest features is that it works on channels and ensures that team members will never lose their conversations about different collaboration projects.

4. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is specifically designed for anyone hosting a meeting remotely. One of its cool features is allowing someone control over your computer to make meetings more effective for questions and answers.

5. Mural

Mural is like using a digital white board. Its features allow designers to post sticky notes, videos or images to a wall to gather quicker feedback on a design or prototype.

6. Cage

Cage was designed for smaller businesses and allows for freelancers and small teams the ability to share projects and ideas with either clients or other collaborative team members.

7. Prevue

Prevue is a collaborative tool specifically for designers. The Prevue program keeps in mind with every design needing to eventually be previewed by clients. It allows for easy and beautiful presentations to clients and plans start as low as $5 a month.

8. Google Docs

For remote companies with several employees, google docs is one of the easiest most effective ways to collaborate. It allows for as many people as you want to draft, edit, and share any kind of documents from word to excel spreadsheets.

9. Dropbox

Dropbox allows people to sync their work from no matter where they are or what device they are on. Individuals can use dropbox for free and there are affordable versions for small businesses.

10. Github

Github is one of the most popular software repository on the web. It allows software developers to host projects for free to exchange talk and code with other developers.

From a reasonable point of view, you can enhance a working environment fluency and communication by distributing an official policy and acquainting new workers with it when they are on-boarding. This arrangement should detail channels of correspondence for unique situations, how to speak with individuals who are not local English speakers, why you ought to stay away from industry language, etc.

From a social point of view, management should show others how its done and exhibit fluidity with their communication. A method to do this is to urge supervisors to listen cautiously to their employees and listen to their input.

What Is Workflow Automation and Workflow Management Software?

Similar to the catchy term, collaborative tools, workflow management software is synonymous in the way that it helps those collaborating on a project or work. However workflow management software is geared toward and used mostly for businesses to keep workflow and business operations automatic and on time. In other words workflow management software should assist in a seamless effort at assisting a team in getting a job done.

The workflow management software is designed specifically to automatically generate business operations to team members and by creating an effective business work space, eliminating human error. By streamlining processes, businesses will see an improvement in productivity. Different software is designed to set up and monitor tasks in a specific sequence. In addition to workflow management software, workflow automation refers to the automation of processes based on workflow rules.

Workflow is a series of orchestrated and repeatable patterns of business activity organized in a systematic way to increase productivity and accuracy. These are repeatable tasks and arguably the business. Workflow documentation is making sure there is a straightforward process of documenting the workflow that is being accomplished. Sounds simple and obvious right? There are many ways that workflow documentation can happen and many platforms for workflow documentation to happen on. Utilizing different collaboration tools and workflow management software is one of the most effective ways of keeping track of workflow documentation.

Implementing Teamwork Tips

While technology continues to improve and remote working and working from home increases it is easy to see why collaborative tools and various workflow management software are on the rise. Being able to increase productivity and communication among staff and employees helps to increase workflow and positivity either in the office or among a collaboration and team. Learning to utilize the team and increase teamwork and functionality of the team is key to any successful team winning.

Remembering that clarification, communication and balance are key.

Once a team is established picking what collaborative tools will best suite the team is necessary. With hundreds of options in collaborative tools and workflow management software it could be overwhelming to establish what is best for teamwork. Researching what is the best option for what tasks need to be completed is important. Effective and stellar team work can help any organizations’ workflow reach maximum capacity.

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Employee time tracking apps and time management software has taken over and made not only employees lives much easier but also employers and different departments within an organization. Time tracking apps have been developed to help with accounting and HR as well as just tracking time. Time tracking apps and time management software can be simple or as complex as an organization needs. Simply put employee time tracking apps work like a stopwatch to help keep track of the hours an employee is working.

Why You Need Employee Time Tracking Apps

Employee time tracking apps are used to help simplify the organization of hours used on a job or project. Anyone from big organizations to small individual freelancers could be using time tracking apps. These apps are developed to help account for the amount of time or hours spent completing or working on a project. Obviously for larger companies attempting to keep track of hours and other various features associated with working hourly, time tracking apps are a necessity. Additionally for individual workers or small businesses, even if a job is not being completed on a hourly basis it may still be important to track hours to make sure that additional hours are not being spent on a job that is not worth that amount of time or money.

For example, if you are a freelancer working on a $1000.00 project there is a big difference between spending 35 hours on a job versus 65 hours on a job. Keeping track of that time can not only help you become more efficient in your time and billing but also show a client how much time you are actually spending on a particular job.

When looking into various time tracking app options, it is important to look for features that would help assist you in whatever job you are trying to run. Some apps could allow you to adjust mistakes in the stopwatch feature if you accidentally leave it running or some apps are way more complex and have various features as opposed to using a simplified version that only tracks time.

Understanding Time Management Software

Time management software is almost identical to employee time tracking applications. Time management software allows you to track time of a particular job you are completing or keeping track of your employees time. The slight difference is that time management software takes tracking time and organization one step further. Time management software allows employees to track specific time spent on projects and tasks. It also helps to see where time can spent improving on time management within individual and group performance. One of the leading time management software and time tracking apps that is used today is Time Clock Wizard. Take a look below to see how Time Clock Wizard measures up to one of the other leading employee time tracking apps.

Toggl vs. Time Clock Wizard: Leading Employee Time Tracking Apps

Toggl is one of the leading and popular time tracking apps that specifically a lot of freelancers and remote teams tend to use. The employee time tracking app offers super simple time tracking, with just a push of a button time tracking for employees and workers begin. Toggl offers app specific features that allows you to track different data and information. The program works everywhere and on every different device. With any popular application there are always competitors. There are options for organizations to pick the best time management software and time tracking apps that work best for their particular organization.

Meanwhile, Time Clock Wizard is a very similar application that takes the features Toggl has and makes it more user friendly.

Time Clock Wizard is an employee time tracking application and time management software app that is used among popular companies. It works as a scheduling tool, employee time clock and payroll solutions. Time Clock Wizard features to the minute accuracy with managing employee time clocks and accessible from any device synced with the location of your choice. It allows you to manage several aspects of employee time tracking at the same time. This includes clocking in and out, PTO, absences and people arriving late to work. In addition, it also helps to make payroll easy and effective.  Companies like State farm, Mercedes, T-mobile, and Hallmark all use Time Clock Wizard to handle their employee time tracking and time management needs. The application is free to use for basic time tracking and for up to 3 users. Plans after that start as little as $14.95 per month.

Know The Time Tracking Apps Out There

1. Hubstaff

Like toggl hubstaff offers easy time tracking and and off-line support, but it has many more features that toggl does not offer. For example, it has the function to set time limits and budgets. If you have to outsource work to say a freelancer or graphic designer but you only have a certain amount of money and time to give them, hubstaff allows you to set that time limit and that budget so they can not exceed the allotted time and money. Hubstaff is like combining time tracking with other apps you already know and love such as paypal and quickbooks.

2. RescueTime

If monitoring productivity is top on your priority list, then rescue time app is a great option. This app will run a silent monitoring of whatever is being using in the URL and will automatically monitor any work that is being completed. Rescue time also runs an automatic report that can be customized to fit your needs.

3. Paymo

Paymo is good for individual workers such as freelancers who may be overwhelmed with the amount of apps and technology they are already currently using. If you are working on a job for a client you can track your work and it is recorded to a time sheet. When the job is complete you can forward the invoice to your client and receive payment all through the app.

4. TimeDoctor

TimeDoctor is similar to RescueTime where it automatically tracks what sites you are using on your URL and other applications. In addition to this feature it also has a timer that you and your other team members can turn on and off for tracking time worked. Another interesting feature is tracking social media time and if it notices you spending too much time on social media sites like facebook, twitter or instagram the TimeDoctor app will give you a little notification to get back to work.

5. DeskTime

This app is popular for companies that have in house staff and employees on site in an office like setting. DeskTime not only calculates hours worked but also will let you know who is late or on time, who is absent, etc. The organization can also track these things and set the app to organize which areas are problematic for different employees. DeskTime would not be a good choice for those who work remotely or as a freelancer.

6. Everhour

Everhour works well as an app for people who already use apps like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, or Github. Similar to other apps, Everhour installs into your browser and embeds straight into whatever tool you already use. You and your time can start the timer manually and run reports of how much you are working to Google Drive or Excel.

7. Freshbooks

Freshbooks is mostly popular with invoicing as it started as a company that sends invoices for organizations. The program also recently added time tracking features which made it convenient to have time tracking and invoicing all together.

Popular Timesheet Apps For Multiple Employees

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff does it again! Making the list for different time tracking apps and proven to be one of the best apps for multiple employees.

2. Timesheet Xpress

Timesheet Xpress is a tool that provides a timesheet system with features such as organization of tasks and time tracking.

3. Toggl

Toggl is featured again! It’s project management and time tracking abilities works well for multiple employees working internally within a company.

4. Clicktime

Clicktime was an internal solution for an IT company that expanded to its own company in 1999. The program advertises as easy to use and focuses on working with jobs such as nonprofits, consulting, universities, architects, IT and healthcare.

Choose Your Solution

With so many different options it could be hard to choice one software that works best for you. It is important to understand that time tracking apps all offer similar but different features. Meaning they all track time and help to keep yourself or employees accountable. However, each individual employee time tracking application has different features that were designed to gear toward what your main goal is. It is important to figure out first what you want in a time management software. Once you have that figured it, it would be wise to browse through the features from each individual application. Some work best for individuals, while others work best for large companies. The best conclusion of all is that we are in a time where no matter what feature or design you desire, there is the right employee time tracking app out there for you.

Check out our list of apps for 2018 and 2019.

The post Implementing An Employee Time Tracking App: Your Necessary Next Step appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

For some people, a sports analogy is one of the best ways to encapsulate the incredible benefits of teamwork. Think about the ‘Cinderella Stories’ that unfold during the NCAA basketball tournament every year. These ‘Cinderella teams’ come into the tournament as serious underdogs. They lack the individual star power that marks the top-ranked teams, but somehow they continue to win games and advance.

And the secret to these underdogs’ thrilling success is always superior teamwork.  These teams come together as a unified whole to defeat teams with superior individual talent. But you don’t have to be a sports fan to understand how teamwork helps your company. Continue reading to discover the myriad benefits of teamwork and how your company can achieve them.

The Importance of Teamwork in an Organization

If the sports analogy doesn’t help illustrate the importance of team effectiveness, you can probably draw examples from your work experience. If you’re a team leader, you’ve seen what a great team can accomplish firsthand. You’ve witnessed the amazing results that emerge when team members put their egos aside and focus on the big picture.

On the other hand, you’ve probably experienced the negative outcomes of poor teamwork as well. These negative outcomes include things like:

• Task redundancies
• Pervasive and/or irresolvable team conflicts
• Systematic inefficiency
• Missed deadlines
• Low productivity
• Decreased profits

In short, experience has taught you the importance of teamwork in an organization. But while this is a great place to start, you’ll need to dig a little deeper to conjure up the magic of teamwork on a consistent basis. Toward that end, let’s take a look at the ‘inflection points’ of organizational teamwork.

The Inflection Points of Good Teamwork

For our purposes, inflection points refer to the specific areas where teamwork either thrives or begins to falter. You can also think of these points as ‘critical moments’ in team development. But no matter what you call them, understanding these turning points is the first step in achieving the benefits of teamwork. Here are the five teamwork components you’ll need to manage for best results.

1. Team member cooperation

Essentially, cooperation refers to the motivational factors that drive the members of your team. These factors include the beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of your team members. Cooperation also includes how these factors determine individual behavior. In short, cooperation happens (or doesn’t happen) where perception and action meet. And like all of our inflection points, cooperation is an area that team leaders have to manage well.

2. Team coordination

Team coordination has to do with putting teamwork attitudes and behaviors into productive action. It means assigning the right tasks to the right people, as well as blending complementary strengths and weaknesses into an efficient whole.  In an overall sense, team coordination refers to the ways in which management leverages company resources into optimal team outcomes.

3. Internal and external communication

First, internal communication is the exchange of relevant information between team members. It includes both the content of the communication and the ways it’s transmitted. Good internal communication requires precision, mutual understanding, and a shared vocabulary.

External communication is the transmission of pertinent information to entities outside your company. Typically, these entities include vendors, other companies, customers, and the community at large. For a more practical grasp of external communication, team leaders should think of it as part of public relations.

Taken together, these two types of communication go a long way toward determining the beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of your team members. And as we saw above, these are the driving factors of effective cooperation.

4. Team leadership and coaching

Team leaders directly intervene in these areas. First, they establish team goals and position members to achieve them. Second, they offer feedback and other types of counsel as projects continue to develop. Lastly, team leaders model teamwork behaviors for employees to emulate.

5. Team Culture

A positive team or company culture is a huge factor in team effectiveness. A company culture facilitates great teamwork when it creates a set of shared values and goals between members from different backgrounds. Once management establishes this sense of unity and group identification, employee behavior tends to become more team oriented.

Now that you have a good grasp of these teamwork inflection points, let’s have a look at the specific benefits of teamwork in the workplace.

The Top Five Benefits of Teamwork in a Global Economy

In some ways, the benefits of teamwork are readily apparent. But today’s globalized economy gives a phrase like ‘two heads are better than one’ an entirely new meaning. That’s why it’s important to make the benefits of teamwork more explicit. Such an explicit discussion will accomplish two important goals at once. First, it will help motivate team members to engage in team orientated behaviors. Second, it will help teams set project specific goals and sharpen the methods they use to achieve them.

To get this process started, here are the five top benefits of teamwork in a global economy:

1. Teamwork inspires creativity and innovation

A teamwork setting inspires the creativity your company needs to tackle the changing difficulties of a global economy. When people work as a team, they can exchange and improve their individual ideas and participate in highly productive brainstorming. Your company will also benefit from the new perspectives that people from different backgrounds bring to the conference table.

Old ways aren’t always the best ways, especially when it comes to solving business problems you haven’t encountered before. Truly great teamwork makes room for the practical innovation your company needs to evolve with the times.

2. Teamwork creates a support network

Every company experiences difficult times. This holds true no matter what industry you’re working in. The workplace can be incredibly stressful even at the best of times, but unforeseen negative circumstances can make things worse if you’re not prepared.

The difference lies in how your team responds to these challenging periods. Companies that navigate these difficult times successfully are those with reliable support networks. These support networks allow team members to rely on one another for guidance and encouragement during these difficult times. Create an environment that’s conducive to effective teamwork and these support networks will arise naturally.

3. Teamwork breeds flexibility

The ability to adapt on the fly is critical to success in a progressively expanding economy. Truly effective teamwork makes this adaptability possible. When people work as a unit, they accept their respective roles and understand how their performance affects their co-workers. With this mutual understanding in place, your team can pivot in many different directions without missing a step.

4. Teamwork promotes career development

Teamwork is all about helping the group, but it also helps individual career development. Working as part of a team lets people learn varying skill sets and apply them in a number of different contexts. This provides a two-pronged benefit. First, it lets your individual employees contribute that much more to your company’s projects.

Second, the acquisition of new skills improves your employees’ future prospects whether they stay with your company or not. Either way, they’ll welcome the opportunities your teamwork setting has given them and maximize their contributions.

5. Teamwork increases productivity and your company’s bottom line

It’s simple really– a well-oiled team can accomplish things that no group of individuals can. A teamwork setting provides an ideal blend of specialization and cross-training. It also makes for a highly productive division of labor. Most importantly, good teamwork allows team leaders to assign tasks in a way that balances individual strengths and weaknesses. With these mechanisms in place, your employees can work in tandem with one another and boost productivity significantly.

How to Improve Teamwork in the Workplace

Hopefully, you now have a much deeper understanding of how teamwork benefits your company. But while this is a great place to start, more is left to be done to gain these crucial advantages. As a team leader, you understand better than anyone that great teamwork doesn’t happen on accident. You also understand that the task of fostering teamwork falls to you and the rest of your management team.

Here are ten quick tips on how to improve teamwork in the workplace:

1. Recognize and reward team accomplishments instead of individual ones
2. Set well-defined and achievable team goals
3. Base individual performance evaluations on team outcomes
4. Model teamwork behavior in your everyday actions
5. Make time and room for non-work related socialization
6. Create and maintain open lines of communication
7. Divide leadership responsibilities as equally as possible
8. Provide team oriented feedback to individual employees
9. Address conflicts promptly and resolve them fairly
10. Let employees participate actively in decision making

Meeting the Challenges of Teamwork in the Remote Workforce

The benefits of teamwork apply across the board, but they’re especially relevant to companies who utilize virtual teams. The reasons for this should be fairly obvious. Unlike co-located teams, a remote workforce rarely shares the same space. This distance alone can make it difficult to establish even the most basic necessities of effective teamwork.

But teamwork effectiveness becomes even more difficult when you add in the language barriers, social isolation, and other challenges that so often plague virtual teams.  That’s why virtual team leaders have to go the extra mile to create a truly collaborative environment. Fortunately, the teamwork aspects we’ve discussed here work just as well with virtual teams as co-located ones.

Virtual teams will become more and more common as the economy expands into more distant parts of the world. And while this amounts to a sea change in the way companies do business, the benefits of teamwork will always be a constant. Get started now on improving your teamwork environment to make the transition as smooth as possible.

The post The Challenges and Benefits of Teamwork in a Global Economy appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

Employees and employers of a company, both virtual and physical, need not worry. A combination of learning leadership skills in the workplace while practicing leadership qualities can teach you how to be a good leader at work. In this article, read about effective leadership skills in the workplace as well as how to be a good leader. Encourage proper direction of a company.

How to Be a Good Leader at Work

Leaders are not just born; they can be made with the right training and development. According to Robert Velasquez in a study by Infopro Learning, although, companies spend most of their money on leadership development and training, only 29% of those leaders are able to lead their company. Some people may inherently like to take control of their surroundings. Others have to learn to familiarize with actions leaders should take to be an effective leader at work. Ten of such engagements are to:

1. Be Brave

In any market, many things happen unexpectedly. Situations usually never go as planned. Leaders at work should know that they are the decision maker for his or her demographic. Leaders make the decisions, of which some may be blind risks. Evaluate every option and make the right decision, even if it may cost you in the beginning.

2. Have Integrity

Factual information is necessary in deciding how to progress. Be truthful with employees and avoid costing others just to help yourself. Know that the leader is responsible and held accountable for the team’s actions.

3. Earn Trust

Honesty is the best policy! People will respect you more if you tell them the truth rather than concealing bad news. Be impeccable with words.

4. Be Patient

Some things take time. Immediate gratification is never healthy—there is no room for learning in the meanwhile. A career is never made overnight.

5. Know Your Niche

It is essential to want a career. Motivate the entire team with encouragement and make their job enjoyable so they look forward to coming in to work. Amplify their skills with activities that allow them to practice. Encourage them to have fun, so that work does not feel like work.

6. Be Open-Minded

A lot of work is now passed on to remote workers rather than teams at physical office locations. Flexibility is key in keeping a company updated. Adapting to new technologies and cultures is necessary to stay relevant in the industry. It may seem like expensive, but it is an investment.

7. Be a Role Model

Treat employees how you would want to be treated. Set an example of how you would like the business to be run. Employees need to physically see a conductor in action to understand what they are required to do, properly.

8. Stay Organized

Imagine if employees see their leaders messy desk. That visual will make them think that their desks can be just as messy. If a business is important to you, you should keep it well groomed. Leaders should try not to allow that kind of depiction of themselves as workers.

9. Be Understanding

An individual’s emotional quotient is just as important as his or her intelligence quotient. Emotions are attached to memories when undergoing a learning experience. Empathy and kindness allow people to come to a mutual understanding rather than leaving them feel as though they had to compromise in a situation.

10. Make No Judgments

Be fair in all affairs. Try not to be biased or show favoritism toward employees. This can be detrimental to a business when an employee becomes entitled and cocky.

Effective Leadership Skills in the Workplace

Leaders are not perfect, but they have to try. Some skills leaders should practice perfecting

Diction and Direction

Proper communication with employees is essential. Without effective communication, messages are not delivered accurately, as they should. Also, know the market inside out, so you are fluent in the industry’s language. Enunciate when speaking with the team. Be professional in your presentation.

Focus and Awareness

If ever overwhelmed, take a breather. Doing too much means losing energy and focus on an important assigned task. Be aware of pricing and cost issues, so numbers balance and match up. Having expertise in the industry will help staying updated with new technologies. Being aware of the surroundings and perceptive of the team’s needs is essential. Do not allow this to be a distraction from the main goal.

Creativity

Be agile—it is important to keep employees’ minds stimulated. This way they will be able to think fast and learn quickly. Encourage the team to think outside of the box, from different perceptions. Every individual employee brings something different to the table according to the culture they grew up in. Be open-minded to different views—this will encourage thinking outside of the box.

Relationship Building & Mediating

Mediating issues between employees requires earning respect from them. Employees would look to you as a jury would a judge. Build a relationship with each employee and do not show anyone favoritism. One worker may be more productive than another, however, that could be circumstantial. It does not mean they are more deserving.

Optimism and Practicality

All businesses will face manic up and downs. It is important to know that when one door closes another one will open, unexpectedly. Remain optimistic in all affairs, but not too optimistic. Leaders do not have everything under control, but they are not totally powerless over situations. Be practical—exercise ambition with proper control and be realistic in decision-making.

Genuine Leadership Qualities

When people exercise a certain practice over and over again, they become accustomed to it as a part of their routine. This can be compared with a legal system enforced in a country, since people naturally abide by those regulations without question. Just the same, when exercising leadership qualities, people will adopt the qualities of a leader. Here are some qualities that should be adopted and presented by a leader in a workplace:

Competitive

Leaders are versatile—they do things differently, which sets them apart from the way others conduct their businesses. Everything needs drive to get where it needs to be– haphazardly conducting a business is a waste of energy. Similar to how a car will either stall or roam around aimlessly if it has no destination—ultimately wasting gas.

Convincing

Good “soft skills” are essential for a business to succeed. Leaders should be able to communicate messages and listen carefully. It is important to be convincing because leaders they are the face of the brand. Along with the marketing team, leaders create a personality for the brand. This is what makes the company unique. Practice public speaking skills. If a leader is not confident in the product, he or she will not be able to speak its language to customers.

Customer Servicing

Be attentive and understanding of customers’ input. Customers are guaranteed satisfaction when you adapt to their needs. Happy customers will keep coming back.

Passionate

Thirst is essential for success and leaders should be authentic. Leaders should want to be the best at what they do. Genuine leaders show that they care to bring something different to customers. Passion in branding a product or service shows that you care about the customers you sell to.

Authoritative

Leaders can become power hungry and inflate their ego. Narcissistic, self-centered leaders are more destructive with negative energy. The team will feel this energy in the environment. It is important for leaders to be authoritative; assertive but not aggressive. Crossing that boundary can be detrimental to your relationship with employees. Be consistent with respected words when communicating with employees or customers. This consistency will show fairness and reliability in the leader and the brand.

Importance of Leadership in the Workplace

Leaders are meant to guide employees. Leaders provide direction and make sure goals are being met. This guidance can include training and even feedback. This also includes mediating and resolving issues that can stall productivity. Good team leaders also instill a sense of confidence in the team to maintain positive energy in the business.

Team leaders also should be able to provide a creative atmosphere for employees. Breakthroughs should be rampant in this type of environment. Looking at an assignment with different perspectives and flexibility allows the employee to choose a work process. This may even foster a new process that is more productive and beneficial for the team.

The most crucial role of the leader is to promote values in work ethic. Integrity is vital for the success of a business. A team leader who demonstrates honesty promotes honesty within the team. The team leader who takes responsibility for a situation, admits mistakes and does not overstep boundaries exhibits the significance of accountability in a workplace.

The post Take Initiative: Leadership Skills in the Workplace appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

Unfortunately, this level of teamwork can’t create itself. It can only come about as the result of planning, hard work, and sophisticated leadership. But what emerges from all this is a wonder to behold– a team that accomplishes what a simple group of individuals never could. Read on to discover just what it takes to engineer this uber productive meeting of the minds.

Capitalizing on Your Mistakes

Do you have a team that consistently underperforms? Does it encounter a constant flow of delays, internal squabbles, and communication breakdowns? Are your individual team members afraid to speak up, buck convention, and innovate? If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, you’re probably lacking the nuanced teamwork you need for success in today’s business climate.

For whatever reason, you weren’t able to combine your individual talents into a purposeful unit. Maybe you didn’t prepare everyone properly. Or maybe inexperience made you miss certain tell-tale signs. The list of possible mistakes could go on and on, but the upshot is that something went wrong and it’s to you to fix it.

This might seem a little harsh. In fact, it probably is. But the best managers– the most successful ones– take responsibility for everything connected to their teams.  This includes everything from employee conduct and meeting deadlines to budget control and successful teamwork.

Good Teamwork Through Progressive Focus

That’s why we’ve come up with this guide to effective teamwork. It’s designed to update HR personnel and managers on the keys to successful teamwork and help to apply them in real-world situations. This guide will benefit team managers by detailing exactly what it takes to build and maintain a high-functioning team. Here are the topics we’ll cover:

• The teamwork mindset
• The signs and results of poor teamwork
• What standard operating procedures can do for your team
• Assembling an effective team
• The technology needs of highly productive teams
• Specific tips on how to improve teamwork

You might have noticed that our topics get progressively more specific as you continue to read. We structured our guide in this way on purpose. To make sure the keys to successful teamwork become almost second nature, we’re approaching the subject through progressive focus.

This means we’ll start by describing the thinking that lies at the source of building a highly productive team. Then, we’ll have a look at signs and causes of poor teamwork. After that, we’ll get down to the specifics of managing a successful team. And by the time we’re finished, you’ll be able to use the ‘theoretical’ parts of great teamwork to actually make it happen.

Good Teamwork is a Mindset

In some ways, great teamwork is the result of the right attitude. Yes, it requires a host of other tools and techniques as well, but the right attitude is fundamental to them all. But what sort of attitude is ‘right’ when it comes to taking a group of individuals and turning them into a highly productive team?

The first requirement is that you understand how truly important this level of teamwork is. At an intuitive level, this is something you probably understand all too well. Why? Because if you’re like most department managers, it’s because you’ve seen what can happen when people fail to work as a team. In other words, you’ve started to recognize the value of truly great teamwork by seeing what happens when it isn’t there.

But sometimes, it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. This can make it very to difficult to spot poor teamwork until after the damage is already done. It’s almost like a temporary blindness. By the time you open your eyes, it’s often too late. At this point, you look at the talent you’ve assembled and wonder how it all happened. Or didn’t happen, rather.

Hopefully, this unfulfilled potential will make you reflect on where things went wrong. If so, you’ll need to consider the role you played in the resulting disappointment. As managers and HR people, it’s up to you to weave your individual talent into a team. Of course, some things are beyond your control. And there’s no use beating yourself up over things you couldn’t have prevented in the first place.

Next, we’ll have a look at the negative outcomes of poor teamwork. This will let you locate your mistakes and help you avoid them in the future.

The Results of Poor Teamwork

This might feel like we’re just rubbing it in, but here’s a quick list of what typically happens when you lack good teamwork:

• The team consistently misses important deadlines and ends up scrambling to finish projects
• They encounter the time-wasting work stoppages that lead to harmful delays
• There are too many disgruntled employees and their negative attitudes bring down the entire team
• Conflicts arise too frequently and are difficult to resolve
• Team members display impatience and frustration in their daily work
• People get bogged down in finger pointing and the blame game
• You witness an ongoing parade of power struggles
• Team members work haphazardly and seem to lack a shared vision
• Your team’s dynamic is marked by mistrust and a lack of focus
• Productivity lags and the team fails to achieve the project goals you established

Spotting The Signs of Poor Teamwork

Again, it’s hard to spot some of these energy drainers until after the damage is already done. Usually, this happens because you’re too close to the action. You become nearsighted and fail to notice the problems that plague your team’s everyday workings. Eventually, most managers realize this has happened, but they can’t use what they learn until the next project.

So what’s happening here? How do you finally notice what’s escaped you for so long? You can find the answers to these questions in the consequences of poor teamwork.  Negative outcomes force you to take a step back and reflect. And it goes without saying that this realization often comes with a great deal of regret. Fortunately, you can learn from these mistakes and turn this negative into a positive.

How do you learn from these mistakes and prevent them in the future? The answer lies in the reflecting on what you did in aftermath of your team’s poor performance. You recognized the mistakes by taking a step back, and this is exactly what you have to do to prevent poor teamwork in the future.

You just have to do it earlier. These negative outcomes can definitely be prevented, but only if you take a bird’s eye view from the very beginning. And this is exactly what this guide is designed to help you accomplish. In the next section, we’ll have a look at the most general characteristics of successful teamwork.

The Causes of Poor Teamwork

We’ve already established that a bird’s eye view is invaluable to building a truly great team. Hopefully, you’ve learned a great deal from past mistakes– either your own mistakes or somebody else’s. Either way, mistakes are often the best teachers. They’re also the ideal launching pad for the ‘view from above’ you’ll need to improve in the future.

When a project fails to meet expectations, managers are forced to reflect on the decisions that damaged their chances.  But recognizing the results of poor teamwork just isn’t enough. You’ll have to drill quite a bit deeper if you want to improve your team leadership skills. In other words, you have t find out what caused the poor teamwork in the first place.

Spoiler alert– poor teamwork always stems from inadequate collaboration. We’ll get into the details in just a bit, but the necessity of great collaboration is the biggest thing you should take away. With this in mind, let’s have a look at how the collaborative process typically starts to break down and how you can fix it.

Poor Collaboration and How It Happens

Corporate teams can vary wildly in size, make-up, and function.  The number of team members can range from a few people to a few hundred. When you add virtual teams into the equations, members are often located in geographic areas thousands of miles apart. But no matter what size the team is– or what it’s trying to accomplish– the key to success is finely tuned collaboration.

The comparison might seem silly at first but think about everything that’s involved in a space shuttle launch. Think about the incredible complexities involved in preparing for it. Then, consider the sheer number of people that are necessary to pull off such a huge project. Think about the timing of it all, and how dependent everyone is on the rest of the team’s work. There are also funding issues and weather conditions to take into account.

The list of collaborative necessities could probably go on and on– we’re not astrophysicists or aerospace engineers– but you probably get the idea. To say that everyone has to be on the same page is an understatement. We’re certainly not suggesting that your corporate team’s collaborative process is as complicated as a shuttle launch, but the contours are similar enough to be very instructive.

When the Collaborative Process Breaks Down

There are many different points when the collaborative can start to break down. Sometimes, it’s because one or more individual team members try to dominate the entire group. The results of these attempted coups are usually predictable. Teams become cliquish and internal resentments begin to crop up. Individuals or subgroups start to follow their own agenda instead of the team’s original plan. And once this happens, morale, trust, and productivity can really start to fall off a cliff.

In the rest of this section, we’ll have a look at the most common stress points in the collaborative process. These are the areas where your people can begin to go in different directions. If they stray far enough, the divergence can eventually wreck the collaborative process. Here are seven of the most common areas where breakdowns in collaboration can occur:

1. Employees don’t fully buy into the project

Sometimes, your people won’t care enough about what they’re doing to put in the necessary effort. Usually, this happens when they think the project is boring or ‘beneath’ them. Team members also become disengaged if they don’t see how a project will be of much benefit to them. But whatever the reason, employees are unlikely to work as a team if they’re not fully invested.

The question is what to do about it. The best time to tackle disengagement is before it starts to take root. This means you have to make your expectations clear in advance, preferably at the initial team meeting. Take this time to explain why the project matters and what part it plays in your overarching goals. Then, remind everyone that their individual evaluations depend entirely on the success of the whole team.

2. Mistrust between team members

Bad things happen when your employees don’t trust one another. In order to be effective, your team members have to trust one another enough to discuss their ideas and talk about how they’re feeling. Without trust, people can get isolated and closed off. Mistrust can also create an endless series of unresolvable conflicts. Most importantly of all, mistrust makes true collaboration almost impossible.

To prevent this from happening, make sure your people get to know one another as quickly as possible. Arrange a meeting where everyone introduces themselves and discusses their background. Coach everyone up on better communication and intervene if conflicts become too intense. Regular meetings will also help your team develop mutual trust. Lastly, team outings are another great way for your people to get to know one another and develop more trust.

3. High rates of employee turnover

Locating, recruiting, and training new hires is costly in a number of ways. That’s one of the reasons that companies do everything they can to avoid high turnover rates. But there’s another reason managers don’t like to see high rates of turnover as well. It’s because high turnover rates can do incredible damage to the collaborative process. Similarly, high turnover can also be the result of poor collaboration.

Either way, high turnover is something managers should try to avoid at all costs. You won’t be able to retain every great employee, but there are things you can do to keep overall turnover low. Following the tips contained in this guide can help in this regard, but things like a positive work culture and an employee retention program address turnover directly.

4. Lack of creativity and ‘groupthink’

Innovation and creativity are the driving forces of strong collaboration. Unfortunately, they’re quashed far too often in the corporate team setting. This can happen for a number of reasons, but what you really need to know is how damaging the practice can be.

When managers discourage innovation and creativity, a counterproductive sort of malaise comes over the group. No one wants to disagree with the party line in such an environment. Eventually, your team will lapse into a dangerous habit of ‘groupthink.’ If this happens, you lose access to a potential treasure of great ideas.

That’s why you should encourage debate, disagreement, and creativity. That’s one of the reasons you bring people together in the first place, so why not maintain a culture that allows for the fundamentals of collaboration?

Collaboration and a Sense of Belonging

Analyze the collaborative process a while and you’ll see how complex it can be. A breakdown in any of these areas can clearly lead to a variety of negative outcomes. Unfortunately, once these problems arise, they can spread like wildfire and multiply.

This leads us to one of the most fundamental keys to successful teamwork– inclusion and a sense of truly belonging. People work best when they’re involved in something bigger than themselves. This sense of a higher purpose strengthens commitment and helps people push their ego aside. It also lets them see the interdependencies between team members, especially the way their work affects others.

If people don’t have a sense of belonging, collaboration is bound to suffer. They’ll become withdrawn and isolated. Your team will fall prey to communication breakdowns, lengthy delays, and frequent conflicts. By addressing the potential problem areas in advance, you can foster a sense of belonging. If you start to see someone pulling away from the group, pull them aside and discuss their concerns. Then, coach them up on what they can do to re-enter the fold.

Additionally, you’ll need to address the structural problems that led to an employee’s alienation. The solutions to these problems depend on the situation, but vigilance is fundamental to all of them. You’ll also find ways to foster a sense of belonging in the next few sections. The most important takeaway here is to understand how important a sense of belonging is collaboration and successful teamwork.

Successful Teamwork and Standard Operating Procedure

No discussion of great teamwork would be complete without some mention of standard operating procedure, aka SOP. Like many topics we’ve discussed, you probably already have a decent grasp of this important concept. But in this section, we hope to take this knowledge a little deeper.

First, let’s talk a minute about human nature. Human beings certainly don’t like to feel trapped like a rat in a maze, but many of us appreciate the value of a routine. This is especially true in the workplace.

People work better when they know what to expect and what’s expected of them. The same holds true of the norms they’re supposed to follow and the methods they use for a given task. The daily grind is already challenging enough. But when you throw in a sense of chaotic, it can become practically unbearable.

That’s where standard operating procedure comes in. Just like the name says, SOPs are blueprints for executing a task the same way every time it comes up. We’ll go in a lot more detail in just a little bit, but the essence of an SOP is pretty close to what we just described.

What is a Standard Operating Procedure?

An SOP is a preestablished set of directions for completing a certain task. These directions are formulated in a way that accords with the rules of your industry and your particular company standards. Stand operating procedures are based on methods that have been proven to work. And while they do allow for a little wiggle room, they help to eliminate indecision and let your employees focus on the task at hand.

Designing a standard operating procedure consists of two basic parts. First, it defines the best practices for a given type of project. This includes things like quality standards, systematized processes, and task assignment. Secondly, SOPs codify these directions through detailed documentation. The end result is a set of instructions that are easy to access, repeatable, and consistently effective.

Each company has a unique customer base and every team manager has their own particular styles. Additionally, each industry sector has a different set of regulations and best practices. This is why one company’s set of standard operating procedures is never the same as another.  In the next section, we’ll take a look at the benefits of having standard operating procedures in place.

The Benefits of Using Standard Operating Procedures

Hopefully, you now have a little more insight into the importance of standard operating procedures. And you’ve probably already gleaned why they matter so much. But while some of the ways your team will benefit from SOPs is readily apparent, others aren’t quite as easy to see. Here are twenty more advantages you can expect to gain by using standard operating procedures.

1. Increased overall efficiency

2. Fewer redundancies within and between departments

3. Decreases in costly mistakes across the board

4. Less time wasted arguing about how tasks should be executed

5. An established set of methods for conflict resolution

6. A safe, supportive, and respectful work environment

7. Improvements in overall company culture

8. Better communication

9. Easier troubleshooting

10. Proven ways to resolve specific issues

11. Objective tools of evaluation for employees and overall production

12. Precise job descriptions

13. Streamlined hiring and firing process

14. Proven training standards

15. Objective criteria for promotions and pay raises

16. Established norms for disciplinary and/or corrective actions

17. Tighter customer data security

18. Better employee attraction

19. Reduced confusion and better morale

20. Higher profits

As you’ve probably already noticed, standard operating procedures and good teamwork go hand in hand. In fact, it’s actually a ‘you can’t have one without the other’ scenario. Great teams are ones that can make snap decisions in varying circumstances and stay focused on the work in front of them. SOPs give teams the ability to do both of these things. But it also takes teamwork to follow SOPs in a way that gets the best results.

The great thing about the reciprocal relationship between teamwork and SOPs is that it makes them interchangeable to a certain extent. No matter how good your team is most of the time, it’s bound to have some off days. Similarly, some projects have wrinkles that an SOP just can’t iron out. It’s at these moments that teamwork and SOPs can stand in for one another. But before any of this can happen, you’ll have to have the right team. In the next section, we’ll look at how you can build the ideal team.

Building the Right Team

A productive team is one that’s cohesive, flexible, and open to new ideas. Its members understand and accept their roles without being too rigid. They come in prepared and ready to work. Just as importantly, a good team is resilient, accepts criticism well, and offers constant feedback.

Sounds good, right? Of course it does. Who wouldn’t want to work with a team with so much going for it? There’s very little such a team couldn’t accomplish. In short, a team like this is a manager’s dream.

But the team we’ve just described is something that’s difficult to achieve. More than likely, your employees are talented, experienced, and well trained. But in most cases, they’re used to working independently, not as part of a team. And the task of turning these experienced employees into a team falls to you.

So as a team leader, you’re immediately confronted with a sticky dilemma. How do you make someone part of a team without tamping down their individual talent? Well, the answer to this question depends on the situation. But all of these situations have one important thing in common– the need for the right combination of people. During the rest of this section, we’ll look at how to meet the challenge of building the right team.

What to Look For in Prospective Team Members

Hopefully, you’ll have a talented pool to choose from when building your team. Along with experience and a strong work ethic, individual talent is one of the most critical factors in team success.  But like we’ve already said, talent isn’t enough to make a great team.  In assembling your team, you’ll have to locate people who can apply their talent to a truly collaborative process.

Toward that end, here are the qualities that typify a great team member:

1. Excellent communication skills are an absolute must to be a good team member.

2. The best team players are those who are willing to self-reflect in order to improve.

3. Employees who can accept constructive criticism and make use of it tend to excel in the team setting.

4. People who’ve had team success in the past are likely to have it again in the future.

5. Employees with high levels of emotional intelligence tend to be excellent team players.

As you can see, this is a list of personality characteristics you should look for in building your team. But while these qualities are definitely very important, there are other factors to consider as well. First, you should select candidates who have experience and competency in the types of projects you’ll be working on. Additionally, you’ll want team members with varying skill sets, especially ones that offset any limitations that otherwise appealing candidates might have.

Lastly, you’ll need to consider the overall composition of the team you’re trying to build. How many leader types do you need, for instance? Does your team have the right mix of personalities? Does it exhibit enough variety for you to form subteams without sacrificing too many skills or personality traits?  Answer these questions and follow the guidelines above to maximize your team’s chance of success.

Filling Your Team’s Technology Needs

Choosing the right technology is a big part of managing a successful team. Good teamwork begins and ends with great people, but technology provides the tools they need for task management, time tracking, and just staying connected. The only real question is what technology you should choose. Here, we’ll focus on project management collaboration tools.  Follow these guidelines to find the exact tools that you need.

Keep everything connected with a collaborative platform

These days, many companies collaborative platforms to achieve the multilayered integration they need to do business.  Although their functions and features vary, most collaborative platforms include tools that assist with collaborative teamwork, instant messaging, and task tracking.  The most recent versions of these platforms allow for a wide range of social networking activity as well.

Examples of collaborative platforms include products like Asana, Slack, Airtable, and Workfront. These platforms– and many more— are designed to integrate knowledge management tools with company procedures help employees resolve work issues quickly.

Use Time Tracking Software to Manage Your Most Valuable Resource

There are several different kinds of time tracking software available, but their basic purpose is to track and record employee work hours. This software category can include anything from a simple time tracking app to platforms that let you integrate time tracking with project and task management. Here are a few of the best known time tracking tools:

• Mavenlink
• FunctionFox
• Paycom
• Intervals
• Accelo

Use Free Trial Offers to Shop Around

The sheer number of available products can make filling your team’s technology a very difficult process. The best way to start is by identifying exactly what your needs are. That way, you can narrow your choices and start comparison shopping.  Another key to choosing the right tech is to aim for simplicity and easy access.

Finally, most software companies offer a free trial period.  We suggest you sign up for several of these before you make any final decisions. This will give you time to give them all a test run and receive valuable feedback from your employees.

Eight Tips on How To Improve Teamwork

1. Communicate Openly and Effectively

Good communication is absolutely crucial to successful teamwork. In fact, communicating well is the bedrock of any cooperative enterprise. And whether your team is located all in the same building or distributed across thousands of miles, it’s up to you to set the right tone.

Once you accept the responsibility for good team communication, the question becomes how to accomplish it. Fortunately, there are tried and true methods for fostering just the communication your team needs for cohesion, efficiency, and maximum productivity.  Follow these suggestions set the exact communication precedent you want your team to follow:

• Listen closely when people talk with you and encourage your team members to do the same
• Ask appropriate questions and listen to the answers
• Arrange team building sessions that emphasize communication
• Monitor how your team communicates and make any necessary corrections
• Make sure everyone has an equal voice during meetings and other team activities
• Deal with conflicts immediately, before they become even more difficult to resolve
• Point out communication breakdowns as they arise
• Prioritize communication as often as you can

2. Clarify the team’s purpose, values, and identity

When people know their ultimate goal, it becomes much easier to get there. That’s why it’s important to get clear on your team’s mission within the first few days that you start working on a given project. Then, explain that everything your team members do should get them closer to their ultimate goal.  You should also emphasize what sort of behaviors block them from fulfilling their team’s mission.

Shared values are also critical to successful teamwork. Your team’s values should be an extension of what matters to your company as a whole, but some modulation is to be expected. Establish what your team values are as early on, making sure to get as much feedback as possible. Then, monitor how closely your team members’ actions adhere to or contradict these values.

The Elements of a Company Value System

Though each team will put varying amounts of emphasis on each, here are a few of the most common building blocks of a company’s value system:

• Commitment to one another, to clients, and to the company as a whole
• Being reliable– showing up ready to work every day
• Demonstrating a consistent work ethic
• Staying open to new ideas
• Working efficiently
• Placing principles before personalities
• Going beyond tolerance to embrace and encourage difference

Taken together, your team’s mission and value make up the bulk of your team identity. The personalities of individual team members factor into your identity as well. Once you’ve established a firm team identity, it becomes much easier to work toward common goals.

3. Create an environment that fosters mutual respect

Mutual respect is another must-have for successful teamwork. In fact, nothing significant can be accomplished without it. When people treat one another respectfully, true collaboration becomes possible. Mutual respect also reduces time wasting conflicts and makes them easier to resolve when they do arise.

But how do managers and HR personnel create an environment of mutual respect? Simple courtesy is a good place to start, but true respect goes much deeper than just saying please and thank you.  Here are a few ways to go beyond simple courtesy and encourage mutual respect:

• Set the right precedent by treating your employees with respect at all times
• Intervene if conflicts begin to escalate
• Use team building activities to help team members understand perspectives different than their own
• Arrange cultural sensitivity training sessions
• Establish and enforce standards of employee conduct
• Formulate a ‘one person talks while the others listen’ policy
• Explain to your staff how dependent they are upon one another for group success
• Be fair and impartial at all times

This list will expand should expand as time goes on, but following these guidelines will make for an excellent beginning.

4. Treat team members as individuals

Every team member must adhere to the same company standards, but you should treat them like the individuals they are. Each employee has a different set of experiences and a unique perspective. When you show that you value these qualities, your employees will more like part of the team.

First, take the time to get know your employees. Listen when they talk and ask unobtrusive questions. Then, ask for their feedback on work issues and take their opinions seriously. Lastly, be sure to follow up on any questions or concerns they might have as time goes on.

Take these steps and you’ll build trust, establish rapport, and increase motivation. Treating people as individuals is also the best way to get them to buy into your team’s overall mission. Paradoxical as it might sound, individualized treatment of your employees will increase their sense of belonging. And like we said up above, a sense of belonging is everything to successful teamwork.

Finally, difference is the reason you build a team in the first place. Employee difference is what makes a team more productive than a set of people who work independently. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to acknowledge the distinct qualities all your employees have.

5. Establish standards and team norms

Whether they’re implied or explicit, every team has developed a set of norms that govern their interactions with one another. It’s inevitable that they would do so. It’s common knowledge that good effective communication between team members and managers is critical to the functioning of a team.

The way that a team makes decisions, distributes tasks, and keeps its members accountable is one of the most significant determiners of their success. That’s why you should never allow norms to develop of their own accord. By establishing standards in advance, you go a long way toward creating a positive work culture.

You also have to make your team members aware of these standards. The best way to do this is during the very first team meeting you have. That way, everyone can get off on the right foot. As time goes on, you may need to alter these norms a bit, but it’s a still good idea to start practicing them right away.

Then, once these norms are put into place, team members will have guideposts to follow in their daily interactions. They also make great barometers of employee behavior, in that everyone knows what is and isn’t acceptable. This makes confronting and correcting a negative behavior that much easier. The end results are fewer conflicts, higher morale, and better productivity. In short, established norms allow people to focus on the work at hand.

6. Encourage resistance, innovation, and creativity

No manager wants a team of people who always say yes. That sort of validation might pump up your ego, but it will get you nowhere fast in terms of production. Today’s corporate teams face complex and novel challenges. That’s why old ways aren’t always best. To meet the challenges of today’s global economy, you need as many new ideas as you can get. You need fresh perspectives, innovation, and creativity too.  To put it bluntly, you need to encounter and cope with resistance.

But to get the best results, you’ll actually need to encourage this kind of resistance. You’ll need to create an environment where employees feel comfortable giving voice to ideas, concerns, and frustrations. This means taking your people seriously and trusting them enough to listen when they have something to contribute. It also means putting your ego aside and approaching every project with an open mind.

Here are some ways you can encourage employee creativity. First, you have to listen. You have to listen when an employee questions your processes or mentions a new way of doing things. It also helps if you ask questions and follow up on any ideas that you think have merit. Another thing you can do is to set aside time for ‘idea bouncing’ during your regular meetings. Use a rotating schedule to give everyone time to explain their new ideas in a safe setting.

7. Recognize and reward team-oriented behaviors

Most companies center their recognition and reward systems on individual performance. The same usually holds true with promotions, training opportunities, and pay raises. Unfortunately, this is an approach whose time has passed. It’s easy to understand why this kind of system is outmoded when you consider its overall effects.

When employees are rewarded or celebrated for their individual accomplishments, there’s a lot less incentive to work as a team. In striving to be compensated for stellar individual work, employees will abandon their team roles and develop their own agenda. Obviously, this is the exact opposite of teamwork and you’ll need an actionable plan to keep everyone working toward shared goals.

The solution lies in coming up with ways to recognize and reward team-oriented behaviors instead of individual ones. Start by establishing well-defined team goals. Then, set up a reward system that centers on achieving these team goals. Lastly, you should emphasize the role that team outcomes play in individual evaluations, pay raises, and promotions.

8. Make room for fun

Productivity dips when work becomes drudgery, so it’s important to inject a bit of fun into it once in a while. This will break up the inevitable monotony of working on the same type of project again and again. Fun activities will also give your employees a chance to catch your breath during times of stress and upheaval.  Here are a few things you can do to drum up some enthusiasm and lift employee morale:

• Take a field trip to a state park, museum, or an amusement park
• Arrange a potluck dinner or picnic
• Throw a good old fashioned office party
• Participate in pressure-free team building workshops
• Take everyone to a local sports event
• Arrange a goofy awards ceremony
• Sponsor a little league team and attend some of the games

This is just a quick sample of the fun activities companies can do to blow off some steam, but you know your people better than we do. So take one of these suggestions or come up with something else they’ll enjoy more. The choice is up to you. All that really matters is that your people have a chance to decompress and interact with each other in a non-work setting.

Turning Good Teamwork into a Company Norm

In a perfect world, you’d already have great teamwork in every part of your company. Unfortunately, we live in a world where good teamwork is often the exception instead of the rule. We also live in a world where high-level teamwork doesn’t happen by accident.  It only happens through planning, vigilance, and practice.  And it’s up to you to make sure all of it happens.

Don’t be too discouraged though. Once you know how to improve teamwork, the process of doing it becomes significantly less daunting.  Start putting the ideas you’ve learned here into practice immediately for best results. Successful teamwork is something that builds on itself over time, and it will eventually become your company norm.

The Future of Successful Teamwork

Successful companies adapt. In fact, adaptability should be included in the very definition of success.  This is especially true in the business world of today, which is marked by great technological change and accelerated globalization. So a company’s ability to adapt to changing conditions is more crucial to their enduring success than ever.

But great companies take things a step further. They adapt before market conditions change. In other words, they anticipate these changes and react accordingly. In order to do this, however, you have to have a strong foundation in place. And while a variety of things factor into this foundation, great teamwork will always be an integral role in the bedrock of any enduring company.

Flexibility and Enduring Success

Actually, it’s safe to say that teamwork will become even more important in the coming years. That’s why it’s critical to organize your company in a way that’s conducive to excellent teamwork. We’ve just spent a great deal of time discussing everything that goes into this optimal organization, but you have to be open to change. Even though successful teamwork is an abiding company need, the ways you achieve it can’t ever be static.

Let’s put it another way. Every aspect of the business world is constantly changing– products, technology, overall market conditions, etc. If your company wants to stay competitive, it will have to keep up with these changes. And although the need for great teamwork will never go away, what actually qualifies as great teamwork is likely to change. In short, maximum flexibility is a must.

This guide has given you the raw materials you need now and into the future. In discussing the keys to successful teamwork, we’ve provided you with a strong foundation. Generally speaking, these keys aren’t likely to change very much. But that doesn’t mean the details will stay the same. That’s why you have to be flexible going forward. This guide has given you the recipe for excellent teamwork but adjusting it to what the future demands is entirely up to you.

The post The State of Collaboration: The Keys to Successful Teamwork in a Globalized Economy appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

If owning a business that employs remote workers from all over the world, it is essential to get everyone on the same page using collaboration software. How else would these remote workers collaborate? Every worker in a team should have the latest updates of projects. This is a challenge for both business owners and workers—without collaboration software; it is difficult for workers to keep pace with upcoming assignments. Managing in-house or remote businesses is made more efficient and productive thanks to online collaboration software.

There are many collaboration utilities in today’s market—they are not specific to remote location workers. These are valuable collaborative platforms for all businesses that wish to better time management and efficiency. Online collaboration software allow teams in businesses to take full advantage of the resources provided to them when implementing projects, and promotes clear communication with the utmost collaboration.

How Can Online Collaboration Help Business?

Remote work has become increasingly popular—employees situated in different places globally work together and collaborate on a single project. This increasingly scattered workforce is becoming a vogue, making online collaboration all the more necessary. Online collaboration eliminates the gap between employees due to remoteness by serving as a communication outlet to run virtual meetings and ensure that everyone can work together at a preferred time, and, on the same page.

An online collaboration tool for business is helpful in collaborating because of the features it offers to employees. These features include uploading and posting of documents, communication between employees, e-mail and pop-up notifications, and calendar. Collaboration software are usually secure and business owners can  choose the right software to fit the businesses’ needs and purposes.

This communication platform can be a useful component of technologies such as meeting software, collaborative education technology, and video conferencing. There no longer a need for physical media—with online collaboration software, viewers can display screens to several others and provide interactive displays from a remote location.

Collaboration solutions provide managers the capability to monitor employee work ethic by access to employee time tracking and GPS tracking features. Employers can observe who is doing what, how long it takes he or she to do it, and where this assignment is being produced. This, especially, ensures accountability within a workplace. Integrity is essential– when there is one central system in which everyone can communicate fluently and freely with one another regarding messages and updates, everyone is on the same page. This, ultimately, ensures consistency and reliability. Knowing who of your employees actually cares about work and values the company by being able to monitor the employees through a system.

Choosing a Collaboration Solution in the Digital Workplace?

The best collaboration applications do not come with one specific standout feature, but are flexible and act as a number of different tools for employers. When an employer signs up for an account, he or she can customize the account with specifications that would be appropriate for his or her business, specifically. These can be decided from a menu of options and filtrations. Discussion boards, private messaging, time tracking, and even scheduling are examples of features that collaboration software may include.

Collaborative platforms are vital for proper communication. However, choosing the right collaboration tool specific to the team’s needs is even more important. Companies must choose a software which is appropriate for the business’ needs and which can serve the team properly. Here are some considerations business owners’ so take into when choosing a collaboration software:

• User- Friendliness

Who likes complications? No one wants to finagle a complex structure, especially at work. The software utility implemented should deliver services that do not take much time to adapt and get used to. Look for a software which is intuitive, acts as a digital worker, and is easy to navigate through.

• The Features Offered

Different online collaboration softwares offer outstanding services with many features. Choosing a software that is simple to navigate and maneuver and still has many features will improve efficiency. Digital work is usually more accurate and productive than work assembled by a human employee.

• Cloud-Based Technology

Collaboration software, which operates by saving information and data to a central cloud, will save business owners the headache of version controls. Information is less likely to get lost. Everything is stored online and easily accessible by employees situated anywhere.

• Check for Integration

Tools that seamlessly integrate and are compatible with various devices are key to convenient work. These important collaborative platforms emphasize a central form of communication. So, it is essential to pick the software that is best for your team.

List of Online Collaboration Tools Free

1. Project Management Tools

ProofHub

For project management, ProofHub is an advanced online task collaboration. It allows business owners to run their business, forecast future projects and become increasingly productive at work. Collaborate with teams and clients and use this tool to deliver projects in a timely manner. Assigning different roles and tasks to employees is made easy. Plan project activities easily by setting dependencies on assignments and proofreading of documents.

2. Communication Tools

Skype

Skype is a virtual instant messaging and calling application that can be integrated on any digital device that can connect to the internet. Audio and video calls between multiple users and devices makes Skype a popular communication tool. One employee can be chatting on his or her computer with another employee using a mobile device. Unify your team through group video calls and share your screens with each other to give a detailed presentation. This tool also acts as a phone number and allows users to make free calls locally and internationally.

3. Design Tools

Adobe

Adobe is a UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps and much more– on both Mac and Windows devices. All information is saved as a part of a creative cloud. Designers using Adobe can connect it with their favorite collaborative platforms including Dropbox and Avocode. Designers can switch from interactive to static prototypes at the tip of their fingers.

4. Documentation Tools and File Sharing Tools

Google Docs

Google docs is one of the most popular collaborative platforms. It encourages organization within a team allowing members to share, edit and publish documents, spreadsheets or presentations. Document creation and collaboration here is free and easy to use. Internet connection is not necessary. Enable the offline edit more to use or edit documents that are being shared.

Digital Whiteboard

Digital whiteboards are collaborative platforms that are presented in a two-dimensional display. The purpose of a digital whiteboard is to serve as a central visual that all employees have access to and serves as a collaborative system. Using a digital design, these are not the traditional whiteboards. Digital whiteboards involve the use of a stylus or other tool to create drawings, designs and even writing. These act as electronic whiteboards.

Digital displays connected to a computer are replacing the traditional office whiteboard. This allows people to make notes and display their screen. Rather than having a projector or a dry-erase board, anyone can “walk up” to the board and make notes using a computer or tablet and adding visuals. Latest innovations in the field require a single stylus and you can change the color and tip size of the “pen” to serve as different writing or editing utilities. These boards can be mounted on the wall or put on a mobile stand, just as a traditional whiteboard.

Microsoft Surface Hub

• Surface Hub acts as a super-sized computer in an office. The touchscreen comes with Windows 10 and Office Suite, as well as the whiteboard application.
• Equipped with Microsoft applications for business collaboration such as Skype for Business and Office 365.
• Its whiteboard allows users to draw, add and manipulate visuals freely in an infinitely expandable canvas.
• If the price of Surface Hub is not within the budget, the whiteboard application is now available for all Windows 10 devices. This allows users to turn their laptops or tablets into a miniature whiteboard.

Google Jamboard

• Integrate easily with all of Google’s G-Suite features and applications, such as Docs, Drive and Hangouts.
• Built-in with all the capabilities made available by G-Suite, which includes instantaneous sharing of documents, images and videos.
• This cloud-based platform saves drawings and notes to Google Drive, immediately.
• Tools provided allow users to maneuver drawings with your stylus, laser pointer, or even, a finger.
• These are the “jams,” which Google allows you to save and share with anyone.
• The app is available for both iOS and Android.

To find the perfect collaboration software for a business, first, it is key to identify the team’s distinctive collaboration needs. This can be according to the industry or type of business. Understanding the technological needs of an organization and streamlining communication can better facilitate teamwork. The perfect collaboration software offers features amplify your project management capabilities.

Collaboration is not a process, but the action carried out with the use of technology. With increased digitization, in today’s world, to communicate fluently with optimal collaboration is almost impossible without the appropriate collaboration solution.

The post Sharing A Vision: Collaborative Platforms appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

The Accountability Problem

But what does accountability actually mean? We all have an intuitive idea of accountability, but the following questions will help you gauge how it factors into your team’s productivity:

• How much time does an employee devote to their work?
• Are they using company time to check out social media platforms or other non-work related sites?
• Which subtasks of a given project are taking the most time?
• Is a certain type of project profitable with the team you currently have?
• In what areas are your team members working the most (or least) efficiently?
• Would you and your team benefit from a redistribution of tasks?

As you can see, there’s more to accountability than ‘is your staff doing its job?’ In fact, you might say accountability’s a two-way street. As the saying goes, ‘every problem’s a management problem.’  That’s why management’s standard operating procedures play a part in accountability too.

Answer these questions and you’ll have a good idea of how much (or how little!) this or that staffer is contributing to the team. These questions will also help assess the managerial end of things. But answering these questions is easier said than done. This is especially true when you’re managing a remote team. It’s not like you can pop in on them every half hour, right? Fortunately, there’s a solution to the accountability problem.

Time Tracking Software and Accountability

Time tracking software plays a huge role in solving the accountability problem for companies both big and small. It can answer time use questions with a minimum of effort on your part. It can help with other areas of your business as well. By using a windows time tracker, a timesheet app etc, you’ll gain an up-close view of what’s happening in your ‘office.’

Beyond solving the accountability problem, time tracking software streamlines the payroll process, reduces expenses, and helps with project management. It’s impossible to overemphasize the importance of efficiency in today’s ultra-competitive business world. And time tracking software fuels efficiency like no other tool can. This holds true whether you’re managing freelancers, a co-located team, or a remote workforce.

Now let’s take a deeper dive into what time tracking software is and how it helps to increase productivity.

What is Time Tracking Software?

Time tracking software is a category that includes many tools. Typically, employees and managers use these tools to record the amount of time they work on a given project. Depending on the kind of platform you use, time tracking tools can also block distracting websites, generate time invoices, and sent reports to employers.

There are many kinds of time tracking tools today’s managers can choose from. Some of these include:

• Employee monitoring
• Timesheet Apps
• Project Management
• Task Management

Some time tracking software tools are stand-alone platforms, while others are integrated into a larger workflow system. The stand-alone tools are typically only used for timesheets and to generate related reports. The more advanced suites are integrated with things like accounting, billing, and payroll systems. The more sophisticated time tracking software tools can be integrated into project management and resource scheduling as well.

More Than Just a Timesheet App

While sometimes limited in scope, timesheet apps can be an important part of workplace accountability and efficiency. They’re also useful for generating payroll, tracking employee location, and helping team members hold themselves accountable. This last remark is one of the keys to understanding the multiple purposes of timesheet apps and tracking software in general– they assist the employer and the employee both.

As you can see, there are a lot of options out there. There are options available for Mac users and Windows time trackers as well. Open source operating system users can choose a Linux time tracker. And if you’re outsourcing some of your work, there’s just the right freelance time tracker for you too. Some time tracking software tools are available for free, while others charge a monthly cost.

The choice you make depends on your needs, budget, and number of employees. But while it’ not always easy to reach a final decision, the benefits of time tracking software are very clear. We’ll have a look at these benefits in the next section.

The Benefits of Timesheet Apps and Other Time Tracking Software

Timesheet apps are probably the simplest tracking tool that companies use. They allow employees to clock in and out from outside locations and generate useful reports, but they don’t offer all the time-saving benefits that more encompassing tracking software does. Here are the top seven advantages of using more sophisticated time tracking software:

1. A Wide Angle View of Your Business or Team

Every supervisor needs to have a comprehensive view of everything that is (or isn’t!) happening within their company or team. Using the right time tracking software can give you the ability to see all your ongoing projects with a single glance. It accomplishes this by putting all the relevant information into a single and accessible space. The end result? You’ll gain a wide-angle view of your workforce’s dynamic– workflow, efficiency, and overall business functionality.

2. Improved Accountability

We’ve already established that accountability is a two-way street, but managers do need to know how team members are spending their work time. They need to know if an employee devotes enough time to a project, for instance. They also need to know how they can help employees improve their work habits and efficiency. Again, accountability isn’t just about enforcing rules or criticizing staff members. Accountability is actually about improving everyone’s work experience.

3. Improved Organization

Time tracking software helps you and your team members keep track of the projects you’re currently working on. It allows you to dictate how much time your team spends on a project over the course of a given day, week, or month.  These platforms also help you avoid redundancies and costly delays. All in all, time tracking software helps you see how different aspects of your workflow hang together and improve on problem areas.

4. Help With Time Budgeting

You may have a pretty good idea of how long a certain task should take an individual employee to finish. Similarly, you might also know how many days or weeks that it should take your team to finish an entire project. But while this is definitely useful knowledge, it won’t amount to much if you can’t apply in a meaningful way.

Time tracking software lets you make this information truly useful. It does this by letting you compare the time standards you’ve set to how your staff is actually performing. It also allows you to gauge the profitability of a given type of project and make time budget adjustments accordingly.

5. Efficiency and Time Saving

Time tracking software is capable of generating invoices for the amount of time spent on a given project. It can also show how much time employees spent working on a project’s individual subtasks. These invoices can be generated automatically, as opposed to you or your team members having to fill them out manually.

This accomplishes two things at once. First, it allows your team members to focus on doing their jobs, not on filling out lengthy reports. Second, management can use these time invoices to discover and address areas where time budgeting is a problem.

6. Help Managing Payroll

The technology we’re discussing keeps track of employee timesheets and helps streamline the entire payroll process. Because of this technology, the days of punch cards and end-of-week timesheets are long gone. Traditionally, these things took up an inordinate amount of time and effort. Time tracking software eliminates these headaches and helps increase your bottom line.

7. Customer Billing

Time tracking software is especially helpful when it comes to billing your customers. If you bill clients by the hour, these tools will track how much time was spent on their project, regardless of the exact employees you used. And if you bill by the project, time tracking software will help determine how profitable each project is and whether or you’re not charging enough for the type of work being billed.

Using a Freelance Time Tracker

As you can see, time tracking software can give any company a huge boost. Whether you’re using a windows time tracker, a Linux time tracker, or just a simple timesheet app, the benefits are self-evident. And these benefits apply to a freelance time tracker as well.

And just like with regular employees, freelance time trackers help at both ends. No matter what kind of work the freelancer does, keeping close track of their time will help them address their own time budgeting needs and improve their focus. They’ll also be better equipped to make accurate bids and decide what types of projects are most profitable to them.

For employers who hire freelancers, it’s imperative that you make sure they’re completing their assignments efficiently and in an appropriate timeframe. Requiring freelancers to use time tracking software will tell you whether or not you’re actually getting what you pay for. It will also help you make more informed decisions going forward.

In a sense, time tracking software is designed to help you make better decisions in general. In today’s fiercely competitive global market, your business can only thrive by using the right technology. Time tracking software offers a variety of benefits to the global company, all of which lead to a healthier bottom line.

To sum up, the purposes of the different time tracking tools out there are nearly identical. The differences lie in the various features they offer and how easy they are to use. Like with any technology, affordability should factor into your choice of time tracking software as well. Do your research and try out a few different platforms to find out which one works best for you.

The post Maximize Your Team’s Potential With Time Tracking Software appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.

Project management isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s like a juggling act, and sometimes you just end up with too many balls in the air to keep track of them all.  That’s why a project management app like Trello or Asana is a requirement in today’s frenetic business world.

Read on to find out all the ways the right project management tool can increase your team’s productivity and make your life easier.

Work Tracking Software and Keeping Everyone on The Same Page

As you already know, every project presents different challenges. How could they not, right? Even if you consistently manage similar projects, every one of them requires something different. But despite these inherent differences, most of the obstacles you face fall into one of the following categories:

• Inadequate advance planning
• Timing and scheduling errors
• Personnel Changes
• Improper resource allocation
• Changes in the project itself
• Budgeting problems

Obviously, this is an incomplete list. Anyone who’s ever tried to manage an important project could add to it without even thinking about it very much. Nevertheless, this list is a pretty good cross-section of the most common problems project managers encounter. More importantly, it’s also a good sampling of the challenges that work tracking software is designed to meet.

But how can these platforms help you overcome the inevitable challenges of project management? To answer that question, let’s have a look at how they work in the first place.

Project Management Apps and Better Communication

In case you don’t already know, project management software is designed to plan, schedule, and distribute resources for company projects. It’s also designed to help with budgeting and to track progress in real time. Typically, project management software is cloud-based and allows multiple users to collaborate in a single contained space. And although each brand comes equipped with different features, the goals are always increased team efficiency and lower costs.

One of the ways a project management app accomplishes these goals is through better communication. Every project has several people working on it and a lot of other moving parts as well. This reality makes rapid communication an absolute necessity. Project management apps make this level of communication possible. They let you create centralized boards where all the pertinent communication can be accessed and stored.

These boards are especially helpful if you’re working with a team that’s distributed across different geographic areas and time zones. How often have you needed to give or receive information from a team member who’s probably still in bed? And do you REALLY want to call a client with a question when it’s midnight and you’re still working?

Project management software can eliminate these concerns by giving you spaces that are reserved for specific kinds of communication. And while everyone wants an answer right away, waiting for a team member to get out of bed is a lot better than forgetting the question entirely. With a project management app, you can shoot off a message without having to wonder if it’s buried under a dozen emails and be sure the recipient actually sees it.

The Benefits of Project Management Software

The improved communication that project management software offers is the key to a host of other benefits. Here are the four areas where a project management tool like Asana or Trello offers the most help:

1. Project Organization

The right project management tool will give you the tight organization you need to produce deliverables on time and under budget.  You can use it to set priorities and deadlines.  When changes occur, the software will automatically send updates to your employees’ phones or other devices.  This keeps everyone on the same page and maintains a good workflow.

Another way these tools help with organization is by letting you assign tasks and modify them at a moment’s notice. This allows for maximum flexibility and the ability to respond quickly when a client changes their mind.  These software programs also prevent misunderstandings and redundancies. Just as importantly, they provide an overview of the time and other resources that you’ve allocated to different tasks.

2. Seamless Collaboration

Project teams sometimes consist of dozens or even hundreds of people, each of whom is working on a specialized set of tasks. Moreover, these teams are often distributed across the globe.  Put these two factors together and it’s easy to see why productive collaboration can be so difficult to achieve.

Fortunately, this is the exact spot where work tracking software comes in.  We’ve already mentioned the improved communication between teammates, but project management apps provide other collaboration benefits as well.   Here are just a few ways that the right project app can maximize the productivity of your team’s collaborative efforts:

• Quick access to other team members’ work
• Easy sharing of files, work calendars, and contact lists
• Easy access to relevant customer data from all over the world
• Multiple communication channels
• Multi-user boards where team members can view budgets, finished or outstanding work, and workflow timelines

3. Better Decision Making

Improved decision making is one of the most significant advantages that project management apps provide.  They put all the relevant details in one place and give project managers the wide-angle view that they need to make good decisions quickly.  They also ensure that team leaders have access to accurate information.

Knowing what everyone is doing in real time is crucial to good project decision making, and it’s exactly this knowledge that work management software is designed to provide. Better still, many of these platforms deliver pertinent information automatically, without the manager having to wait until an employee has time to send a cumbersome series of emails.

4. Fine-Grained Monitoring

Generally speaking, project managers don’t like surprises. In fact, they’ll do just about anything that they can to avoid them. And as experienced managers have already learned, the best way to avoid surprises is by monitoring their projects closely. Micromanaging is always a bad idea, but your project will go nowhere fast if you don’t know where everyone is and how things are progressing.

Project management software has a solution for the monitoring problem.  It allows for a continuous flow of information in real-time, including detailed reports on task completion, budgets, and possible delays.  With this information gathered in one place, project managers can stay abreast of their team’s workflow with minimal effort.

Choosing the Right Project Management App

Deciding to use a project management app is pretty much a no-brainer, but choosing the one that’s right for you isn’t quite as easy. Like with most of your technology choices, you should look for management software that’s affordable, accessible, and appropriate to your needs. With this foundation in mind, you can follow these four suggestions to find the ideal platform:

• Do a cost/benefit analysis to make sure the software’s benefits justify the time and money you’ll spend learning to use it.
• Shop around. Sign up for free trial offers with several different brands and see which one works best for you.
• Talk to your people. Ask for feedback during the trial periods and factor your employees’ needs into your final decision.
• Make a list of the most common difficulties you encounter managing projects. Then use this list to focus on applications that address your particular problem areas.

Let Features Be Your Guide

Once you’ve taken these steps, you should be able to narrow your choices down quite a bit. Then it becomes a matter of choosing between those that are still left standing. A great way to do this is to compare the different features each app offers and decide which ones are most important to you.   Here are some of the most common features that project management apps offer:

• Planning and scheduling calendars
• Task management
• Centralized team dashboards
• Cloud data storage
• Customized real-time reports
• Budgeting and other resource allocation tools
• Project time tracking

Remember– there are a lot of options out there and no two project software suites are exactly alike. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s very important that you understand the tradeoffs involved in whatever choice you eventually make.  Make an in-depth comparison of each software’s features to find the platform that’s right for you.

Top Four Project Management Apps of 2018

Now that you’ve established the criteria for choosing the right project management app, here are top four recommendations:

1. Asana. One of the simplest project management apps, Asana lets you create task lists and share them with relevant team members. It’s also free for teams with up to 15 members.
2. Trello. Free and easy to use, the Trello app is a great tool for working on group projects. It’s great for making to-do lists and lets you create multiple boards to work on various projects.
3. Casual. A truly unique app, Casual lets you coordinate tasks by drawing them up as a flowchart. It’s also great for visualization and lets team members see the relationships between different tasks.
4. Omniplan. Omniplan is a sophisticated tool that’s both effective and easy to use. It lets you create you create your project in outline form and walks you through every step of its development.

Project Management For Now and Into the Future

The difficulties involved in project management aren’t a recent development. They were present fifty years ago and they’ll continue to be a challenge in the future. That’s why you have to take action to minimize their effects immediately.

And if you’re like most, advanced project management software is the place to go. The brand you use is up to you. They all have their pros and cons, so shop around to find the one that best fits your needs. Most brands offer a trial period, and you should use this time to decide if a given platform is right for you.

To sum up, no project manager does their job perfectly every time. In fact, a lot of project snafus aren’t really anyone’s fault. But there’s no use playing the blame game anyway. All that matters is that you reduce the impact of these inevitable problems.

And minimizing these problems this something you’ll need to do today, tomorrow, and well into the future. Fortunately, there’s a solution out there right now. For more apps check out our 2019 List of Best Apps.

The post Best Project Management Apps of 2018 appeared first on Time Clock Wizard.