1. Budget Variance

Budget variance (BV) is a vital KPI that measures the difference between the estimated budget and the actual incurred expenses during a project. It helps project managers identify cost overruns and decide how to best allocate resources for optimal performance.

A positive BV means that the project is below the estimated budget, while a negative one means the project is above its budget. For a project that’s within its budget, the BV must be equal to zero. You can use this formula to calculate your BV.

BV= Projected value – Actual value

2. Number of Budget Iterations

This metric identifies the number of times that a project’s budget was revised before the final approval. A higher number means more iterations before finalizing a budget. It also indicates that the project manager carefully examined the budget, making it more likely to succeed. Implementing this KPI in project management improves the budget proposal development and approval process.

3. On-time Completion Percentage

This invaluable KPI tracks the number of projects completed on time. Project managers can use it to track efficiency and make the necessary improvements. A good completion metric helps businesses understand what makes finalizing each project difficult within the estimated time.

For instance, most projects run behind, and the team members underestimate the time needed to complete them. The goal of every project manager should be to achieve a 100% on-time completion percentage or a value very close to that.

(On-time project completion percentage equals the number of projects completed on time divided by the total projects number x 100)

4. Billable Utilization

Billable utilization refers to the ratio of hours billable to clients against the overall available hours. It measures how much time your team spends working on activities the client pays for compared to the time spent on non-billable activities. High billable utilization indicates that your team effectively uses its time to generate revenue.

Nonetheless, too high utilization rates can lead to decreased work quality, burnout, stress, and a negative impact on the client’s satisfaction. It’s vital to strike a balance between maximizing billable utilization and offering enough time for non-billable activities such as administrative tasks, client relationship building, and professional development. You can calculate billable utilization with this formula.

Billable utilization = (Number of billable hours/Overall available hours) x 100

5. Percentage of Cancelled Projects

Businesses that frequently take up new projects may cancel some due to inefficiencies or reasons best known to them. The number of canceled projects reflects a company’s sustainability of business decisions and capability to plan ahead.

If the percentage of canceled projects is higher than that of successfully completed ones, you should go back to the drawing board and find out where you’re going wrong.

6. Schedule Performance Index (SPI)

SPI measures a project’s completion progress against the schedule. This KPI enables project managers to provide timely improvements to increase efficiency while eliminating guesswork. To calculate SPI, you need to divide the earned value by the planned value. If it’s greater than one, it means you are ahead of your project schedule. Similarly, a value less than one indicates that your project is running behind the planned schedule.

7. Resource Capacity

Tracking a project’s resource capacity helps managers derive maximum value by allocating resources where they are most needed. It also aids in:

• Preventing double allocation of a single resource to different activities taking place at the same time
• Eliminating under skilled resources
• Allowing resource rotation in different activities for optimal input
• Identifying skill gaps, planning for recruitment, and upskilling ahead of time

8. Return on Investment

Running profitable projects is the key to the long-term success of your business. Return on Investment (ROI) is the perfect KPI to monitor and measure the profits of your projects. To calculate ROI, you need to subtract the actual project costs from the earned value. A profitable project will have a higher earned value than the amount put in.

While this metric is essential at the end of a project, it doesn’t mean it can’t be measured along the way. Tracking ROI at the end of each project phase helps managers make worthwhile adjustments where some initiatives cost more than they should.

9. Employee Churn Rate

This metric tracks the percentage of employees who have left the company during a project. A high employee churn rate can negatively affect the efficiency of a project. For example, if half of the team members leave, you will likely experience unexpected expenses, delays, and lower customer satisfaction. While having a 0% churn rate is close to impossible, your ideal target should be below 15%.

Employee Churn Rate = (Number of team members who left/ Total number of team members) x 100

10. Stakeholder Satisfaction

Stakeholder satisfaction is a worthwhile KPI that tracks the satisfaction levels of stakeholders, including team members, sponsors, and clients. It reflects the project’s success in meeting stakeholders’ expectations and building strong relationships. A higher satisfaction rate is vital for project support, retention, and securing future opportunities.

Get a Time Tracker for Detailed Business Insight and More Efficient Projects

Time is an invaluable factor in project management and among the leading determinants of success. Tracking time helps managers make more intelligent decisions about scheduling, client billing, future projects, and team capacity. With good software like Time Tracker by eBillity, you can be sure to increase your business profitability through accurate monitoring of project budgets, billing, and increasing employees’ accountability. Try it free for 14-days and see how accurate time tracking and tracking KPIs can improve project success.

The post 10 Top Project Management KPIs to Help Grow Your Business appeared first on eBillity.

Yet, a pervasive problem afflicts most businesses – employees not submitting their timesheets on time. Before we delve into this ubiquitous problem, you might well ask, “Why does this matter so much?”.

The Cascading Impacts of Missed Timesheets

The path of late timesheet submissions is littered with dominoes waiting to fall. First to tumble is the planning: when time records are inaccurate or incomplete, planning and tracking projects becomes akin to navigating a labyrinth blindfolded.

Next, productivity takes the hit: the time that should be spent on completing the actual tasks gets diverted to chasing down and completing late timesheets. Following closely on productivity’s tail is payroll accuracy. Incorrect timesheets, or those submitted at the eleventh hour, often induce errors in payroll processing, at times leading to underpayment or overpayment of employees.

Considering the disruption it causes, addressing the issue of late timesheet submissions seems non-negotiable. Yet, how can this be accomplished efficiently and effectively?

Bringing Time Tracker into the Equation

If there was a knight in shining armor to tackle this problem, it would be personified by Time Tracker. An efficient tool that almost takes on a life of its own in the realm of tracking and managing employee timesheets. It heralds an era where time management is no longer a chore but a valuable part of the work process itself.

The secret ingredient in Time Tracker’s success recipe is its automated reminders for timesheet submissions. A seemingly simple solution, automated reminders, can greatly reduce the instances of late timesheet submissions. Now, you’re likely wondering, “Does this system involve a steep learning curve?” The answer gleams in bright neon lights, ‘Absolutely not!’.

Making Time Tracker Work for You

The beauty of Time Tracker lies not only in its effectiveness but also in its ease of use. To set up reminder notifications, you go through a series of user-friendly steps:

1. Log into your Time Tracker account.
2. Navigate to the ‘Reminder Notifications’ section.
3. Decide on your preferred notification frequency and timings.
4. Customize the message content.

Et voila! You’ve set up a system that proactively takes charge of nudging employees to submit their timesheets timely.

Crafting Effective Reminder Notifications

However, merely setting a reminder is not enough. To have the desired impact, these reminders need to be effective and must spur your employees into action. Here are a few tips to make your notifications more impactful:

1. Conciseness is key: Ensure the message is concise and clear.
2. Draw them in: Make use of friendly, encouraging language.
3. Highlight benefits: Explain the advantages of timely submissions for employees.

Unveiling the Impacts

We’ve spoken about the challenges of missed timesheet submissions and introduced you to the time tracking solution in the form of Time Tracker. But the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. So, let’s look at the impacts this tool has on timesheet management.

Companies using Time Tracker have experienced a significant improvement in their timesheet submission rates. Simultaneously, they have noted a noticeable increase in employee productivity levels. The tool’s most resounding endorsement, however, comes from the reduction in payroll errors.

Delving Deeper: Understanding the Issue

Late timesheets, like any business problem, can be best resolved through a thorough understanding of the roots of the issue. When asked the reasons behind their tardy submissions, employees cite forgetfulness and being too busy as the most common factors. Other employees confess that they hold off on filling out their timesheets due to the tedious nature of the task, and some simply don’t see its relevance in their scope of work.

These varying reasons underscore the need for a solution that is not only effective but also attentive to the diverse needs and attitudes of employees toward time tracking. A successful solution must provide gentle and persistent reminders, streamline the process of timesheet submission, connect the task with its broader organizational implications, and, most importantly, simplify the task so it’s not viewed as an addition to the employees’ workload.

Beyond Reminders: Comprehensive Time Management

Time Tracker’s automated reminders are just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond it, Time Tracker also offers a plethora of features that transform it from just a reminder tool to a comprehensive time management tool. It allows for easy time entry and real-time tracking, provides detailed reporting features, allows for seamless integrations with other workplace tools, and is easily accessible across devices. By making the process of time tracking easy and personalized, Time Tracker reduces the chances of late submissions and makes it more likely for employees to regularly submit their timesheets.

Personalization: The Key to Engagement

One of the key features of Time Tracker is its ability to be personalized according to the needs of the organization and its employees. This personalization extends beyond the nature and frequency of the reminders. It allows organizations to set their own timesheet approval workflows, creating a sense of ownership and engagement amongst employees. Employees can also customize the tool to best match their working style. This flexibility makes the process of time tracking more engaging and less like drudgery.

Building a Time-Conscious Culture

Vital as Time Tracker is as a time management tool, its full potency is realized when it operates in an environment that values time. This involves fostering a time-conscious culture within the organization. Efforts could range from workshops on time management to rewarding employees for consistent on-time timesheet submissions. Time-consciousness should be woven into the very fabric of the organization and should be a core part of its value system. Reminders from Time Tracker would then operate within a receptive cultural environment and will be more effective.

Envisioning the Future

With Time Tracker, the once herculean task of managing employee timesheets becomes a much simpler process. Its reminders ensure that employees consistently submit timesheets, while other features aid in the broader process of time management. The tool’s convenient and easy-to-use nature induces a positive attitude toward time tracking among employees.

When complemented with a time-conscious culture within the organization, Time Tracker can lead to significant improvements in productivity and overall organizational success. Efficient time tracking and management can then stop being a goal and start being a reality.

To conclude, it’s apparent that late timesheet submission is an issue of significance. However, Time Tracker brings to the table a simple yet effective solution. With its easy-to-use features and persistent reminders, organizations can look forward to a future where late timesheet submissions are an anomaly, not the norm. Don’t just take our word for it. Try it and experience the difference yourself!

Time to Act

Are you now keen to experience these benefits firsthand? Time Tracker offers a free 14-day trial, providing a commitment-free way to test the system. Gear up to witness increased efficiency and productivity levels within your organization.

The post A Widespread Challenge: Employees Not Submitting Timesheets appeared first on eBillity.

Time tracking, in fact, has a wide variety of benefits to both project managers and the teams who use these methods. Today, we’re taking a deep dive into why project time tracking is important and how teams that properly use time tracking will thrive.

Improve Productivity

Without time tracking, projects often have a way of dragging on. Time tracking provides a way to estimate how long a task will take, clock how long employees work on a task, and create accountability for time spent on each task in a project.

Oversight over these elements of time spent during a project can help to improve productivity. In fact, the simple act of clocking into specific tasks and the satisfaction of marking tasks as complete can boost employee’s performance speed and desire to deliver faster results.

Clarify Roles and Contributions

With planned-out time tracking, everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. Often, in teams where skills overlap, team members may not be clear on the best way they can contribute to the project without overlapping another’s efforts, stepping on toes, or under-contributing in comparison to their peers.

Time-tracking makes it easy to balance assignments and workloads within a project so that everyone is clear on their role and their contributions right through to project completion.

Efficiently Manage Resources

Time tracking can also keep track of the resources used in each task, whether those resources include project materials, booked working space, or even hosted server capacity. Time tracking records how long employees work with specific materials, and the Time Tracking app from eBillity gives your team the ability to make requests regarding the resources they need through detailed reporting.

Time tracking can give you the insight into how resources are being used and for how long, allowing you to increase efficiency and optimize resource availability for the times in which they are necessary.

Deliver Projects and Tasks On-Time

Of course, one of the primary benefits of project time tracking is the ability to deliver your projects on time. When project managers know how long each individual task or project stage will take, they can effectively plan employee time to complete the work within the deadline – often with a margin for review and final polishing.

For larger and more collaborative projects, time tracking ensures that each individual or team brings in their tasks in time to combine efforts with other teams for a combined result. Time tracking can coordinate teams that rely on one another to be finished, to be ready to collaborate, or to take the baton for the next stage without lost time in between phases. Together, you can deliver on-time projects and sub-project tasks.

Manage Project Costs

Project costs can balloon when projects go over-time due to the need to maintain a project environment, provide further resources, or pay overtime to the team. Time tracking keeps every aspect of a project on-point and more efficient. Because you can plan each task ahead of time, including how long it will take and the resources needed to complete the task in that time, time tracking provides the ability to manage project costs from planning to completion.

Around-the-Clock Coordination

Project time tracking also makes it possible to keep team members on task around-the-clock while ensuring that everyone gets ample rest in preparation for their next shift. This can be essential if you have a short deadline that the team is rushing to complete, if you must be available at all times during project development, or if you have an international remote team whose workdays fall into around-the-clock time zones.

Time tracking can make it easy for managers to visualize a full work-day view of scheduled tasks and shift, keeping track of who is available during what times and ensuring that overlapping shifts work together to achieve planned goals.

Ensure Regulation Compliance

Time tracking can also ensure that, even in a hectic delivery schedule, employees are scheduled according to regulations and company policies regarding safety, overtime pay, and work-life balance.

Project time tracking ensures that employees who work overtime are paid overtime – or help managers minimize the need for overtime with considerate shift assignments. Time tracking ensures that no one works too many hours in a row, even if they might sign up for that time. Time tracking also provides clear documentation that your project has always been compliant.

Accurate Billable Hour Invoicing

If your project is contracted work that will be billed by the labor hour, time tracking is essential for providing accurate and seamless weekly invoices. The hours worked by each of your team members, or pooled project hours, can be easily tracked using clock-in, clock-out features that provide perfect clarity.

Time Tracker can then translate those hours into an invoice template, making it easy to invoice your clients with the click of a button.

eBillity Time Tracker Has Everything Your Project Needs

Time Tracker by eBillity app has everything you need to make your projects more efficient, cost-effective, compliant, and of course, delivered on-time. With digital time clocking, employee requests, manager approvals, and alerts for last-minute changes, you can keep your team on-point and make sure your project is delivered within estimated timelines, cost estimates, and performance metrics every time.

You can try out Time Tracker for yourself with a free 14-day trial to see if the app features naturally enhance the efficiency of your project team, providing everyone with the transparency and tools they need to thrive.

The post Why is Project Time Tracking Important? appeared first on eBillity.

Geofencing, commonly called GPS time tracking, is one solution that can streamline this process. See how GPS-based time clocks work and some benefits of setting up geofencing for time tracking.

What is Geofence Time Tracking?

Geofence Time Tracking uses time clock technology to monitor your employee’s location during working hours. A geofence time clock is a mobile app that records employee clock-in and clock-out hours based on a virtual perimeter set up around a particular place.

A geofence is an established virtual barrier that represents a real-world location. To create the geofence, a manager draws a radius on a map and views the employee’s location when they clock in using the GPS time clock app. Also, the manager can configure warnings for unauthorized punches and scheduling modifications. If an employee is outside the designated boundary when they try to punch in or out, the tracking system will restrict them.

GPS time clocks benefit companies with multiple work locations and personnel who travel between them. ‍Businesses in this category may include event catering, field service, construction, outside sales, delivery services, home health, and food trucks.

Geofencing Vs Geolocation 

Geolocation technology uses an employee’s smartphone or tablet’s GPS capability to enrol them with a location signal. Businesses can configure their time management platforms such that when time entries are entered online, a location and a time stamp are captured using geolocation technology. Geofencing advances location-based technologies.

A boundary can be created around a space, like a workplace or an office building. Managers might be notified when personnel arrive or leave a job location. Employees can receive reminders to clock in and out depending on where they are. Automation of time reporting can assist organizations in acquiring the most accurate information about the hours and locations of their employees’ work.

How Does Geo-tracking Work?

To determine where a mobile device or RFID tag is at any given time, a Global Positioning System (GPS) time clock uses satellite signals, radio signals, wireless networks, or cellular towers. Employees use their mobile devices to clock in and exit while managers set up fences on the mobile timekeeping app. The GPS time clock app lets employees view their shift schedule, timecard, accruals, and open shifts.

What Are the Benefits of Geofence Time Tracking

Now that you understand a geofence time tracking app, let’s look at how it might help your organization.

Prevent Time Theft

If your business employs many field or mobile workers, you probably know how challenging monitoring them during working hours is. The severity of the issue is demonstrated by the fact that 75% of U.S. businesses are affected by various time theft tactics.

The Geofence time app can end these fraudulent acts and provide peace of mind. Moreso, if you use a tracking app that has facial recognition.

Provide Accurate Time Tracking

Manual timekeeping is unreliable and prone to mistakes, and sometimes those errors are unintentional. Your employees may clock in and out efficiently and conveniently using a geofencing time tracking app, and they will receive fair compensation for their job.

Automating tasks in this department will significantly reduce the likelihood of payroll-related human error. The app notifies you in real-time once an employee has reached a predetermined number of hours to avoid unnecessary overtime hours. Your staff will benefit from the geofence time monitoring app as well. They are confident they will be fairly compensated for additional work or overtime.

Improve Management

Geofencing time tracking provides real-time insight into your team’s actions and whereabouts. Such knowledge can help you understand how your employees spend their time when working shifts and to enable new solutions that can enhance productivity and efficiency.

Real-time information also enables a prompt response. You can use scheduling to determine which of your staff is nearest and give them the task if an urgent circumstance requires a quick response. ‍Thanks to GPS tags, you may provide your clients with a comprehensive record of labour hours when charging them. Even if a dispute arises with a client, you will have evidence of your employees’ attendance.

Best Practices for Geofence Time Tracking

Employers can benefit significantly from geofence time tracking. However, the system can sometimes overwhelm the employees. You can improve the employee experience with geofence time tracking as an employer. Here are some best practices and rules to follow: ‍

Explain to Employees the Advantages 

Employers should take the time to explain to their staff how geofencing works and answer any questions. Remember to demonstrate how geofence time tracking will benefit the organization and the employees.

Create a Time Tracking Policy

When your company is ready to use geofence time tracking software, it would be best to make a policy first. Include all aspects of the geofence time tracking process and the software you use. ‍Everyone involved will have already adopted the new policy when you start using geofence time tracking tools.

Prioritize Employee Privacy

You can gain workers’ trust by convincing them that geofencing benefits everyone. It’s even more important to reassure workers that their private data will remain secure and that they won’t be monitored outside of work hours. ‍

What to Consider When Selecting a Geofence Time Tracking App

Consider purchasing a geofence time clock if you want to find a way to save your company time and money. There are numerous tools on the market, but the following are some factors to consider before selecting an app.

• Simple to use: Geofence time clocks should be simple and easy to set up. Employees can install the app and use their smartphones or other mobile devices to clock in and out.
• Cost-effective: Depending on your business needs, you should choose software that meets your goals and budget.
• Simplified payroll: Payroll processing is faster because geofence time clocks automatically record employee hours. A system that integrates with payroll software will save your company money and valuable staff resources.
• Improved compliance: Make sure geofence time clocks assist you in adhering to overtime policies set forth by your employer and labor laws and regulations.

Are you ready to see how a geofence time tracking can help you streamline your business and increase productivity? Begin today with a 14-day free trial of Time Tracker.

The post GPS Time Tracking App: Why Use Geofence Time Tracking? appeared first on eBillity.

1. Define project scope

When executing a project, the first step is to understand the project’s scope. Project scope refers to the work that should be done to deliver a product according to the required features and functions. The project scope is common ground among stakeholders about what goes into a project and what project success is. A project’s scope contains the specifications stated in a project’s requirements. You should document the project scope in a scope statement, a critical part of every project plan. The scope statement is a written document that acts as a basis for major project decisions as project execution continues. Defining a project’s scope entails identifying the project’s goals, tasks, members, milestones, deadlines, and deliverables. A project’s scope should also highlight the limits of a project by detailing the specifics outside a project’s scope.

 2. Set realistic timelines

Setting and keeping realistic timelines for a project is necessary to see that things are done within a certain duration. A major risk in project management is under-delivering, where you set tight deadlines. Failure to meet these deadlines would show incompetence. On the other hand, having loose deadlines could slow the project’s progress. Setting realistic timelines ensures that your team executes the project smoothly and effectively. Consider breaking down your project into sizeable chunks that dictate what should happen at every stage. Determine how long each step will take to have an idea of how long the project will take. It is important to factor in an allowance for delays to avoid frustration.

3. Use project management software

You can improve project management by embracing technology. Project management software is helpful as it helps one track tasks and see the progress of tasks against the entire project. You can see the different tasks related to the project’s progress and what changes you should make for effective results. Project management software allows you to account for four elements when doing projects:

Scope

A project’s scope refers to the size, goals, and requirements. The project management software bridges the set goals and the allocated budget. Any changes to the scope should reflect on project time, budget, and allocated resources.

Resources

In a project, resources refer to people, equipment, and materials. You should have the right number of skilled people working on tasks, procure the right material, and have the right equipment.

Time

Time management is a crucial aspect of carrying out a project. You should list the tasks in chronological order and allocate the duration. One of the challenging tasks of time management is managing critical paths of the tasks with no flexibility. Consider using a time tracker for your project time management to ensure your project doesn’t go over budget.

Why use a time tracker in your software?

One challenge a project manager may face is the failure to monitor a project’s progress without micromanaging. Therefore, time tracking is essential for tracking your time on tasks and the entire project. The visibility that a time tracker offers helps you access your work progress and your work effectiveness. Also, a time tracker in addition to your project management software should allow team members to add time entries. After recording the time, the software should allow you to print reports for projects. A time tracker should also allow you to add time entries to individual tasks. The appropriate time-tracking app for you integrates with other parts of your project. Look for time trackers that integrate with project management software such as Jira.

Money

Project tasks come with certain costs—both estimates and totaled. Often, there is a rift between estimated costs and actual costs, hence the room for a contingency allowance should the actual cost be higher than the cost estimate. Time tracking software is useful for calculating the profit that a project earns, based on estimated versus actual time spent.

4. Build a strong team

A project will only be as successful as the people working on it. Look for people with the specific skills necessary for project execution. The right project team should combine personalities and skills to complete tasks with minimum effort and maximum effectiveness. Some of the traits you need to look for in project team members are:

• Knowledge of project management methodologies
• Highly organized to be up to date to project scope
• Excellent communication skills

Even employees with the right skills might need training to operate effectively as team members. Therefore, consider investing in your team members’ professional development for the project’s overall benefit.

5. Communicate effectively

A project will run smoothly with effective communication – the project manager must communicate the requirements and decisions to the team members. You can establish effective communication during projects by holding regular meetings with team members to update them on project progress. Also, communication is necessary to send project reports to the stakeholders. You also get input from different team members that would be useful in project execution.

6. Monitor effectiveness

A project entails different parts that work together to create a final product. When one part of the project stalls, the project is affected at large. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate a project’s progress. Monitoring allows you to identify any problems affecting the overall project outcome. Project monitoring entails analyzing the progress against the goals stated in the project scope. If there is any issue during project execution, you will spot it during monitoring and quickly be able to look for a solution.

Manage Your Project Time with Time Tracker

Incorporating the above project management tips will help you manage your project throughout the project life cycle. The tips are useful in the identification of any problem in project execution and finding an effective solution. Practicing these tips will impact your project execution process, improve collaboration, and ensure project success.

Are you managing a project and need time-tracking software? Time Tracker by eBillity offers easy-to-use software that you can use to track your time immediately to stay profitable this year. Sign up for a 14-day time tracker trial to see how the software will help you manage your project.

The post Top Project Management and Time Tracking Tips to Stay Profitable in 2023 appeared first on eBillity.

What is a Marketing Plan?

A marketing plan forces you to outline your goals, steps, and measurement tactics for any project. Rather than assume your team is on the same page, you should always outline a specific plan to drive success.

A marketing plan isn’t the same thing as a marketing strategy. Strategy is more high-level and included in the planning process. The marketing plan breaks down your strategies and goals with actionable tasks and outlines a schedule.

10 Easy Steps to Create a Marketing Plan

The more specific you get with the goals, budget, tasks, and tracking of your plan, the more you can see whether your plan is achieving what you want. Here are ten steps to help you create a marketing plan.

Understand Your Audience

If you don’t understand the people you want to attract to your business, then you will have a hard time addressing their pain points and concerns. Look at your existing customer base and establish profiles based on top customer groups.

If you don’t know basic information—like how they found your company or what drew them to your products—then now is the time to do some legwork and find out.

Research the Competition

What is your competition offering? What are they not doing? Knowing where you fit in the market will help you stand out from the crowd. Don’t go into your marketing plan without a clear understanding of what’s already out there.

Researching the competition can give you ideas on what’s working, what isn’t, and what audiences may be up for grabs. If you can find the right positioning in the market, you may not have to fight for your spot.

Consider Your Strategies

Part of your marketing plan includes understanding where you plan to go in the future. You need to define your company strategies so that your plan aligns with your goals for the future.

Strategies to consider during this stage should include your brand positioning, your mission statement, your value proposition, and the challenges you need to address.

Set Defined Project Goals

Break things down into smaller, actionable projects that clearly align with the strategies outlined in the previous step. Establish objectives and key results (OKRs) that support your overarching goals with smaller, bite-sized goals.

For example, if you want to start targeting a neglected part of the market, your initial project goals may include campaigns that address this part of the crowd with some A/B testing to see what is most appealing to them. Each project goal in your marketing plan should take a step toward achieving high-level business strategies.

Determine Your Budget

Everyone wants to trim the budget. You might be tempted to go in with an “as little as possible” attitude toward spending, but this can hamstring your plan.

Know what you can afford and how much you are willing to invest into your plans each month. Measure return on investment (ROI) and change up your plans if you don’t see a solid return. Your budget should include what you will spend on employee hours, tools, paid ads, content, design, etc.

Create a Resource Plan

What can you handle in-house, and what do you need to outsource? Your team may not be experienced or skilled in certain areas. It’s important to take stock of what you can own as a company.

You can change your resources by hiring new employees with skill sets your current team doesn’t have. You could also help existing employees upskill with new training. However, you need to know what tools, people, facilities, materials, and budget are available to support your marketing plan as it stands right now.

Clarify Employee Responsibilities

You don’t want to overload your team. Know what your team is busy doing before you ask them to support your plan. With an employee time tracker in place, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how employees spend their time. You can use time tracking software insights to choose which projects should be taken off their plates to make room for the tasks you want them to focus on.

Make sure employees are very clear on which responsibilities are theirs and which aren’t. Not only do you want your team to be efficient in how you divide and conquer, but you also want to make sure employees can manage what they have on their plate.

Build an Organized Schedule

Once you identify who you want to put on various tasks, it’s time to establish a planned timeline. Use your Time Tracker to build out schedules that show how many hours you expect employees to spend on various tasks. Include deadlines you plan to meet to hit certain project milestones. Don’t leave projects open-ended or you’ll never reach a point of assessment and reevaluation.

Clarifying how many hours are expected to be spent on a project and setting a deadline will help get your employees on the same page. If someone doesn’t think you are giving them enough time, they should feel free to speak up and discuss their concerns. This can also help you catch projects you might have forgotten when planning out responsibility breakdowns.

Establish Communication Lines

Determine how employees will discuss project completion, challenges, and needs as they work. It’s important to make sure conversations happen on specific channels to avoid missed messages. Poor communication and documentation could spell unnecessary failure for your projects.

Monitor Progress and Assess Outcomes

Finally, use your key performance indicators (KPIs) to see if you are meeting your project goals and succeeding in your marketing plan. As you monitor progress, track employee time to see if your team accomplishes tasks as quickly as you’d budgeted in your plan.

Time Tracker by eBillity can help you prioritize employee time and measure outcomes for your marketing plan. Get a 14-day free trial today.

The post 10 Easy Steps to Creating the Perfect Marketing Plan appeared first on eBillity.

Once you learn how to accomplish your major objectives, the rest of the day will unfold smoothly. You’ll be able to accomplish more things each day, and you’ll be able to prioritize which tasks you focus on the most. Thanks to a few simple changes, you can improve your organization’s productivity and profitability.

What Does “Eat the Frog” Mean?

Eat the frog is when you prioritize your tasks to get more done each day. The Eat That Frog book by author Brian Tracy encourages you to do your biggest, most important task first before working on your other goals.

Years ago, Mark Twain said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

Other than clearly being right about eating a literal frog, Twain’s quote ended up inspiring a productivity book. In the book, the eat the frog meaning involves focusing on your most important task first. Once you’ve completed your most crucial task for the day, you can move on to doing the remainder of your goals.

You should start by identifying your frog for the day. Once you’ve figured out your most important task, you eat the frog first. Then, you do the same process each morning.

Benefits of the Eat the Frog Method

There are a few ways the eat the frog method can help you achieve your personal and organizational goals.

Stop Procrastinating

People tend to procrastinate when it comes to big tasks. Instead of spending all of your time dreading a major task, you can get it done right away. Then, the rest of your to-do list will go faster because you aren’t dreading a big project.

Boost Your Deep Work Capabilities

By using eat the frog and one of the best time trackers, you can prioritize important tasks. When you procrastinate, you end up getting distracted by busy work. Your ability to focus and do deep work will improve significantly when you start scheduling your important tasks for first thing in the day.

Improve Your Workday

Not only will this method help you accomplish more each day, but it will also help you enjoy your workday more. Instead of dreading a major project and putting it off until last, you can get it done right away. Afterward, you can enjoy a sense of relief as you work on the rest of your projects.

How to Integrate Eating the Frog Into Your Business

The Eat That Frog book can help with more than your personal productivity. Eating the frog can improve your company’s productivity and profitability as well. To get started with this technique, try using the following tips with your employees and colleagues.

1. Get a Time Tracker

One of the biggest reasons to eat the frog first is because it allows you to prioritize which tasks you get done first. To help with prioritizing tasks, you can also get your team members to use a time tracker.

Time trackers help your team members to stay accountable for how they are using their time. They can also show you how to spot busy work, so you can modify how your team approaches each day.

2. Break To-Do List Tasks Into Smaller Tasks

When a task is quite large or complex, it can seem insurmountable for your team members. To help your employees accomplish their goals each day, you should break down major goals into smaller tasks. Divide each day’s work into different tasks, so team members have something manageable to work on.

3. Be Smart About Your Best Hours

Although everyone is different, there are a few common times of day when people do their best work. For your typical worker, morning time is when they’ll get their best work done. During the after-lunch slump, employees can do emails, meetings, and less important tasks.

Prioritizing certain times is one of the top ways to get your team’s best efforts. Ideally, you should schedule important tasks during their best hours, so they will be more productive and efficient. The last thing you want workers to do is to check their email during their most productive time of the day.

4. Prepare for the Next Day

Another way your team can set themselves up for success is by preparing for the next day’s frog. For example, you should get out the outline and research you need tonight for the presentation you want to work on tomorrow. By doing this, you can make starting the next day’s frog as easy as possible.

While preparing for the next day’s frog is an excellent technique, you don’t want your team planning too far ahead. It’s hard to know exactly where they will be in a project in a week or a month, so advance planning can set them up to fail. Instead, be flexible about the future, so your team can adjust as the project develops over time.

5. Get Rid of Busy Work

You might not be able to get rid of all of your busy work, but you should be able to reduce some of the unnecessary tasks your employees do each day. With time tracking software, you can automate the way your team shares and creates schedules. Instead of manually figuring out how to distribute the workload evenly or track overtime, the software program will handle these tasks automatically.

Some busy work may be unavoidable, like checking emails or going to meetings. When this is the case, you can use your time tracker to schedule busy work for an employee’s least productive hours.

Make Your Team More Productive

Whether you run a small business or manage a team at a multinational conglomerate, eat the frog can help you boost your team’s productivity. Other tools, like time tracking software, can help you use this productivity technique and maximize your company’s profitability.

To learn more, you can sign up for Time Tracker by eBillity for a free 14-day trial today!

The post The Ultimate Guide to the Eat the Frog Productivity Method appeared first on eBillity.

Bear in mind that performance is different from productivity. Your team could be accomplishing their tasks and meeting their goals (performing), but it takes more time, effort, or staff to get them done (unproductive). You want them to work efficiently so they can be more productive in meeting their performance goals.

So, how do you do that? Below are 11 strategies to improve employee productivity and work performance.

Strategies to Boost Employee Performance

1. Set Goals and KPIs

Your employees should know if they are performing well. This means you should set and communicate what their goals are. And you need to explain how their performance will be measured so that expectations are clear.

This is where key performance indicators (KPIs) come in. Some KPIs that measure performance or productivity include revenue per employee, profit per employee, average task completion rate, and overtime per employee.

2. Invest in L&D

Do you want your team to be better at their jobs? Invest in their learning and development (L&D). By enhancing their skills, their work performance improves. And the more they know, the more they can do. As a result, their productivity increases as well.

Training should not only be on skills directly related to their job description but also on the way they work. Equip your employees with soft skills such as time management, communication, and project management so they can work more efficiently.

3. Ensure Open Communication

Communication is critical in setting objectives and giving instructions to ensure your team understands their expectations. You need to keep them in the loop to avoid misunderstanding and duplication of work. And you should provide regular feedback on how they are doing.

Remember that communication is two-way. Your employees should be able to offer comments and suggestions on how to improve the way things are done. And they must feel safe and valued to be open and honest with their concerns and feedback.

4. Minimize Disruptions

Unfortunately, too much communication can be disruptive. You may be holding too many meetings, sending too many emails and chat messages, and requiring too many reports. You want to avoid busy work and give your team time for deep, focused work to get their real job done.

Keep your meetings few, short, and to the point, including only those directly involved. Do the same with emails, chats, and reports.

5. Improve Workplace Conditions

The physical environment of your office affects employee productivity and performance. Lighting, temperature, colors, and ergonomics all play a part in helping your employees work comfortably and even in setting their moods.

Workplace conditions are not just physical. Your policies on breaks, leaves, and downtime also impact employee engagement and productivity. You should allow a level of freedom for your team to relax, socialize, and recharge.

6. Offer Flexible Work Arrangements

Employees today expect more flexibility on where, when, and how they work. They have experienced during the pandemic that they can be as productive, if not more so if they work at home or during hours that are best for them. Find the right balance so your team enjoys workplace flexibility and meets their productivity and performance goals.

7. Avoid Micromanaging

Hovering over your employees, literally or figuratively, is very demotivating. It shows a lack of trust and confidence in their ability to do their job well. If you are clear with your expectations and requirements and your people are trained well to do their jobs, you should take a step back and delegate. Giving your team autonomy is crucial in making them engaged, productive, and motivated.

You should also allow them to make mistakes that they can learn from. Otherwise, they will not take risks, they won’t take initiative, and they will always be waiting on you to tell them what to do.

8. Offer Incentives and Recognition

Employees often leave because they are not recognized for their contributions and do not feel seen or valued. Having an employee recognition program institutionalizes a culture of recognizing and rewarding employees. It can be as simple as acknowledging their excellent work publicly during meetings and as elaborate as giving tiered incentives and running an annual awarding event.

9. Encourage Teamwork

Your employees can increase their productivity and improve their performance if they work as a team. Teamwork allows you to distribute tasks to people best suited for them and those with more bandwidth. It makes the process more efficient.

Teamwork also means collaborating to arrive at the best, fastest solution. Another way to help your team is to provide support, whether it’s giving access to more resources or removing bottlenecks in your organization.

10. Use Automation and Tools

Free up your team’s time by deploying workplace automation using software that eliminates manual processes. A lot of low-value, repetitive tasks can be automated. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming an essential tool in increasing efficiency, accuracy, and productivity.

Technology allows people to focus on high-value tasks that cannot be automated, such as strategy, creative work, and critical thinking. By no longer doing boring, mundane activities, your team becomes more engaged and happier at work.

11. Help With Time Management

Your employees can be more productive if they can track their time. It helps them identify areas for improvement. Setting strict deadlines also is an excellent way to battle inertia and procrastination. Often, people push themselves to get things done to meet deadlines.

You can also help your team become more productive by training them on time blocking, prioritizing, and other time management techniques.

Time Tracker by eBillity is an easy and efficient employee time tracking software that can help manage employee time and activities and improve productivity. Get a free trial today.

The post 11 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Productivity and Performance appeared first on eBillity.

Studies show that 28% of all projects fail because businesses were unable to accurately estimate project costs. This is particularly true for small-to-medium businesses, which often lack the resources, previous experience, or understanding of how they can successfully carry out project costing.

Effective project costing allows your business to increase its profits, maximize efficiency, and accurately reflect the true cost of the work you’re doing, yet knowing where to start is often the hardest part.

What is Project Costing?

Project costing is an important process for forecasting how long a certain job or project will take. It also assists you in tracking your associated costs, such as labor, overhead, and expenses. By analyzing past data, you can establish an accurate estimate of the time and money necessary to perform a specific type of project.

Team leaders must be thorough in the planning and forecasting stages to ensure they’re correctly predicting project costs and only taking on work that offers a sufficient ROI. Ultimately, getting the cost right can mean the difference between a successful project and one that fails.

There are a number of common approaches to project costing. Some businesses punch the numbers manually, however as with all manual business tasks, this leaves plenty of room for human error. Others prefer to use small business job costing software, which allows them to cut down on manual processes. Additionally, putting project costs and estimates into one interface streamlines operations and reduces unnecessary admin hours. The best job costing software will also integrate with accounting, time tracking, or inventory management systems to give businesses a comprehensive view of every job, at every moment.

Keys to Accurate Project Costing

The following 5 tips will help you to perfect your project cost estimating for greater business success.

Tip #1 – Compile a List of Tasks Required

The first stage in project cost estimating is determining which tasks are required. The simplest method to do this is to divide the project into its many smaller, individual tasks. Start by thinking about the various stages involved in the project, then write a list of every single task involved in that stage—no matter how small.

This also helps you to ensure that you and your client are on the same page and that your scope of work accurately reflects what they expect from the project.

Tip #2 – Thoroughly Understand the Scope of Work

While it’s one thing to list the many jobs that need to be accomplished within a project, it’s another to thoroughly understand the scope of this work. This next step involves knowing what equipment and materials are required to complete the work, who will be undertaking each task, as well as how long each job should take.

When assigning each of these individual tasks to team members with hourly rates, it’ll then be easier to calculate how much each stage of the project will cost.

In addition to the project’s required labor and resources, there are some other factors you must consider when mapping out the scope of the entire project. These include:

• Professional services required, such as legal or accounting fees
• Software
• Hardware
• Facility rental
• Employee training, onboarding, or recruitment

Tip #3 – Estimate the Cost of the Work

With a complete list and understanding of what’s involved in a project, you can then estimate the project cost as accurately as possible.

There are a number of different estimating techniques, including:

• Parametric estimating is useful for work that has repeatable parts that may be costed per unit.
• Analogous estimating is helpful when you have previously completed similar projects and can use their exact budgets as a foundation for your estimate.
• Bottom-up estimating, which can be used when you have a comprehensive view of all the work and can cost each individual part at a detailed level.
• Expert judgment is effective when you have confidence in your subject matter specialists’ ability to estimate accurately based on their past experience and expertise.
• Three-point estimating, is useful when you need to account for the best, worst, and most likely situations, or when you have many subject matter experts telling you various things.

You are not required to apply the same estimating method for each project component. Depending on what you’re estimating, choose the strategy that makes the most sense.

When you’ve completed these estimations, add up your figures. You will then arrive at an overall cost for the work that needs to be completed.

Tip #4 – Add a Buffer

It’s important to set aside money in the budget for unanticipated events such as last-minute change requests or currency and pricing fluctuations. It’s also critical to provide a buffer to a project’s predicted duration to allow for unforeseen delays or unavoidable scenarios such as sick leave.

The amount of contingency your project requires is determined by the work’s complexity and certainty, as well as prior experience with similar projects.

Contingency funds can always be released back if they aren’t needed by the project’s end.

Tip #5 – Track Time

To produce accurate project time and budget estimations, project managers must depend on the right data. This is where time tracking is highly beneficial. Instead of under-pricing clients or underestimating the time it would require for your team to finish the work, you can analyze how much time has been dedicated to relevant past projects and budget accordingly.

Time tracking software, such as Time Tracker by eBillity, enables you to identify how much time is being spent on profit-adding activities and how much time is being wasted on laborious administrative tasks that can be automated or outsourced.

It can also assist you in determining whether projects are viable to begin with. You can analyze trends in which clients, projects, and services have a high or low return-on-time by segmenting time tracking data by project, client, and category.

The ability to utilize time-tracking software in real-time also allows you to see where time is being spent day-to-day and which areas may need improvement as the project unfolds. You can then reallocate your project team accordingly to ensure the project remains on the right track.

Need Help With Your Project Cost Estimating?

Try eBillity’s free, 14-day Time Tracker trial.

The post 5 Tips for Ensuring Your Project Costing is Accurate appeared first on eBillity.

According to the American Payroll Association (APA), time theft: 

• Negatively affects 75% of businesses, and 
• Buddy punching alone causes nearly 3 of every 4 companies to lose 2.2% of gross payroll costs.

So how do you stop time theft? The answer is an automated time tracking system — and specifically one that has the 3 features below.

1. Online time tracking

It’s never been more important for people to be able to record and report their hours remotely. Once you put the proper system in place, time theft becomes a thing of the past.

Mobile time tracking gives everyone the ability to record, submit and view time information from anywhere, on any device. That visibility keeps people accountable, and keeps everyone on the same page as far as hours worked, breaks taken, and so on.

With an online time tracking system like Time Tracker, you can provide:

• Mobile access for managers, which allows them to view, reject or approve time before it’s submitted
• Employees with the ability to track their time down to the second, and to move easily between projects
• Automatic reporting to help managers identify potential problems and gauge productivity
• Alerts for breaks and overtime so employees always know where they stand
• Expense reports that are updated automatically without extra paperwork 

Bonus: If an employee ever exceeds their predetermined time threshold, a notification instantly goes to an administrator so schedules can be adjusted or employees can be notified to stop working. 

2. Facial recognition

The most effective way to stop a buddy punch is to make it impossible, and that starts with facial detection. Look for solutions with a time clock kiosk that uses facial recognition technology to make clocking in and out easy and precise.

Time Tracker’s time clock kiosk prevents time theft in 2 steps:

1. A camera captures the image of an employee when they clock in and out, and a picture is automatically attached to their time data. 
2. After an employee clears initial verification, they can input their unique 4-digit pin to clock in and out. 

It’s that simple. If an employee attempts to clock in or out for someone else, an email is dispatched to their manager. Buddy punch eliminated! All you need to get started is an internet connection, a tablet and the app.

3. Location tracking

The last layer of buddy-punch prevention is GPS, which helps control both intentional and unintentional time theft. 

GPS systems such as Time Tracker allow you to:

• Collect real-time data on each team member
• Maximize accuracy and efficiency in travel and route times
• Ensure employees are where they’re supposed to be during working hours
• Provide extra security for team members since someone always knows where everyone is
• Reduce travel time and fuel costs, which benefits the company’s bottom line

Plus, requiring employees to share their location while working means there’s virtually no chance of a buddy punch, or of anyone estimating hours incorrectly for a particular job. No more relying on ID badges or passwords to prevent time theft.

Ready to stop time theft at your company? 

Reduce time theft with Time Tracker by eBillity. Try Time Tracker free,14-day trial today.

The post How to Protect Your Company From Time Theft appeared first on eBillity.