How Santa is Using Time Tracker to Increase Efficiency During the Pandemic

During the holiday season, Santa often has to deal with a time crunch. There are toys to make, presents to wrap, and a delivery schedule to keep up with–all of which can quickly turn into chaos as Christmas approaches. 

This year, efficiency and time tracking are more important than ever. Santa himself might be immune to COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean he can get away with ignoring safety precautions to help protect every child on his list. 

Thankfully Santa uses Time Tracker by eBillity so he is feeling quietly confident that he will get all the things on his list done with time to spare.

Tracking Time

This year, Santa and his reindeer may well need a little bit of extra time to make those important deliveries. He will need to wipe down all the toys before loading up the sleigh, change his gloves in between homes, and pack his own milk and cookies. All those extra tasks will surely add up, not to mention how he will need to schedule the elves and all the other helpers to ensure all the shifts are adequately covered and no one is left with an unreasonable amount of overtime.

Thankfully with Time Tracker, Santa and his reindeer can get an accurate picture of how much time they spend making their deliveries, which will make it easier for them to make plans for future years–and of course, ensure that the reindeer are properly paid (in carrots) for their labors. 

Estimating Delivery Costs

Delivering all those toys can get expensive in a hurry, especially with extra precautions put in place. Santa might need to look at other ways in addition to his sleigh and reindeer to handle getting all those toys to the girls and boys around the world on time. 

Just how much will those changes cost? How much will Christmas, as a whole, cost this year? Many families are cutting holiday spending in an effort to save money due to pandemic-related job losses, but Santa might need to increase his own output in an effort to pick up some of the slack and maintain that all-important holiday magic. 

Thanks to project estimating, Santa can keep better track of exactly what his expenses are going to look like this year–and ensure that he has the funds he needs on hand to complete all those vital tasks. 

Allowing Elves to Have Time Off

Elves, just like everyone else, want time to spend with their family over the holidays–and due to government restrictions it will prove to be even more challenging than usual. While the elves, like the Head Elf himself, are immune to COVID, they might want to visit family members around the world who aren’t so safe–or who have to adhere to strict quarantine regulations. 

There’s good news, though: employee scheduling software can make it easier for Santa to keep up with all those requests for time off. The software will automatically ensure that the workshops, wrapping department, and delivery specialists will all have the team members on hand that they need to continue operating at peak efficiency, but also offer adequate time off for all the elves. The software can also help remind Santa and many of the department heads of who has time off when, which means they won’t have to waste time looking around for an employee who isn’t in the workshop!

Keeping Everyone Safe with Fit to Work Screening Questions

While Santa and his elves themselves might be immune some of the other workers in the Northpole are not–so in an effort to keep everyone safe and healthy  Santa has decided to ask his team some pre-shift screening questions, answered directly onto Time Tracker which will make it easier for Santa to keep up with anyone who needs to be off work due to COVID exposure or suspected illness. 

Each day, before Santa, his elves, and their team members head into the workshop or prepare for deliveries, they need to tackle those questions to ensure that they do not inadvertently expose others to COVID-19.

Common Health Screening Questions

Santa has programmed Time Tracker to handle the screening questions that are most important to determine if a team member can login and track time. Mrs. Claus will manage the administration and create screening questions with yes/no or multiple choice required responses. She has sent the following draft to Santa for his approval:

Do you have any of the following symptoms, which are new or worsened if associated with allergies or chronic or pre-existing conditions:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing
• Runny nose
• Sore throat

In the past 14 days, did you have close contact with a person who has a probable or confirmed case of COVID-19?

Thanks to the answers to these types of questions, Santa is able to better keep up with his helpers as they go outside the workshop, including those helpers who might be visiting children in malls, at toy stores, and for photo opportunities around the world. 

Time Tracker for Your Business

Your business, too, can benefit from many of these important tools, especially with the holiday season ramping up, travel increasing, and cases of COVID-19 still increasing around the world. Do you need to do a better job of tracking employee attendance, or making it easier to see who is in the office? Do you know what exposure your employees may have faced, including when your employees may need to miss work due to COVID-19 exposure? What about estimating costs this year, especially if your budget is tighter than usual due to changes in consumer spending habits, shutdowns, or other financial challenges?

Time Tracker could just prove the solution for you. With these tools, you can better estimate your expenses, plan for employee absences and vacations, and ensure that your business is prepared, not just during the holiday season. Try Time Tracker for free for 14-days and see for yourself how you and Santa can be more efficient this year!