How to Improve Time Management Among Employees in 3 Steps

As a business owner or manager, keeping employees on time and on task is a big responsibility. It’s also a big opportunity — if you know how to improve time management and share those tips with your team. 

Step one of that process is time tracking. By implementing an easy-to-use solution like Time Tracker, you’ll learn how to improve time management, for yourself and your employees.

Here are 3 steps to get employees on board with time management. 

1. Know where you’re spending your time

One of the biggest challenges people have when learning how to improve time management is knowing where to start. Often, we don’t know what’s taking up the majority of our time until we track it. 

Ask yourself: What do you spend most of your day doing? Write down the 5 things you think you spend the most time on. Then, try Time Tracker free for a week. Do your results match up with your predictions? Most people’s don’t. 

With simple, transparent reporting, you may find that you’re spending a lot less time managing Client X than you thought, or that project Y has far exceeded its projected hours. By knowing where your minutes and hours are spent, you get personalized data that shows you how to improve time management — for you and your company. 

Share these specifics with your employees, especially if you’re rolling out a time-tracking initiative for the first time. Telling a personal story of how to improve time management is a great way to show employees the benefits of a system while also showing you’re a team player. 

2. Track progress over time

The longer you use Time Tracker, the more trends will emerge. As a manager, you can use that data to determine how to improve time management. After a few weeks of tracking, what are the 3 biggest problems you see? Is there a time of day when responsiveness is low, or when employees aren’t where they’re supposed to be? 

Find a challenge that’s important to overcome and set a goal for the team or company. Be sure it’s something everyone can get involved with, whether it’s clocking in for every shift or reducing non-billable hours. Report back to everyone weekly on progress, and reward people once the goal is met. By operationalizing challenges and successes, you’ll not only improve your bottom line, but also your company’s morale.   

3. Be flexible

When you’re learning how to improve time management as an owner or manager, a key step is marketing flexibility back to employees.

Time Tracker is great for employees because it allows them to:

• Submit time-off requests in seconds
• Get paid faster since time approvals are streamlined
• Shift work schedules when they have appointments, errands or emergencies
• Take breaks without worrying they’ll appear unresponsive, and
• See how many hours they’ve clocked for a specific period or client.

By giving employees the tools to manage their own time, you’re giving them control, which is what many people want most. In a recent study, 64% of employees said they’d choose added flexibility over a 10% raise, so this is truly a point where employees will put their money where their mouth is. 

Try Time Tracker

Ready to start learning how to improve time management for your team? Start your free,14-day trial today.