Running a business is never easy. It’s even more challenging when you have a big team of staff or employees to manage. One of the most effective ways to get things done without necessarily micro-managing your workers is to use an activity monitoring system.
Multiple studies show that companies that implement these tracking software tools boost their overall productivity and results significantly within weeks. With the right set of productivity tools, employees can perform at optimal levels and execute your business strategies more effectively.
Unfortunately, there are different monitoring programs that claim to offer results. This means it’s tricky to pick the right one for your business, and you might need to spend a lot of time and resources if you don’t know-how.
Luckily, we go over five essential tips on how to choose the best activity monitor. Let’s dive straight into it!
Determine your goals
When it comes to employee monitoring programs, one size does not fit all. As a result, you should review your business objectives and determine which software can do better at accomplishing them.
Keep in mind that each tracking software has individual trade-offs, and there might be multiple concerns you want to address.
Talk to other similar professionals like you to know the time tracking software they use to monitor their workers. Attending trade shows and reading articles about your business can also help you to align your business goals and know the software that best works for you.
Evaluate the features
Other than your company goals, it’s important to also consider the needs of your team and company privacy before choosing a tool. If you are not sure about its efficacy, ask for a free trial period to test and evaluate the features. The idea here is to assess each feature’s quality, efficiency, depth and intuitiveness to see if it can close the technology gap in your business.
Some must-have features to have in employee monitoring software include:
Attendance monitoring
Attendance monitoring helps track the clock in and clock out. Your employees should log in on attendance and log out on leave.
URL monitoring
Website monitoring shows the websites your employees visit. For instance, you can spot the websites an employee visits that are not work-related and for how long.
Application monitoring
As with the websites, you can also monitor what applications your workers use frequently and ones that are not.
Reporting options
The best application monitoring software should also monitor and offer reports on employee activity in real-time. It should also be able to view the data at the same time.
Active/idle time monitoring
This is a crucial feature for monitoring the time spent working on the computer and time spent away.
Project management features
A good employee activity monitoring software should also display projects and deadlines in real-time.
If you might need to expand the software’s features, consider if the tool has add-ons and how they can improve time-tracking after the purchase.
Consider the pricing
Price shouldn’t be a priority consideration when choosing an employee tracking software. Nevertheless, you should be aware that different employee monitoring software have different pricing plans depending on the features included.
You want to invest in one that improves productivity and saves your money. Most employee software tools offer free versions, but these may not work if your organization has a large team. Still, you can test the free version to determine whether it matches your business.
Choose a tool that will grow with your business
Business goals are bound to change as your business grows. That’s why your employee activity monitoring software of choice should offer scalability. The installation and customization should be straightforward without extensive technical knowledge for implementation.
It’s also best to choose an employee monitoring software that stores company data securely for future use. Reliability is also a key consideration because you don’t want to compromise on security for business data.
Versatile
The right business productivity software should make business management easy and allow you to automate most of the time-consuming procedures. Any high-quality business software solution should include the tools required for generating reports and planning budgets. Powerful software tools are also able to handle billing and generate invoices.
Conclusion
For your company or business to grow, you need engaged and productive employees. A productivity monitoring software challenges your employees to boost their output and track their performance.
The process of choosing the best employee monitoring tool is unique for each business and having too many programs doesn’t help. Use these practical tips to make it easier for you to choose an employee tracking software that best suits your business.
