Have you ever noticed that nowadays, it’s a whole different perspective whenever we talk about employees? It’s because we are now dealing with the employees who are Millennials. The need, the preferences, attitude, everything is so very different from what it was years ago. More than to say, “It is difficult to deal with the millennials,” it’s preferable to mention that “It is challenging to deal with the millennials.” This is mostly because of the potential they have, as well as the opportunity that is being provided for them is making them even more productive and competitive.
Is It Necessary To Monitor The Activities Of Your Employees?
As much as the potential is notable, the exposition to many distractions such as mood swings, social media, etc., is widely affecting the productivity of the workforce. This is basically due to the shift in the attitude of the employees towards work. Added to this is the new emerging aspect, “Work From Home.” Therefore, the organizations in the present age are, in a way, forced to monitor their workforce to ensure that the work is done and the tasks are accomplished.
However, thanks to technology. Because of the recent and tremendous growth of technology, the doors have been widely opened in regard to making the monitoring possible. Starting from desktop software to handy mobile hr software and applications, a variety of sources are assisting the organizations and employees in achieving their target by ensuring the engagement of the workforce.
Mobile Applications That Help You In Monitoring Your Employees Activities
As mentioned earlier, technology is playing a significant role in shaping the business to be more simplified as well as to get better outputs. And with the evolution of smartphones, we have even witnessed numerous changes in the businesses as well as situations around. Remote working, which was out of the question, is now found commonly. Along with this, the need to be equipped accordingly has also arisen.
Therefore, as a result, there are a number of applications that are available that are compatible with desktops, laptops, as well as mobile phones. This blog will help you find a list of applications that you can use in monitoring the employees, whether remotely or not.
Mobile Applications For Productivity Monitoring
For organizations that are more concerned and interested in increasing productivity and who want to make sure that the employees put in all the effort, the following apps can be helpful:
Trello
Trello is one of the fantastic tools for those managers who are looking for a visualized task management system. This is a cloud-based tracking program that helps in creating a platform to manage the tasks. Trello is like a two-in-one application wherein you can manage your tasks as well as track as in how long the employee takes in completing the task.
You’ll find three columns – To-do, On-going, and Completed. Any task assigned will be updated in the first column that is to-do, and accordingly, shift to the next while you start working on it, and finally, once you complete the task, you can shift if completed. Its extremely intuitive interface makes it easy for anyone to pick up in just a few minutes, making it an excellent tool for businesses with higher staff churn rates or those who rely on contractors who come and go.
TeamViewer
This is an application that is widely in use for remote work management. With this application, you can have access to your employees’ screen. And thus ensure that all the employees are on the right site or are working on the task that is assigned. TeamViewer can be of great assistance when it comes to presentations, meetings, and tracking the employees’ activities, especially during the remote working scenario.
Through the TeamViewer mobile app, you can also access your own office desktop when there is a need.
Wunderlist
This application is an award-winning application. It has much more to do than just a list of tasks. Wunderlist allows the employees to create a list, add images, comments, and descriptions and assign them for the marking of progress as the work is being completed.
This app functions as a rescuer for those employees who are flooded with too many tasks in a row. The Wunderlist application collaborates across teams either on cumulative projects and individual tasks and always lets you know the status, and thus, thanks to the updates received in real-time.
Skedulo
Skedulo application answers the five essential questions – why, when, who, where, and what. This app is known for its assistance in managing teams across multiple job sites. This workplace application allows managers to schedule their workforce at a specific job site and time, complete with a task description. The shift is pushed to everyone on the team, so the coordination in every project is well organized.
With the built-in features such as calendars and maps, exporting the job information to the other apps is easily possible. Added to this, Skeddulo’s ability to capture data within the app gives a chance to the workers to be transparent and is also used to keep a record and document the tasks completed.
Mobile Applications For Time Tracking And Monitoring
So far, we have seen mobile applications basically used for productivity. Now, let us see a few applications that help us in the tracking of time spent either on the field as well as on different websites. Thus, it will give us a picture of what and where a lot of time is spent and where rectification is required.
Timecamp
For any company looking to save time, money and increased productivity, Timecamp is the right choice. It is one of the widely used applications in the software market. It aids the project managers in collaborating and monitoring the project along with the accurate real-time spent on the project.
The best part of Timecamp is the ability to integrate it with other apps (almost 50 other project managing apps). Thus, it becomes easy to create, synchronize, and import the necessary documents and tasks already created to Timecamp and begin tracking time immediately.
Time Doctor
One of the most powerful tools for tracking and monitoring for this generation is Time Doctor. This application is used by business giants such as Apple, PwC, Verizon. With the use of Time Doctor, the manager can calculate the time spent on each task, what project is currently worked on, the number of times that an employee logged in and out, the different sites visited, etc.
The added advantage of Time doctor is a concept called “Poor Usage Monitoring.” According to this, whenever an employee accesses or visits sites that are not related to his tasks or simply called unproductive sites, the app sends a notification pop-up asking him if he’s still working. This continuous nudging more than enough for the employee to get back to his work.
RescueTime
RescueTime, unlike the other GPS tracking applications, is not just a tracking tool. It is a web-based application that runs in the background of your mobile, laptop, or desktop to measure and monitor the productivity of an employee.
This application can give you reports on your visits to different websites and the times spent on each. You can also customize and restrict the unproductive websites that you do not want your employees to get access to. You can also set goals on productivity, and in case if you are spending too much time, then the app will send a warning notification as to you exceeding the time too much on a particular task.
Apart from the ones mentioned above, you can also try any of the following mobile applications:
- 15Five
- Skedulo
- When I work
- Harvest
- Cloud Desk
The Misconceptions – How To Deal With Them?
Though the situation has left the managers with no option, could we think of it from the employee’s point of view? For a moment, let’s forget about the employees. In the first place, who would want to be monitored? Would you? Definitely, the answer would be a “no,” right? Because it makes us feel uncomfortable and weird that we are being watched and monitored continuously. But what if it’s looked at from a different perspective. You want to ask and know “how?” Well, here are a few suggestions that can help you cope with clearing out the misconceptions towards monitoring.
- Firstly, employers need to create awareness among the employees as to why this monitoring is being done.
- Secondly, they should be educated that the monitoring is purely for official reasons alone, and it’s got nothing to do with their private life.
- Thirdly, the employees should be taught to look at it positively. Maybe to make them more challenging and productive.
- Finally, to make sure that the time allotted for official tasks is purely dedicated to official work alone.
Conclusion
With the availability of smart technology and its various tools, the management of the organization and the workforce is far more better and polished than what it was a few years ago. The growth and development of the organization depends on how well you implement and utilize them in order to make better use of the apps. Above all, to make sure that your employees are convinced and accept the reason as to why there is a need for this kind of monitoring. Once this falls in the right places, you can be sure of your management being carried-on on the right track towards prosperity and development.
