How to set up effective activity monitoring in your company?

As a service company, knowing the time spent on each task is essential. Indeed, invoicing depends closely on it and consequently, the profitability of the company.

Choosing an effective activity monitoring software is therefore essential. While this appears to be decisive for service companies, other forms of business will also benefit from advanced activity monitoring: resource optimization, better budgeting and data reliability.

In this article, we present the 3 key steps to implement activity monitoring software in your company.

What is activity tracking? 

Activity monitoring, also known as an activity statement or report, refers to all the processes used to monitor activity within a company.

This includes monitoring and analysis to optimizing tasks.

The activity record records attendance and absences, among other things, and focuses on the time spent. Everything is divided into different axes: by project, by department, by task or by customer. 

While activity monitoring is already a common practice for consulting firms, in reality any project can benefit from it, improving performance and profitability.

Why set up activity monitoring in your company?

The implementation of effective activity monitoring is a real performance lever. For some organizations such as service companies, it is essential.

Improved visibility into the activity

A clear view of the time spent per task allows you to quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of each department and employee. This highlights in particular the possible need for support or complementarity.

Finally, a better knowledge of one's resources leads to better overall performance.

Better value for money

Activity monitoring allows managers and managers to manage their teams with more visibility, and therefore more precision. This makes the allocation of resources easier and more relevant. 

Increased productivity

By logging information automatically with activity tracking software, human error is reduced, such as double entry. The company then gains significantly in productivity.

Improved profitability

Activity reports allow for more accurate cost control for finance teams.

Tracking time spent facilitates cost analysis, helping to identify chargeback needs.

Refining the invoiced price

A better identification of costs by project or type of project will make it possible to refine the price to be invoiced in a more representative and fair way.

Support provided to HR and finance teams

A particularly reliable and accurate source of information, activity monitoring is invaluable for HR and finance teams, who must prove that they are accountable to the company and the State.

The centralization of data (time historization, for example) and the rapid production of reports will help make information accessible and shareable, particularly in a legal or tax context.

Reliability

With automated activity tracking, data has never been more reliable. This increases accuracy, productivity, and by extension, profitability.

• Track project progress and collaborate effectively
• Meet your project delivery deadlines

Download the Activity Tracking Table Template

Who benefits from the implementation of activity monitoring? 

Precise management for project managers and managers

Activity monitoring allows project managers and managers to carry out better management. Indeed, they can quickly measure productivity, identify areas for improvement and work on optimizing the work of their teams and the distribution of resources.

Careful validation of times by managers then becomes necessary.

This first level reinforces the reliability of the data, which will feed other departments of the company, in particular for customer invoicing.

The Stafiz activity monitoring software, for example, offers resource management features that make it easier to manage teams. 

Increased predictability for the finance department

• Budget, margin and invoicing monitoring

As costs are better controlled with activity monitoring, the establishment of a precise provisional budget is facilitated. In addition, thanks to precise monitoring of task deadlines and completed times, cash flow is optimized. Activity monitoring software like Stafiz can automate these operations thanks to close collaboration between teams in the same environment via triggers, alerts and reminders.

• Long-term planning

The more accurate information the finance department has about the company's operating costs, the more realistic a projection is possible. Activity monitoring thus provides a reliable source of data to facilitate planning.

• Analyze overall performance through data centralization

Activity monitoring centralizes and consolidates data, making it easier to access and analyze. Software like Stafiz will make it possible to consolidate and monitor the evolution of all costs (internal, subcontracting, purchasing, etc.) and their repercussions on KPIs in real time and, in other words, at the end of projects.

• Anomaly identification, anticipation and correction

Properly carried out activity monitoring will make it possible to quickly identify any deviations and correct them with the greatest reactivity.

Once mastered, activity monitoring tools will help finance departments anticipate any potential risk and quickly propose alternative solutions.

• Data accuracy

The validation of the times will make it possible to refine the relevance of the data collected, which is particularly important for the IT Services.  

Activity reports (CRA) may be required, with precise periodicities. A good activity monitoring software can offer you this feature, such as Stafiz, which offers the possibility of easily generating and exporting your CRAs. 

Increased visibility for the HR department

Activity monitoring also supports HR teams, who benefit from a global and specific vision of the distribution of resources, recruitment needs and skills management.

3 Steps to Implement Effective Activity Tracking 

Choosing the right tool 

• Define your needs

Implementing activity monitoring within your organization first involves precisely defining your needs. This first phase of project planning must be meticulous. 

To make sure you cover all the needs within your company, involve your teams. Talk to each department to identify their needs, their constraints, and how an activity monitoring tool would simplify their daily lives.

Here is a table below that summarizes the two main categories of needs for activity monitoring, different software is then recommended.

How to choose time and activity management software ? This article on Time and Activity management tools should enlighten you. 

• Choosing the right KPIs

Select the KPIs to compare based on the goals you have set for yourself.

Limit your choice to a few relevant indicators, which you can then analyze and interpret: time spent, hours worked, vacation, etc. 

Training teams

• Informing the teams

The information of your employees should be put in place throughout this project. Indeed, the implementation of an activity management tool can give them the feeling of being "spied on". 

In order to best welcome the implementation of this new method, it is essential to communicate. With anticipation and transparency, explain to your teams what data will be recorded, and what it will be used for.

Highlight the benefits they could derive from it: an approach to help progress (you can't improve what you don't measure), better organization, resource management, more visibility on the work done.

• Accompaniment

Finally, supporting the implementation of this tool is essential. Training sessions should be organized to help your teams master this new software. In addition, defining a referent interlocutor can be relevant.

You can also be accompanied by partners, both for integration within the company and for team training.

Addressing the challenges of implementing activity monitoring within a company

Although activity monitoring brings many benefits, there are also risks when implementing it: 

• Be sure to choose a tool that is right for your business, based on its size and business. Some software can also be adapted to an industry with specific needs: hospitality, catering, medical, consulting, etc.

• Choose software that integrates easily with your existing tools, which can hurt your productivity. Stafiz integrates with a large number of project management, CRM, and invoicing tools.

• Invest in training your teams : such a change can cause some resistance. The more you support your employees, the smoother the transition can be. 

• Opt for a tool that respects data privacy and security. It is also your responsibility as an employer to ensure that the tool is configured in compliance with applicable laws.
  Hosted in France, Stafiz guarantees the security and confidentiality of your data. See our data processing policy for more information and do not hesitate to contact us.

Case study: How Colorado Consulting improves its resource planning and his performance thanks to Stafiz?

Colorado Groupe, a customer relationship consulting firm, faced challenges with resource planning and performance management, lacked visibility into the impact of time off on planned workloads, and had limited visibility for employees. Management also ran into problems with performance measurement, particularly with regard to forecasting project margins.

Stafiz provided a complete solution that simplified resource planning and decision-making processes. The resource planning module provides visibility and time-saving functionality for project managers and employees. It also integrates upcoming contracts into the workload plan, improving utilization rates. A multi-criteria search engine was used to facilitate and speed up the allocation of resources. The software also automatically calculated future project margins and visualized budget variances, which helped improve decision-making.

The implementation of Stafiz has improved project utilization rates and margins. In addition, Colorado saved 5 hours per week on scheduling, and centralizing the software resulted in financial savings.

Learn more about Colorado consulting with Stafiz

Setting up activity monitoring brings many benefits, such as a significant improvement in productivity, which can have a positive impact on profitability. However, such a project must be implemented gradually to choose the right tool and to prepare your teams smoothly to welcome this new methodology.

Clearly identify your needs and constraints. Finally, keep in mind that these can evolve over time and that adapting to changes becomes a necessity to remain competitive.