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Time tracking can play a key role when managing assigned work. Not only does it provide insight into the time spent working on a particular task or project, it can be used to revise and optimize existing processes based on gathered insights. At the same time, end users can use time tracking to gain a deeper understanding of how they prioritize work and manage assignments, allowing them to identify areas for improvement in personal daily workflows.
In this guide, we’ll focus on the end-user side of things and explore the time tracking functionality in TaskRay.
If you are reading this guide, then time tracking is either already part of your organization’s workflow or you are considering incorporating it into your process. Regardless of where you are at with time tracking, this guide is a great resource that summarizes tips and best practices pertaining to this functionality.
This guide covers the following topics:
- Overview of time estimates and actuals on projects and tasks
- Summary of options for logging time
- Best practices for time tracking
Time Estimates and Actuals
To start, let’s take a look at two foundational elements for time tracking in TaskRay: estimated time and actual time.
As you might have assumed, estimated time is the planned number of hours to be spent on managing work. In TaskRay, time estimates are set at the task level and summarized at the parent task group and project levels. When working on assigned tasks, it is always a good idea to check how much time has been estimated for completing the work. Typically, the estimated time is set by someone like a project manager or it is carried over from the template that was used to create the project.
As you manage work on your assignments, you will log time against your tasks. The time that you log will be summarized in the Actual Time field on tasks and then rolled up to the parent task group and project.
To take it full circle, both estimated and actual time can be critical elements for analyzing project performance and capturing valuable insights. By comparing time actuals against the estimates, it becomes possible to identify potential areas for improvement and incorporate insights in future project planning cycles. While you likely won’t be the one building and analyzing such reports for project planning improvements, your contribution of tracking time on assignments is instrumental in the process as a whole.
Want to learn more about this? Check out our blog post: The Impact of Time Tracking on Projects.
Time Tracking
Make Time Tracking a Habit
Getting into the habit of tracking time is often one of the biggest steps in the entire process. While everyone has a preferred way of keeping themselves accountable, there are a few common approaches that you can consider.
The first is to set a repeating end-of-day reminder on your personal calendar to review completed work and log time. Similarly, projects can be structured to incorporate designated tasks to remind team members to log time.
Another common approach to time tracking is logging time within the context of the work you are currently managing. In other words, when you work on a task – log time on it right away before moving on to other assignments. Logging time regularly allows for more accurate data, and, therefore, more actionable insights for those responsible for optimizing processes.
Ways to Log Time
With that in mind, TaskRay provides a few different ways to log time on tasks. For step-by-step instructions and an overview of the main options, refer to the following support article: Log Time.
To add some color to the options listed in the article, we recommend logging time directly from the places where you are already managing work in TaskRay. Views like My Work and Kanban provide an easy way to log time using the Quick Add Time option that can be accessed directly from task cards. Another way to review and log time is by accessing the Time tab found within task details. Finally, TaskRay also provides a Lightning component for time tracking that can be placed on pages in Salesforce. If there is a place within your Salesforce instance where the component would be useful, reach out to your internal Salesforce Admin to get it set up.
Time Details
Another bit of advice that we’ll share on the topic of time tracking is to provide the necessary level of detail when logging time. Depending on the process in your organization, you might be asked to categorize the time entries, such as by type or as billable or non-billable. When logging time, it is also a best practice to add notes to time entries to provide additional details about managed work. In combination, this information provides valuable insights when it is pulled into reports and used for analyzing project performance.
Wrap Up
You should now have a good understanding of the ways to track time in TaskRay. Give it all a try in your own org to see what works best for you!