Small businesses have limited resources, so it is important to make the most of every resource you have available, including your employees. Performance tracking can help you be as efficient as possible, and it allows you to meet your goals.
If you want to improve performance, it’s a good idea to use the right types of tools to support that.
Use Special Tracking Software on Company Issued Devices
Software to monitor performance lets you capture data that you can use to make important management decisions. Start by determining the kinds of information you want to collect and look for a tool that can help you do so.
You can use tracking software to check up on everything from application usage to internet activity to the time required for tasks. If it seems to be taking a team member too long to complete a task, you might discover from the monitoring tool that they are going about it in an unproductive way, and you can then work with them to find something better.
Monitoring software might seem like an unnecessary expense, especially if things are already lean. However, it can save you money because it lets you make the most of your company’s most valuable resource. If you don’t feel like it is in the budget, you can always use a personal loan to get your finances in order, so you have more available money to invest in this tool.
Create Clear Goals
Employees can’t improve if they do not know what they need to work toward. Start by determining your organization’s top goals and ask yourself what tasks and projects need to be accomplished to support these. You can then figure out which metrics will be most valuable in improving your specific priorities.
Use the Right Tools for Project Management
Project management tools can help you determine if the work is getting done at all. Adding the team to one of these tools can help you determine which employees are doing what. They also allow you to assign different employees to specific tasks.
Allow Them to Monitor Themselves
You can do everything in your power to check in with employees and monitor them, but ultimately, it is up to the employee to be engaged in their work. When a team member monitors their own time, they can see how much progress they have made on tasks and projects. They can use activity logs, overarching project plans, or checklists to help themselves stay on track.
When an employee sees how much progress they are making, they can be better prepared to track their goals over time, and they will be more engaged overall. They can use monitoring reports to see exactly where their time is going so they can figure out where they need to adjust.
Make sure everyone knows their reports are visible to managers as well. When they know, they will need to go over how they have spent their time, they will be more accountable for their actions.
