It’s undeniable. Whether a freelancer, small business or major corporation, time management plays a major factor in bottom-line numbers. Even if your employees clock in and clock out daily to finish with the perfect 40 hour work week, how they spend their time on an average workday can be a little hazy. Well, there is a solution that’s like taking that haze and making it Claritin clear… it’s called an automated time tracking tool.

I’m sure you’ve heard of companies employing certain techniques such as web activity tracking or monitored computer use to track employee time which I personally think sounds more like a spy-level tactic. While these methods might work (sort of), it seems more like a stick rather than carrot approach. I’d rather have my employees feel empowered rather than feeling their manager’s breath on the back of their neck. And there is a solution that can achieve this. Wanna hear it?

Introducing a web-based, cloud-computing, mobile time tracking software. Whoa, that’s a mouthful. But in reality it’s a simple solution that eliminates wasteful (and tedious) paper timesheets, reduces error in reporting, and answers the age old question "Where in the world did the time go?"

More often than not, even employees are unsure of where time goes. Good work habits and the best of intentions can go by the wayside by minor yet inevitable distractions. Finding the right time tracking app puts each workday in line for more focused work and therefore more productivity across the board.

Here’s how I look at it. With a time tracker, you can assign a job code to all high level tasks or clients. For further organization and to manage labor, job codes can have individual tasks assigned to them. So, from an employee’s perspective, when she sits down at her desk (or starts her workday in the field) as soon as she accesses her online timesheet, she also has her to-do list spelled out in front of her. And the clock starts ticking.

To get your employees to incorporate this new time tracking software into the work process, simply make two minor requests: track time and stay on track. When they begin work on Project A, it only takes one click to start the clock and one click to stop. If they switch tasks midstream, it’s also just one click in your time tracker. It’s truly that easy and takes no time at all. If you have the right software you will also find that the convenience of this function on smart phones and across a variety of mobile platforms. Have you not made it to the iPhone era yet? No big deal, let’s mix it up… make a simple call to clock in and when you are ready to clock out after your meeting downtown send a quick text: T-Out.

Even the finest of multi-taskers will find that you must devote full concentration to the matter at hand to get a job done. And some parts of the day will inevitably be spent on things other than the task at hand. Adopting a time tracking tool shows employees, not just you, real time data and consequently the opportunity to help them change habits.

This methodology requires no spy-level tactics because employees are accountable to both themselves and to their employer. Find a time tracking software that has reporting tools that allow for effective time tracking and continual improvement in productivity. Looks like an easy way to help everyone win.