We are looking options for Time Tracking tool that could track effort against each WBS where team members can track there daily activity and progress, Looking for some budget saver option.
Secondly, Would you recommend OpenProject Community(Open Source) ? Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Jan 09, 2022 9:05 AM
Replying to Rahul Shukla
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Hi Peter,
I am of exactly same thought as yours , I complete agree with you on the limitation of environment factor and push back from the team , as they are at receiving end of being more accountable (More tracking means more answerable).
We had been not being doing WBS level actual tracking from last 5 years to have a cool environment , But in few of the projects we have over burned and now can not fix it now after multiple shifting of go-live and showing who is dropping the ball with data.
There would 5% deviation at every level and few entry point may have 50% deviation , until we talk with data , its tough to do retro specific analysis , specially when team is bigger with mixed set of performer.
I believe you also have similar experience as us on tracking as your thoughts completely concur ours.
One of the problems with tracking is that it invariably results in comparing with the initial plan. The plan is deemed to be right and actual is expected to comply.
One should keep in mind that the initial plan including scope, effort and duration of the WBS were all an estimate of projections based on past experience and are frequently incorrect. Scope, effort and time requirements change as the project evolves and more information is made available.
Therefore if you propose to track and compare (tracking without comparison just doesn't happen) you should revisit the scope, effort and duration at the time of starting the task by the people assigned to undertake the task. "I/we will complete [such-and-such] applying [estimated effort] and deliver by [number of days]." This becomes the target, not the original plan. You then have commitment and accountability Saving Changes...
I would advise some caution with this approach to accountability.
The issue with accuracy has already been mentioned. There can be a large added cost component as well to try and collect and make sense of the data. It can also easily promote bad behaviors and penalize people who take on the harder challenges over the easy ones.
If you are looking for people who are not being productive, and their supervisors cannot already do that, I would argue that you have a problem with your supervisors.
More data just gives them less accountability. Rather than knowing what their reports are doing by doing their own jobs, they can just read a report and not have to be managers.
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1 reply by Peter Rapin
Jan 09, 2022 5:04 PM
Peter Rapin
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You've given me a thought - computerize management. Data comes in, electronically compare to expectation, issue digital comment -
"You [did good], you [did okay], you [did bad]. Three bads and you will be terminated. No opportunity for promotion as management positions have been eliminated. Thank you for participating, your welfare is important to us" "Signed Bot 12zx"
Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Jan 09, 2022 4:15 PM
Replying to Keith Novak
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I would advise some caution with this approach to accountability.
The issue with accuracy has already been mentioned. There can be a large added cost component as well to try and collect and make sense of the data. It can also easily promote bad behaviors and penalize people who take on the harder challenges over the easy ones.
If you are looking for people who are not being productive, and their supervisors cannot already do that, I would argue that you have a problem with your supervisors.
More data just gives them less accountability. Rather than knowing what their reports are doing by doing their own jobs, they can just read a report and not have to be managers.
You've given me a thought - computerize management. Data comes in, electronically compare to expectation, issue digital comment -
"You [did good], you [did okay], you [did bad]. Three bads and you will be terminated. No opportunity for promotion as management positions have been eliminated. Thank you for participating, your welfare is important to us" "Signed Bot 12zx"
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1 reply by Roland Vander Straeten
Jan 09, 2022 5:09 PM
Roland Vander Straeten
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funny... our hearts and prayers are with your as well.
You've given me a thought - computerize management. Data comes in, electronically compare to expectation, issue digital comment -
"You [did good], you [did okay], you [did bad]. Three bads and you will be terminated. No opportunity for promotion as management positions have been eliminated. Thank you for participating, your welfare is important to us" "Signed Bot 12zx"
funny... our hearts and prayers are with your as well. Saving Changes...
Warren SimonProgram Manager| DoDBaltimore, Md, United States
Sometimes a simple Kanban board is all it takes. While they usually don't track actual time, you can easily modify it to do so. Can make one on a white board for all to see in the office (either with markers or use sticky notes so they can more easily be moved), or use a spreadsheet online. Many ways to make one and customize it for your team's needs. Saving Changes...
I'm sure other tools do this, but Jira and ClickUp are tools I've used where you can start a timer on your work or claim the amount of hours spent on a task. In Jira, you can also set up separate pools to report time against - we did this for capital projects. You can do something similar in ClickUp with tags.
As you've already discussed with several others, its not just about the tools. At one company, time tracking started getting a little ridiculous, so we changed our focus to the exceptions, with the exceptions being anything that took us away from working - sick, vacation, possibly training. 40 hours was assumed unless otherwise noted (for salaried staff), and it was up to the manager to ensure nobody was gaming the system. Saving Changes...
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