Automatic vs. manual time tracking: Which is best for your team?

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of how your team is performing, time tracking is a must. Whether you manage a small business, a large team, or a remote workforce, tracking time spent on tasks and projects is essential for staying organized and productive. But here’s the question: should you choose manual time tracking or automatic time tracking?

In this blog post, we’ll break down the key differences between manual and automatic tracking, highlight the benefits of each, and provide practical tips for choosing the best fit for your team.

We also have a video on this topic:

3 key reasons why you need time tracking

Time tracking is more than just measuring how long employees work. It helps teams work smarter, use resources more effectively, and ensures better accountability. Here are the main benefits of using time tracking:

• Easier project and workflow management: Time tracking reveals how long tasks and projects actually take, enabling teams to create accurate estimates for future work. Managers can analyze past data to predict time and resources for similar tasks. It also helps identify bottlenecks, highlighting areas where productivity slows or projects take longer than expected.
• Better productivity: Time tracking provides a data-backed way to measure productivity. Managers can see whether the team is operating efficiently and whether workloads are evenly distributed. Employees also benefit from this, as they gain a better idea of how they are performing and can easily see if something has sidetracked them from their priorities.
• Accurate billing: Accurate time tracking is essential for precise billing, especially in client-facing projects or industries where billable hours determine costs. Businesses can provide clients with detailed and transparent billing statements, which ensure fair compensation for the work completed.

The bottom line is – without time tracking, you’re either left guessing at how your team’s time is spent or constantly breathing down their neck. For most teams and organizations, some form of time tracking is a no-brainer. Now, let’s look at how automatic and manual time tracking stack against each other.

Manual time tracking: The traditional approach

Manual time tracking is the classic method of recording work hours. Before computers became widespread, this meant using paper timesheets or big logbooks, which today are mostly replaced by Excel or Google Sheets.

Example: Imagine running a small digital marketing agency where your employees primarily work together in an office as a tightly knit team. In such a scenario, using an Excel sheet to track the time they spend on social media campaigns, content creation, and client meetings might suffice, and there may be no need for more sophisticated solutions.

Benefits of manual time tracking

• Low-cost: Many manual tracking methods are either free or very low-cost, making them appealing for small businesses or freelancers. For example, if saving every buck is a priority, there are free, open-source alternatives to Microsoft Office that offer their own take on the classic Excel.
• Flexibility: With manual tracking, employees can log their hours at their own pace. It is a good solution for irregular schedules or non-standard tasks – for example, creative work, meetings, or projects that require off-site hours, where automated tracking might not be viable.

Downsides of manual time tracking

• Human error: Mistakes happen – especially when employees are responsible for recording their own hours. Forgetting to clock in, miscalculating hours, or overlooking breaks can lead to inaccurate data.
• Time-consuming: Manually entering data takes away from productive work time. If an employee has to manually log every task and how much time it takes during a day, it can become a tedious responsibility.
• Lack of real-time insights: Since data is entered manually, it often isn’t available for review until the end of the day or week. This delay can make it harder to identify problems as they happen – which is often the best time to start addressing them.

Automatic time tracking: The modern solution

Automatic time tracking eliminates many of the drawbacks of the manual approach. Productivity software such as DeskTime can automatically track work activities once employees turn on their computers or log into a system. You get real-time data on what employees are doing, without the risk of human error.

Example: Managing a multinational remote team of software developers, you use automatic tracking to monitor deep work, meetings, and idle time. This helps identify time spent on crucial tasks versus less important activities, like checking email, providing insights into team efficiency. Without automatic tracking, doing so would be challenging in a remote setup.

Benefits of automatic time tracking

• Accuracy: Since the system tracks activity automatically, there’s no need to worry about forgetting to log hours or inaccurately entering data.
• Saves time: Employees don’t have to spend extra time tracking their hours since it’s all done in the background. That’s one less thing to worry about, allowing them to focus more time on truly productive work.
• Real-time insights: Managers can access real-time data to see how much time is being spent on specific tasks or projects. This allows for immediate adjustments if needed.
• Detailed reporting: With automatic tracking, you also get comprehensive reports that reveal patterns, productivity trends, and reveal opportunities for improvement.

Downsides of automatic time tracking

• Higher cost: Automatic tools often come with a higher price tag than manual methods – though they often pay for themselves through increased efficiency.
• Less flexibility: While automatic tracking works great for tasks that involve computers, it’s less useful for meetings, brainstorming sessions, or manual labor tasks.

Now that we’ve reviewed both time tracking methods, let’s discuss how to select the best fit for your team or organization.

Automatic vs. manual time tracking: finding the right balance

Often, the optimal approach to time tracking involves a combination of manual and automatic methods. Automatic tracking takes care of the routine, computer-based tasks, while manual tracking can be used for more flexible or offline tasks like meetings, phone calls, or brainstorming sessions.

Tips for choosing the right tracking solution for your team

• Assess your needs: Does your team spend most of its time on computers, or do you also have offline tasks to consider? A hybrid approach may be best.
• Consider the size of your team: For larger teams, automatic tracking offers scalability and real-time insights that are hard to manage with the manual approach.
• Factor in your budget: While manual tracking tools may be cheaper, consider the value of the time saved with automatic solutions. In the long run, the higher initial cost might be worth it because of increased productivity and better data insights.
• Reporting needs: Do you need real-time data and detailed reports? Automatic tracking tools tend to offer reporting features that can offer valuable insights into your team’s work habits.

The good news is that combining both manual and automatic time tracking is easy when both solutions come in one package. DeskTime offers both, ensuring your team is equipped for all scenarios. Try out the free demo to see how automatic and manual tracking work in real-world situations.

Find the perfect time tracking solution for your team

Here’s a fun fact: the oldest known clocks used by humans were sundials made by the ancient Egyptians around 1200 BC. It’s safe to say that humans have always been eager to keep track of time. 

And while your team might not be exactly building pyramids, time tracking remains essential for maintaining a productive, organized, and accountable workforce. The choice of automatic or manual tracking depends on your team’s size, work setting, and budget. While manual time tracking can be a cost-effective solution for small teams, automatic tracking tools offer compelling accuracy and time-saving features. In some cases, a combination of both can provide the ideal balance.