Project Management Optimization: Time Tracking, Methodologies, and Budgeting

Contents
I. Project Management for Companies
Proven methodologies for projects management
How to choose the right methodology
Agile and Scrum
Lean management introduction
Case Study
Create your own style, but don’t forget to verify it!
II. Time tracking
Benefits of time tracking
I. Benefits of tracking project's time
II. What are the Profits of Time Tracking?
III. Benefits of Time Tracking for Small Business
IV. 5 Time Tracking Utility Scenarios

Contents
Time tracking implementation
I. A. Fatal mistakes that can kill your time tracking
implementation
II. How to introduce time tracking to your team
III. How to make sure time tracking implementation is going
to the right way
IV. How to structure your projects and tasks
Case Study
II.III.A. Case study of tracking time automatically

Contents
III. Project Budgeting
How budgeting hours can help you be more profitable
Case Study
Case study of how budgeting helped one company
IV. Work wherever you want – remote work for
companies
Remarkably Awesome Tips on How to Become a Highly
Productive Night Owl
Sleep Better and More Efficiently - Polyphasic Sleep

How to choose the right methodology
A project management methodology is a set of
ideas/solutions that if used correctly, should help us
in finishing our projects faster and with less effort.
We can find a considerable amount of such
methodologies on the internet or in the books.
The new ones are constantly being developed to catch
up with the ever-growing world of business. The key
point is to find the one that applies to the project we
are working on.

How to choose the right metodology
Our first step then should be to thoroughly study a
methodology, before deciding whether it suits our
needs. Many specialists say that the effectiveness of
project management methodology depends on types
and sizes of a project.
Also, we must not forget that it is pretty much
impossible to find the perfect solution – there may
be some lacks, but it is up to us to adapt our
workflow and get things done. However, the project
management methodology is there to help, so we
should use it to its fullest potential.

Agile Software Development
Agile is a term that covers a number of flexible
ways of work management that require strong
cooperation with the customer. Using them
should guarantee that the final solution meets
not only the needs of the team implementing the
project but also, and more importantly, the needs
of the customer.

Decisions about the details of the project are
made as late as possible: delivering a
complete product should begin from
establishing an overall vision of what we want
to deliver.
The concept of Agile appeared in 2001 at a
meeting of 17 people who wrote the
manifesto of common rules for agile
methodologies:

1. Extreme Programming – techniques for software development, no
concept of project design
2. Lean - the elimination of waste – waste is everything that does not
add any value to our project.
3. Scrum - provides an excellent approach that bases on the team,
prioritizes work, it has no concept of project design
4. DSDM Atern (Dynamic Systems Development Method) – the only
one that fully describes Agile project management
5. Agile Project Management – it the beginning of the project the plan
is created based on the outline of requirements, the solution is
firstly seen from the “bird’s eye”, implemented in an iterative and
incremental way, a detailed plan of each step is created by the
team, not by the Project Manager

The primary advantage of using AgilePM is the
lightness and flexibility it provides while
maintaining the rules to succeed at the same
time. This methodology also works great with
existing processes in the organization, so there
is no problem to combine it with, for example,
PRINCE2. What is more, in the case of small
organizations and projects Agile alone will do
just fine, so there is no need to support it with
other tools.

Lean Management
The concept was created and developed in
Japan, in Toyota Motor Company, right after
World War II. The technical and organizational
solutions were suggested by Taiichi Ohno.
He wanted to try a new approach to the
production methods – introducing a flexible
and high-quality solutions to eliminate waste
and ensure continuous improvement in the
company.

Lean Management
Seiri (selection) – getting rid of unnecessary objects from your
working station (or nowadays, from your PC or Mac,)
Seiton (systematics/taxonomy) – preparing your tools,
documentation, and materials in such way that they are in
your reach and you can use them quickly whenever you
want
Seiso (cleaning) – doing this once in a while is a method to
have more control over your working station
Seiketsu (standardization) – making sure that everyone is
maintaining the rules of the previously established steps
Shitsuke (self-discipline) – habit of keeping to the rules

Lean Management
5S is a simple concept often treat with
disregard by workers.
However, it has many assets:
• We are more productive when our workplace is clean
and tidy,
• We are less likely to make a mistake when everything is
neatly organized,
• It is easier to meet production deadlines,
• The workplace is safer and the atmosphere is better,

Create your own style, but don’t
forget to verify it!
If you want to be a project manager, you should
definitely:
• have at least 10 years experience in the field,
• be proficient in all areas of his projects, which means
you should perform his tasks better than others,
• receive intensive specific training about your own
motivation, team motivation, project management and
many more from the industry,
• be a leader in all projects and available for all the
members of your team,
• should be available for your team when needed and all
the time.

There is always more to do than people who
are able to do it. In consequence you’re still
trying to plan the tasks, you realize them
diligently, you have to work way more than
before and tasks are moved to the future,
because you’re not able to do it on time.
At the beginning your calendar looks like this:

The more tasks you add, the more work you have –
it’s a natural consequence of missing deadlines.

Your calendar, after reduction, has to get more tasks,
because some of them weren’t implemented.

Additionally, imagine you’re going on holiday and no
one can replace you…

Paweł, our CMO and the owner of consulting
company, created his own project
management concept based on few simple
principles:
– hire people who are better than you,
– motivation is not a skill – it’s a character trait,
– don’t force yourself or anyone to work,
– employee controls should be non-intrusive.

So, how to manage your team more effectively?
– first complete those tasks which are enjoyable to you and
your team,
– don’t miss any deadline, just write all the tasks down and
return to them later,
– bill your employees for every completed tasks or hourly,
– your employees don’t need to be under control all the
time – thanks to TimeCamp, which is a time tracking
software, you can calculate their work costs as well as
assess the progress made.

Benefits of tracking project's time
They are free of cost
The greatest advantage of installing them is
most of the project time trackers are actually
time tracking freeware. This means that they
are free of charge and in most cases you can
access the premium features as well without
paying any charges at all.

They are user friendly
The time management apps are perfect for
projects and anyone can handle them easily-
even children and hence they are absolutely
user friendly. You can use every feature of the
time tracker just with basic knowledge of
computer.

Time tracking freeware available easily
This kind of software is developed in hundreds
and they are available easily. They are
compact and small and hence do not take up
much space so it is not very hazardous to
download.

Help you develop your timing skills
These kinds of software help with developing
your timing skills easily and fast. They will help
you keep track of your time management and
notify you with the progress that you are
making.

They are compatible with every device
You can use one software with every device
that you own. They are designed in such a
manner that can be used with every device
that you have. The software are easy to
download with any kind of device that you are
using.

What are the Profits of Time
Tracking?
Didn’t you ever feel unrecognized for all the
work you have performed? Or perhaps the
raise that you honestly deserve is not coming?
Well, with TimeCamp you have a line of
argument to prove that you should be given it!
All you have to do is to tell your manager to
take a look at your computer activity and the
gathered statistics to see how hard you have
been working.

Tracking?
Demonstrate that a particular project, which
was completed after a deadline, needs more
time and resources, and its delay is not your
or your team’s fault. (Of course, this won’t
work if it wasn’t completed due to your
laziness!) From the data provided on the
project, you will draw conclusions and as a
result, improve your ability to estimate the
time needed to finish it and steps that should
be undertaken to be as efficient as possible.

Tracking?
Finally, and this is probably a little bit
controversial and not everyone may agree, but
the fact is, that we do work better, knowing
that someone can check what we are doing
and how we are doing it. When we focus our
mind on the task in front of us, the time will
pass quicker and at the end of the day we will
feel the burst of energy thanks to the
realization that today we have done the job
and that we have done it well.

Benefits of Time Tracking for Small
Business
The small business owner can track time
worked by all their remote workers from just
one web based software. This can help them
monitor and keep more control of the hours
spent on each project and plan future projects
of a similar nature. The number of hours
allocated to the jobs can be amended up or
down for future tasks.

Business
This team time tracking software can also make
remote management of your business time.
Once projects are completed, workers would
have to enter their project status.
You can check the status of different projects –
especially those with a shorter deadline, and
understand whether or not they are progressing
well. You can also get an idea whether a specific
employee is taking his job too lightly.

Business
The software can also automatically import
your bank statements and also divide them
properly into specific categories. It can check
the flow of your business money and provide
you with real-time updates about how your
business capital is being spent. You can also
share all the details with the accounting team
and work together to minimize wastage of
money.

Computer usage scenario
The time recording software will monitor the
usage of computer by the employees and if it is
found that it is over used by someone, that
employee can be questioned. As a result, he will
reduce using the computer for personal use and
will use the computer more for his work.
This will ensure improved efficiency and better
output. The utility of time tracking thus becomes
a very powerful tool to check use of computer by
employees.

Employee activity scenario
The time tracking software is an excellent tool
for business administrators to monitor as well
as analyze the performance of each employee.
This will enable them to find out the
productivity of each employee so as to
identify the most productive one. This process
also helps to find out the idle or unproductive
employees.

Project tracking scenario
Apart from employee evaluation, the time
tracking software is also an excellent tool for
project tracking. With the utility of time
tracking, the user can work out the time
required to execute the project and total cost
of the project. The software is also used to
analyze the process of the project.

Leave time scenario
The time recording software will promptly
register the time worked by the employee as
well the time when he was off. Apart from
providing details of time worked, the software
registers sick leave, casual leave, long leave,
etc.

Workload scenario
Those who make use of the time tracking
utility are able to monitor the work load of
each employee. The software automatically
calculates the overtime worked by employees.
This will enable the administrators to find out
the cost of overtime work and also to control
paid holidays.

How to introduce time tracking
to your team?
• Explain why it’s important to track time - set goals, share your
plan and motivate your team to take the action.
• Show a clear and easy to understand structure of projects and
tasks
• Tell who is responsible for the success of the project - explain
that without this leadership there will be a mess in projects
and tasks.
• Help your team get started and show a case study - there’s no
better option to teach a person something than showing a
real example.
• Review your timeline and establish a checking routine - your
employees need some motivation to make it the habit. You
can announce that timesheets will be checked regularly, it will
help them to remember to do it on a daily basis.

How to make sure time tracking implementation is
going to the right way?
Are timesheets filled correctly?
• Check how much time do your employees spend on doing
their job.
• Ask your team how would they track time for specific
activities.
Do we regularly use data from timesheets?
• Do you generate reports at least once a month (best once a
week)?
• Do people generate reports (just for curiosity)?
• Do you feel that time tracking became your habit?

How to make sure time tracking implementation is
going to the right way?
Does time tracking help you execute your business goals
in Project Management?
• Do we use time tracking data for planning and
estimating?
• What kind of activities are being registered in projects?
• Are you aware of project profitability?
• Do you share data with your clients?
• Do you check budgeted time versus actually tracked
time?
• Does time allocation across projects fits priorities?

Fatal mistakes that can kill your time
tracking implementation
• We didn’t explain why it is important to track time
• We didn’t all agree on the clear structure of projects and tasks
• Everyone could add new tasks and projects
• We didn’t clearly tell that this is an obligation
• Managers didn’t see clear benefits
• There was no single person responsible for this implementation to
succeed
• We didn’t check how people are filling out their timesheets – every
single day
• We didn’t share best practices of how to track time
• People have never seen how valuable the timesheet reports are
• We didn’t have a clear image of what a perfect timesheet looks like

How to find ideal projects
and tasks structure?
From our observations we assume that the
perfect structure should be:
– clear,
– intelligible,
– be an effect of real business goal,
– supplying legible and useful data,
– real – it should answer your needs and match your
goals.

I. Time Allocation
It is the simpliest and most general structure divided into core
organizational items. It might be projects, internal tasks, clients or
employees.
We applied it in our marketing team as it enables us to set priorities
and estimate if we spend appropriately much time on them. In our
case these are projects and tasks. It also allows us to check on our
team engagement.
Based on data collected thanks to such structure we are able to
assume who is the most committed or overworked. And better plan
the work of the whole team.
• Goals: allocation, engagement, priorities

II. Clients and Projects
There are three key goals fulfilled with Clients and Projects
structure. One of them is to monitor the time burndown in projects
or on particular clients. This helps to estimate the profitability of
both and as a result, set priorities.
We applied it in our development team. Their tasks are divided into
big projects, like Graphical Timesheets, Integrations, Reports or
Usability. This allows us to check which assignments were more
demanding and what is a probable date of the release.
In different companies the structure may be divided into clients.
Another levels are projects and tasks.
• Goals: estimation, planning, time burndown

III. Billing per Hour
It is the most obvious structure in companies that bill their clients
hourly. It helps to charge accurately. What is more, it indicates
projects profitability.
The most common division is the one containing clients who are
then divided into projects and/or smaller tasks. This creates an
order and makes the reports more legible and transparent. It also
makes invoicing process more simple.
Such simple structures don’t appear very often. Companies want to
get much more data from their time tracking. It is the reason why
the most common are mixed structures.
• Goal: accurate billing

IV. Clients and Projects
+ Time Allocation
Running a company or team requires many different
information about its performance. Managers need to be
aware of how much time is being allocated across projects,
clients and employees. At the same time they want to know
how many hours are absorbed by internal tasks.
Such structures may look very chaotic and disordered. On
the other hand, they show the complexity of companies’
problems and their needs.
• Goals: allocation, estimation, planning, engagement,
priorities

V. Clients and Projects
+ Billing per Hour
In reality, not many companies use Billing per Hour as
the only reason for recording time. The mix with
Projects and Clients structure is very popular among
creative agencies. They track time for their customers
and assignments and bill for hour.
In such structure we notified internal nomenclature in
naming projects and tasks. It is also pretty common
that clients are the first level, which then goes deeper
into projects and tasks.
• Goals: accurately billing, profitability

How budgeting hours can help you be
more profitable
Invoicing is probably the biggest nightmare of
any employer or freelancer. No matter if you
are a leader of a big company or just manage
your own small business – the activity of
generating invoices always involves stress and
pressure.
You have to be very focused on it and make
sure that it is done before a deadline.

How budgeting hours can help you be
more profitable
Fortunately, the modern technology comes in
handy here. Though it is still quite fresh on the
market, the online invoicing software is becoming
popular at lightning speed. Corporations that
need to send out a huge number of invoices and
financial statements frequently very quickly
implemented this software.
It offers great value for money and streamlines
many of our processes. Tracking company
expenses and sending invoices to the client
becomes the piece of cake.

The benefits
of using invoicing software
• Personalized invoices – choose from a variety of
templates and add our company’s details and
logo into the system to have our own, customized
invoices to present to our customers.
• Saving time and money – save hundreds of hours
thanks to the automation of business processes.
There will be no need to manually enter the data
because the program synchronizes and
imports/exports data from other software and
apps.

The benefits
of using invoicing software
• Improved work organization – be able to send
invoices from anywhere on the planet (anywhere,
where an internet connection exists), but also
you will have all information about your clients at
hand.
• Security – The sophisticated technology used in
online invoicing software guarantees that all your
data is encrypted, secured and backed up now
and then. It works pretty much in the same way
as online banking software.

The time before TimeCamp
„We always have to count how many hours we spent on a particular
project in our company.”
Additionally, in some of the projects we are billing hourly, so a
customer pays for an hour of our work. The cost of an hour was
diversified by the character of a project. Some of the projects are
billed by flat rates, but most of the additional tasks are billed by
hourly rate.
We kept the work record manually, so the client had to accept and
sign – it was another difficulty. Sometimes employees left the work
record to fill it to the end of a month because they were
overworked. That’s why we needed an automatic time tracking
software with a reporting feature.
~Part of interview with Magdalena Jaszczyńska from Jakosta Engineering Office

Do you think that thanks to TimeCamp you improved
the project management in your company?
„The most important for us is we’re now able to react for
all the overspends.”
Thanks to that we’re making redeployments when
needed, so then we can negotiate with customers.
We’re able to react when it’s necessary (when a project
is running) instead of reacting after it’s finished and
unprofitable. It’s also much easier for us to measure
and budget new tasks thanks to analyzing hours
tracked by TimeCamp.
~Part of interview with Magdalena Jaszczyńska from Jakosta Engineering Office

Turn your bedroom into
a sleep-friendly environment
If you are planning to sleep late so as to work on your
tougher tasks, you need to change your sleeping pattern.
Usually, it is suggested that you sleep for seven to eight
hours every night. If your aim is to work till late and sleep at
3 am in the morning, you’ll have to wake at 10 a.m.
But how do you turn your bedroom into a sleep haven?
Simple, keep the lights out. You make this easier by
switching off the lights and covering your windows with
dark opaque curtains. Also, you need to do away with
noise. Switch off your music system and ensure that your
door and walls are sound proof to keep away outside
noises.

When to take your cup of coffee
Coffee is the best remedy for those looking forward to
staying awake. Just like taking it in the morning hours to
make the rest of your day brighter, drinking a cup of coffee
at night will keep you awake and focused on your work
throughout the night.
But when should you take it? How much should you take?
This is where it gets tricky. When working at night, you
might be tempted to take several cups of coffee to keep up
with the cold. Don’t do this. Coffee can keep you awake for
approximately 6-8 hours so if you happen to take it at night,
let’s say at 3 am, you’ll not be able to sleep until after 8
hours, which is 11am.

Avoid the habit of oversleeping
Just like waking up late in the morning, oversleeping can
ruin your night hours. By sleeping too much, your body will
get used to sleeping longer hours, meaning that you’ll feel
sleepy even when it is not appropriate. Besides, it is a
waste of time and money. So, stick to a particular number
of hours.
In our case, for a person who is planning to work late, it is
vital to sleep at least seven to eight hours. If you have other
sleep complications such as sleep apnea, you’ll have to
sleep earlier. You should also avoid other bad sleeping
habits such as taking sleeping pills regularly, forcing sleep
and more.

Choose a job that encourages
the path you’ve taken
You can’t be a night owl when you are required to
report to your workplace before 8 am the next
day. In fact, you need to be an early bird to do
that. In today’s world where technology rules,
some organizations encourage night shifts.
There are also those organizations that will set for
you a target to achieve after some period. If your
job supports both day and night shifts, choose
night shift. If it is about hitting targets, find out if
you can complete your tasks at home so that you
work on it at night.

Oh man, I’m late again!
Can we sleep less and still expect our minds and bodies to
maintain the vitality necessary to live life to its fullest?
When you read about the great minds that have lived through the
ages – Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Tesla, Edison, and now Elon Musk, you
will find out that they all share a common habit, an absurdly short
amount of sleep.
Da Vinci slept for 15 minutes every 4 hours, a total of 90 minutes
per 24h and managed to do so for years. Tesla slept for 2 hours at
night and took a single, 20-minute nap during the day. However,
this might have been a part of their genius, so if you are not
working on something that can revolutionize the world as it is now,
we recommend that you sleep more.

What is polyphasic sleep?
It’s a method that may save you an hour, two, or
maybe even some more each day. That’s about 25 days
per annum. Who wouldn’t like to receive an additional
month of time to spend? This is doable and it is not
very hard to achieve it.
It is all about dividing you sleep into certain phases,
and make use of the previously mentioned cores
appropriately. Those cores are in other words cycles
that our sleep is formed of. In our sleep, we go through
these cycles to regenerate.

I can do this!
First two or three weeks may be challenging. We
must go to sleep and wake up in accordance with
the schedule prepared previously. For example,
sleep from midnight to 6 A.M. and take a nap at
1:30 P.M.
The regularity is the key. A healthy diet is also
very important, starting a day with sweets will
not help. Also, try not to eat for at least 3 hours
before going to bed, and do not drink
immediately after eating.

Resources
• Project Management
– https://www.timecamp.com/blog/index.php/201
6/10/lean-management/
6/10/project-management-methodology/
6/11/agile-software-development/
6/05/project-management-concept/

Resources
• Time Tracking
– https://www.timecamp.com/blog/index.php/2015/09
/top-5-advantages-of-using-project-time-tracker/
/time-tracking-profits/
/benefits-time-tracking-small-business/
/5-time-tracking-utility-scenarios/
/10-fatal-mistakes-killed-time-tracking-
implementation/

Resources
4/05/5-elements-great-kick-meeting/
4/07/make-sure-implementation-going-right-way/
4/06/5-types-find-ideal-project-structure/
6/08/whats-new-introducing-keywords/
6/08/automatic-time-tracking/

Resources
• Budgeting and Invoicing
6/09/benefits-invoicing-software/
6/07/timecamp-budget-control/
6/08/8-remarkably-awesome-tips-on-how-to-
become-a-highly-productive-night-owl/
6/10/sleep-better/

Project Management Optimization: Time Tracking, Methodologies, and Budgeting

Project Management Optimization: Time Tracking, Methodologies, and Budgeting

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Project Management Optimization: Time Tracking, Methodologies, and Budgeting