For MSPs, tracking technician time is the key to ensuring accurate billing and fair workload distribution.
However, most employees associate time tracking with micromanagement. They see it as a sign of distrust, which can cause feelings of stress and resentment.
So, how do you effectively track time without making your employees feel like you’re watching their every move?
This guide will show you how to create a respectful time-tracking framework that supports transparency, optimizes workflows, and prevents technician burnout. Keep reading to learn more about why micromanagement happens within MSPs.
Balancing accountability and autonomy: A guide to tracking technician time
Time-tracking can be an excellent tool for improving operational efficiency, but without balance, it can quickly damage employee morale. To prevent this, you need to create an efficient and respectful time-tracking framework.
Step 1: Reframe time tracking as insight, not oversight.
The first step to respectful time tracking is reframing it as a tool for visibility and improvement, not surveillance.
You need to clarify to your technicians that your goal here is to understand workloads and identify bottlenecks in their processes. You’re not implementing this strategy to punish or monitor every minute of their day.
Emphasize the strategic benefits of time logging. Demonstrate how it can help your MSP achieve fair billing, better staffing, and smart project planning.
In addition to this, you need to empower them with flexible logging. Encourage them to log time in 15-30 minute blocks rather than minute-by-minute breakdowns. This way, logging feels less invasive and more natural.
To drive improvement, focus on outcomes like Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) and First-Call Resolution Rates instead of total hours logged. This approach reduces the pressure on technicians to fill out time sheets with arbitrary tasks and motivates them to solve problems efficiently.
💡 Tip: Include the “why” of time tracking in your onboarding materials and internal documentation for transparency.
Step 2: Automate time logging with non-invasive tools
Next, you need to make time-tracking easier for your technicians. You need to ensure that it fits seamlessly into their daily workflows.
Use PowerShell to send non-intrusive reminders throughout the day. These nudges will help your technicians build the habit of tracking their time instead of pestering them with overbearing check-ins.
Here’s an example script you can use to automate the reminders:
Get-Date | Out-File “C:\Logs\TimeLogReminder.txt”
Start-Sleep -Seconds 10
msg * “Reminder: Please complete your time log for today.”
Alternatively, you can leverage PSA tools like ConnectWise, Syncro, or Halo PSA, which automatically log time during ticket activity, remote sessions, or project tasks.
These tools will help minimize the friction technicians face when tracking their time.
💡Note: You can use Task Scheduler to run the script upon login or after a specific action, such as opening a ticketing tool or starting a task. The ideal sleep time will also depend on how you want the reminder to be triggered.
If you want the script to run at login or the start of the workday, a 5-minute sleep time gives your technicians more time to get started on their tasks. However, if you want it to be triggered after a specific action, a 2-minute sleep time is ideal.
Step 3: Improve your framework through feedback
Finally, you need to build a feedback loop to ensure that your time tracking framework remains relevant and fair to your technicians.
To get started, schedule weekly reviews. Scan your technicians’ logs for missing entries, inconsistent patterns, and over- or under-reporting. Use these reviews to give constructive feedback to your team.
Next, hold quarterly feedback sessions with your technicians. Ask them to share what’s working and what’s frustrating them. Use their suggestions to improve your tracking tools and processes.
You should also regularly monitor and evaluate key KPIs like ticket turnaround time, backlog trends, and coverage gaps. These metrics will help you improve existing workflows and adjust staffing.
Adjust your tracking framework based on team input and celebrate improvements in KPIs to reinforce the benefits of logging time.
Best practices for tracking technician time
Here are some additional tips for implementing a trust-based time tracking framework:
Define billable vs. non-billable work
To ensure consistency in your time logs, differentiate billable and non-billable work. For instance:
- Billable: Client-facing work, remote sessions, on-site visits, project implementation.
- Non-billable: Internal meetings, training, admin tasks, and documentation.
Provide examples or create a cheat sheet so your team can quickly categorize their logs.
Use consistent categories to avoid confusion
Standardize your categories, such as “Client Work,” “Admin,” and “Internal Training.” Leverage the dropdown or pre-set options in your PSA to enforce these labels.
Reward good logging behavior
Incentivize good logging by recognizing those admins who consistently log their time.
If someone forgets to log their day, use gentle reminders instead of penalizing them. Remember, you want to avoid turning time tracking into a punitive process for your team.
Publish summary data
Publish weekly summaries of your team’s time logs and allow your technicians to review their own reports. Doing so will encourage your techs to take ownership of their logs.
Top time tracking software for technicians
If you’re still on the hunt for the right time tracking software for your technicians, here are some of the leading tools MSPs use:
HaloPSA
HaloPSA allows technicians to log time entries directly into the tickets and tasks they’re working on. It also has additional features like multiple timers, visual boards, and customizable workflows that IT teams can use to track and manage their workloads. However, numerous users have reported a steep learning curve due to its limited documentation and unintuitive design.
ConnectWise
ConnectWise is another excellent PSA tool for tracking technician time. It includes tools for logging time from various locations and built-in support for service-level agreements (SLAs). More importantly, ConnectWise integrates well with other RMM and CRM platforms.
The only downside to ConnectWise is its high fees. Their rates can be quite expensive for smaller MSPs.
NinjaOne
Finally, you can also use NinjaOne to track technician time. NinjaOne Ticketing can record the precise time a technician spends resolving a ticket. It has a Time Entry section that records each work session, allowing for granular tracking.
Why micromanagement happens
Most employees see time tracking as a sign of micromanagement, but it’s actually a preventative measure against it.
Micromanagement often stems from a lack of visibility. If managers can’t see what their technicians are working on, they resort to constant check-ins and status updates, which creates more harm than good to their operations.
This is where time tracking becomes useful. It gives managers the clarity they need to monitor workload distribution and project health without hovering over their technicians’ shoulders.
At its core, time tracking is not about gaining control but fostering transparency. If done right, it can help you build a healthier, more trusting relationship with your technicians.
How NinjaOne supports seamless technician time tracking and reporting
NinjaOne helps MSPs implement a time tracking framework that fosters trust and accountability by:
- NinjaOne ticketing system allows setting up a ticket timer to track technician time without running any scripts.
- NinjaOne allows you to configure conditions and actions based on elapsed time. These actions can include sending notifications, applying tags, adding comments, and more..
- Automatically associating time-tracked tickets with asset records for reporting
- Exporting technician resolution time Quarterly Business Review (QBR) prep reports for client transparency
Make tracking technician time a solution, not a problem
MSPs don’t need to choose between operational efficiency and morale. By embracing a balanced approach to tracking technician time, you can improve operational efficiency, promote work-life balance, and foster a culture of transparency and accountability within your team.
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