One of the most important things you need to do in your creative marketing agency is to track time. We know, we know. Nobody likes doing it. But it’s the foundation for having a thorough understanding of project and operational success. This is how you manage successful projects, adhere to budgets, allocate resources effectively, and bill clients correctly.
But we’re sure you often face a ton of resistance from team members when it comes to tracking their time effectively… or even just tracking their time at all. Or maybe you’re not currently tracking time but know you need to implement that into your workflow and processes.
The thing is, staff members tend to see it as a tedious task or another administrative burden. This means they’re often not tracking their time or tracking incomplete time. This can lead to mismanaged resources and inaccurate billing.
Don’t worry. We’re going to walk you through how to adopt the right strategies, tools, and mindset so time tracking can be an efficient and non-strenuous part of your operational workflow.
Why Time Tracking is Essential for Creative Agencies
First, let’s talk about why time tracking for marketing agencies is essential. As we mentioned, it’s necessary for understanding project profitability, improving your operational efficiency, and, well, delivering on client expectations. Let’s dive deeper:
Accurate Billing and Invoicing
Your clients expect transparency.
They want to know how their budgets are being spent on their projects or campaigns. Time tracking gives you just that sort of information. Not that you have to share every timesheet with your clients, but you can pull accurate reports of how much time was spent on their deliverables. And without accurate ad agency time tracking, you run the risk of under- or over-charging.
They may ask you to justify your fees, and having that information will be helpful.
Resource Allocation and Project Management
Creative agency time tracking lets your project managers see just how much time is being spent on each of your projects. This means they’ll be able to allocate resources without all that guesswork.
They’ll be able to identify bottlenecks and streamline workflows. Knowing where each staff member’s time is going absolutely helps the project managers ensure the project continues smoothly.
If someone on the design team is being overworked, you’ll have clear insight into that and be able to shift work or staff around.
Identifying Inefficiencies and Optimizing Workflow
You know what else is so great about time tracking? You get to find all the little inefficiencies in your workflow.
You get clear insight into what’s working and what’s not working within your business operations. You might notice when too much time is spent on non-billable work or see what staff are being underutilized or overworked. Who can take on more work? Who absolutely cannot?
Once you have an understanding of where your agency’s time is being spent or wasted, then you can start to improve your processes and ultimate provide better results for your clients. With this information, you can make data-driven and more informed decisions.
Common Barriers to Effective Time Tracking
Alright, the section you’ve probably been most excited AND most nervous to read.
Getting your team to track time effectively can be… well, let’s face it. Like pulling teeth. And at home with a door and some string, no less. Some staff will find it unnecessary and others just won’t find the time to do it.
So, let’s take a look at some common barriers you’re going to (or already do) run into with tracking time.
Perceived as Time-Consuming or Unnecessary
We’ve mentioned this once or twice already. We’ve seen agencies with staff members who just find the whole thing to be time-consuming itself.
Why take the time to track the time when they could be spending that time working on their assigned tasks or growing workload?
When staff feel like admin work is taking away from their creative work, they’re less likely to track accurately or even track at all.
Lack of Understanding of Its Importance
One of the biggest reasons time tracking isn’t implemented or gets a lot of push back is because the front-line staff don’t understand why they’re tracking their time.
You can tell them all day it’s so you can get better reporting or bill the clients accurately. But that doesn’t always work. They need to see how it’s important to them. Knowing it’s important to the organization is fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, they care about how it all affects them. And they should!
When they don’t understand why time tracking is important, they’re less likely to actually track. They may think you’re trying to micromanage them, and they won’t see how it impacts your agency’s profitability and client relationships.
Show them the bigger picture. Tell a story to them about what the future of the agency looks like for them when you’re able to utilize the information time tracking can provide.
Inadequate Tools or Complicated Systems
Here’s another big barrier—the system you’re using. If the tools you’re using to track time are buggy or difficult to use, then you’re more likely to have missed or inaccurate time logs.
It’s also helpful if your time-tracking tool integrates well with your project management system. Then, you don’t have to plug that information across. It will automatically apply the right time to the right project. Time tracking for marketing agencies sometimes involves managing multiple clients and campaigns.
So you need a user-friendly tool that will track that time across all that different work.
Don’t worry; there are more solutions to come. We just wanted to dive into some of the common reasons for pushback before we brought out the heavy hitters.
Choose the Right Time Tracking Tool for Your Agency
Using the right software can make a huge difference when it comes to your team implementing time tracking successfully. The right tool should be easy to use, integrate with your project management and/or billing systems, and spit out real-time data. Let’s take a look at what you need to pick the best tool for your creative agency.
Seamless Integration with Workflows
Yes, ideally, your time tracking integrates right into your existing tools and workflow. You shouldn’t make your team have to learn a whole new workflow in order to track time. That’s just overwhelming. Your new time-tracking tool should be able to plug your data right into Asana, Trello, or Salesforce.
You could even look for project management tools that also provide time tracking. With tools like FunctionFox or Function Point, you’re more likely to have accurate data because it’s plugging the information directly into the tasks involved.
You’re also more likely to have a fast and successful adoption because there’s less work on the front-line staff’s side when they don’t have to manage their tasks in one software to track their time in another.
User-Friendly Interface
Have you ever downloaded a new software or app and then spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to navigate or use the thing? You loved it, didn’t you? No one loves it. No one wants to spend more than a few minutes learning a tool or even better, no longer than a couple clicks to even use the tool.
Look for software with intuitive navigation and automated timers. You don’t want your staff members to have to click more than two buttons (ideally just one!) to track time they don’t even want to track. If you can find something on mobile? Even better.
Real-Time Tracking and Automation Features
The less extra work you can give your staff members, the better.
So, find a time-tracking tool that automates as much as possible. Take away some of those extra steps, and your staff are more likely to track their time. You don’t have to worry about missing key time when you have a tool that automatically tracks time spent on specific tasks.
Invest in the time tracking tool that aligns with your agency’s needs. This helps make for a smoother transition to tracking time.
Overcoming Resistance to Time Tracking
Ok, let’s talk solutions here. We discussed some common barriers and how you can find the right tool, but you’re here looking for answers. And boy, do we have them.
Address Concerns Openly
You know what your team wants from you most? Open and clear communication. That’s right. Well, a pay raise or promotion is always nice, but your staff truly cares about how you relay information and what information you relay to them. When they know they can trust that you’re being open and honest, you’re more likely to have a team that is loyal—a team that’ll track time without too much complaint.
So keep an open dialogue with your team when it comes to tracking time. Find out what their concerns are. Ask them if they’re feeling micromanaged or if it’s distracting from their creative flow. When you ask outright and address these head-on, they’re more likely to see it as a tool and not an obstacle. They’ll see more of the impact it has.
Want an example? If your designer–let’s call him Neil–says that time tracking feels like it interrupts his creative flow. Switching between creativity mode and admin mode is just impossible. Explain to Neil how you don’t need a minute-by-minute breakdown of everything he’s doing. You’re just trying to capture the big picture. If he spent less than 15 minutes on something, don’t worry about it.
That’s time you don’t care about anyway. Emphasize with him that creative agency time tracking can even help free up more time for him to be creative when you can see bottlenecks elsewhere.
Make Time Tracking Part of Onboarding
This one’s easy.
Add this training to the onboarding process for your new staff members. When you have new team members coming in and seeing it’s a part of your culture, they’re going to set the standard for the rest of the team.
You’re building a culture around time tracking a little backwards!
Incentivize Time Tracking Compliance
Another thing you can do is incentivize time tracking. Use gamification techniques to keep them engaged and excited. Make a leaderboard to track consistency in logging time. However, don’t use the leaderboard to monitor who tracks the most time. The goal is to get them to track consistently, not the most.
You can offer recognition or rewards for time tracked consistently. Maybe it’s a $5 gift card to the nearest cafe at the end of the week or even just a shoutout at the next team meeting.
Connect time tracking to performance. Add time tracking to their performance metrics. When they realize it’s a part of their performance reviews, they’re more likely to stick to it.
Share Success Stories
Just like giving shout-outs, during the team meetings, ask your staff to share examples of how time tracking led to a successful project or a happier client.
Upper management should share the reporting data that shows the staff just how time tracking led to cleaning up inefficiencies or bottlenecks. Team members are more likely to try a little harder to track their time when they can see tangible results.
Provide Continuous Support and Training
Once time tracking is implemented, absolutely do not stop offering support or training. Provide refresher courses or tips during team meetings and check in with them regularly. Again, keep an open dialogue so they feel comfortable providing feedback or sharing issues.
Conclusion
Time tracking for marketing agencies is necessary to ensure your agency’s success and growth—even the success of your client’s campaigns and projects. We won’t deny you’re going to get pushback, but be transparent, supportive, and communicative.
Help your team see it’s not an obstacle—show them why it’s important and how it’ll impact them.
Follow the steps we listed out. Set clear expectations and incentives and use the best tools. Make time tracking an embedded habit, and you’ll have better project management, resource allocation, and client satisfaction. Who knows? You may even have happier and less stressed staff members.
Ready to start tracking time with your team? Reach out to us here at Function Fox, and we will set you up with the right tool.