In today's fast-paced world, it's becoming increasingly important to use your time efficiently, without burning out yourself or your team. Chasing deadlines, running like a chicken without a head, and working under pressure doesn't make you more productive. Working smarter means you get time back. That’s a win-win situation, but how do you achieve it?
Set Clear Goals and Priorities
One of the keys to working smarter is to set clear GOALS & PRIORITIES. This will help you plan your time more effectively and ensure that you focus only on the most important tasks. Discuss the goals with your team and look for other easier ways to achieve your goals. Your team might find opportunities that you didn’t think of in the first place. #collaborationIsKey
Use Time Estimates
Once you have a clear idea of what needs to be done: ESTIMATE how long it will take to complete each task. The estimation process might seem difficult in the beginning. Here are some tips that will help you start:
- agree with your team on the estimation method,
- divide your tasks or stories into smaller chunks - it’s always easier to estimate those,
- remember that the estimation process is a team sport, you can better predict the time effort when everyone is involved and encouraged to speak up,
- be realistic, or even pessimistic, if you see some uncertainties on the horizon,
- avoid over-committing,
- take into account any potential roadblocks that may arise.
Track your Progress
Look at the ACTUAL time spent on each task and compare it to your Original and Remaining Estimates. This will help you get an overview of:
- how you & your team are performing with your goals,
- what kind of tasks make you inefficient,
- where you can make improvements to be more accurate in your predictions in the future,
- any potential delays you might have that require action or communication with your stakeholders.
Work Smarter with Clockwork Pro
The best decisions are made when they are backed up with DATA. With Clockwork Pro you can easily compare the Original Estimate, Remaining Estimate, and Actual Time Spent in a single, robust timesheet report. When you’re planning the work with your team, just add an Original estimate to your tasks.
Now, depending on whether your team uses automatic or manual time tracking in Clockwork, your Remaining Estimate will update automatically when you:
- move your task from an active status (in progress) to an inactive status (in review or done),
- stop your manual timer,
- or log time manually.
You can still change the Time remaining estimate on your task manually when you see that the Original Estimate could have been inaccurate and the task will require more or less time than previously anticipated. Updating the estimate increases transparency and makes it easier to predict the delivery date.
While you and your team work towards your goals, you can check your progress by opening the Timesheet Report and clicking on the Actual vs Estimate icon. This will add the Original & Remaining Estimates to your report.
Tracking those metrics regularly, together with your team will help you:
- learn from real data
- improve your decision-making
- advance your work coordination
- mitigate risk and deliver your work on schedule
That’s working smarter.
