Time Tracking and Efficiency in Consultancy
Published: 27/01/2025
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This article focuses on how good time tracking practices improve the overall efficiency of consultancies. Additionally, we will share tips on how to take these results to the next level.
Efficiency is an irreplaceable variable in any business's success formula, with consultancies being no exception. However, the consultancy business model is unique and vastly different from the traditional one, and therefore, the means of achieving enhanced efficiency are also divergent from the norm. But different does not mean complicated. In fact, it’s arguably easier to achieve efficiency in consultancy, for all you need is to master time tracking. Being a transferable and versatile skill, it will surely help you in other spheres of life, too.
Alas, time tracking is often attributed to mere billing. While this is not wrong, there is so much more being diligent and smart with it can grant you. In this article, we will be exploring the importance of time tracking and time management to consultancies, their operations and their long-term success.
The primary reason why time management is crucial for consultants is to ensure the deliverables fit within time and budget constraints. To allocate resources in a way that drives efficiency and doesn’t sacrifice quality, being smart with your time is necessary. Additionally, being aware of where your team’s time goes enhances forecasting of future projects alongside client billing and other operations.
Overall, time management isn’t just important in consulting, it’s crucial. Without it, the consultants are likely to spend longer on tasks, use up the budget faster for lesser results and generally bring worse deliverables than expected.
The ability to allocate and shift resources is vital for consultancies, especially those with a limited workforce. Time tracking is an irreplaceable tool for enhancing the efficiency that smart resource distribution gains.
Although there are giant consultancies out there with thousands of employees, the majority of businesses in the sector operate with but a handful of people. Therefore, smart resource allocation and efficiency-maximising task distribution are a must. Due to small permanent teams, most consultancies often hire additional help for projects - that being independent contractors or freelancers. Now, this is where the key issue comes into play. Working out the optimal collaboration setup for the regular team is challenging, but now you also need to bridge the gap between them and the hired third party. Even if they get to work in the same room, the two parts will initially be misaligned.
Digital solutions are perfect for bringing them together, even if the external workers are based overseas. Most digital tools enable seamless real-time collaborations and all-around visibility, allowing every team member to always be aware of how the project progresses. This, in turn, leads to smoother handovers and quicker turn-around times, as well as propagating flexibility to jump in for support when needed. Naturally, it also works wonders for task distribution as, with time, you get insights into personal skill sets.
As the term ‘time tracking’ implies, one of the major tasks for every consultancy is to keep a close eye on how it manages the time. We’ve touched upon this in the previous chapter, too. The primary reason is self-explanatory: it allows you to keep track of the project progress, making sure it doesn’t overrun and the team meets the deadlines. However, gathering an understanding of your time expenditure will also benefit you in the long run.
With time, you will notice emerging patterns in how long certain tasks take. Based on that, you will be able to improve the accuracy of your forecasts, as well as steer clear of known roadblocks. Additionally, you’ll know the required resources immediately, saving time on end-to-end planning from scratch. The more time you record, the more actionable data you acquire, the better your project execution and deliverables will get.
Often, higher efficiency results in lower quality. There are many problems that come with it, from damaged reputation to viable financial losses. In other words, there are dangers involved when it comes to focusing on efficiency. But there are ways to find balance, and in the next part, we will be discussing them.
You may think your team already runs without major hitches along the way, and therefore, there is no friction. Alas, you are very likely mistaken for even minor delays that can be accounted for as friction. Usually, they are so small you may not give them any significance, but here’s the catch: they stack up. For example, you wouldn’t think of calling an email back and forth of one colleague checking on the other if they were done with their task. However, it is. In a frictionless workflow, this conversation wouldn’t even happen.
While it takes no more than a minute to scribble down an email and about the same to reply, those few minutes formulate hours and days when accumulated. Adding automation to your processes, however, takes away the need for a few unnecessary interactions like this. For instance, one look at time tracking software or digital timesheets can tell you where certain team members are with their tasks progress-wise.
Another great benefit of automation is that it takes over manual tasks your team is bound to spend time on. The problem with the said tasks is that as tedious and repetitive as they are, they’re also mandatory to keep things afloat. But here comes the problem: when focusing solely on them, you propagate maintenance rather than growth and improvement. It leads to stagnation that doesn’t always become apparent. Namely, you will feel like you’re constantly moving as projects get completed, but in reality, you will always reach the same results.
Automating some, if not the majority, of the said tasks can free up more time than you imagine. As we explained above, minor things have a tendency to stack up and turn into major problems, especially when it comes to time. Only as you free that time up will you see the impact and how much you can scale by reapplying it towards progress-driving tasks. Not to mention, the data collected through automation will nudge you in the right direction for decision-making.
Good time tracking habits won’t just help you drive efficiency but can also become a solution to common project-related issues. Equipped with good solutions, you can not just conquer them but prevent them from rearing their ugly heads in general. The best part is that it’s much easier than you presume.
Time tracking tools cover more ground than just time. Most solutions include additional modules, such as expense tracking, onboarding, holiday management, shift scheduling and many more. While their primary function is to assist you in running processes adjacent to these elements, they are also irreplaceable for ensuring your projects don’t go off the tracks. Essentially, all these features also grant you visibility of different parts in a centralised location.
Having all modules as part of a singular solution will paint a complete picture of your project’s status. Additionally, if you add integrations to the mix, you will also be able to analyse the said data in different contexts. What’s more, this will unlock further automation options, winning back the time you can then repurpose into both studying and acting upon your new insights. All this grants you full control of the project from its initial planning stages up to its completion. Staying aware of all that’s happening at all times is key to avoiding the common caveats and mistakes, increasing your chances of smooth, quick and perfect project delivery.
If you are looking for ways to elevate your consultancy’s efficiency, there is no better way than mastering time tracking. Not only does it grant you easily accessible and thorough visibility of your project’s progress at any stage, but it also helps you manage your team better. Upon understanding your team’s workflows and capacities, you can allocate and shift them around in a way that delivers the most efficient results. Additionally, employing digital solutions, makes the task easier, as well as aligns your workers, both internal and external.
The alignment happens naturally as the means for collaboration get upgraded. That entails working on the projects together in real-time, automating workflows and many more. All in all, the common caveats of communication get sorted without your involvement, and manual maintenance-focused tasks get completed automatically. This also frees up your team’s time, enabling them to shift attention to driving progress. Integrating tools with one another will further elevate your experience, granting you even more control over your processes and success.
Does your consultancy need a boost in efficiency? Get in touch.