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Rachel Reynolds

124

02/15/20 at 1:26PM UTC

Career

Looking for a way to accurately track my time

My job title is "program manager". In reality, I manage two different but overlapping programs that operate within our health system. I also help to project manage/organize some of our educational events that the hospital puts on and engage in a lot of community work (meeting with community partners, giving tours of our facility, etc.). In short, I wear a lot of hats and try to balance it all. Recently, my work has shifted in these areas and I'm supposed to devote more time to one of the programs. However, the reality is that I try my best to just do all the work that needs to get done! We recently hired a coordinator for our team to take on some of the day-to-day work of the one program, but she's just finishing her third month with us and I'm still transitioning some of those responsibilities. My question is two-fold: 1. Does anyone have advice on ways to track the work or proportion of work I do with each program? It's not possible for me to split my days or hours compartmentally. It often blurs together, especially if you factor answering emails or taking phone calls. I need a way to demonstrate to my boss and other team members exactly where my time is being spent. 2. Any advice on letting go of responsibilities and passing them on to others? This is something that is SO hard for me to do sometimes, especially when I feel pressure from my boss to "be the face of our program" but have others do some of the community engagement work. Thanks for any support or advice anyone can offer.

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Cindy Carlson

Shifting Gears........

02/21/20 at 2:45PM UTC

I want to first apologize for the short a answer but I’m hoping I make up for it with the content. Being a systems person, I found Project Management software that outlines everything beautifully. Yet, what I use it for is probably much different than you. I’d come across this website a couple years back (no, I’m not a salesperson and it’s a free site LOL) Capterra.com It helps you narrow down what PM system would work for YOU..

LEANNE TOBIAS

4.13k

Investment real estate/sustainability

02/16/20 at 10:40PM UTC

Question about the time monitoring: what is the management objective— more efficient allocation of staff? billing? guide procedural overhauls to enhance efficiency? On the bigger question, delegating: I agree that delegating can be tough, especially if you are a perfectionist, if management wants things done “your way”, or if you really enjoy what you have been doing. My suggestion is that you embrace becoming a more senior leader, which means designing a system in which your reports can flourish and succeed *without your constant presence*, while designing in *rewards for yourself.*. These rewards, subject to company approval, should include at least some of the following: More pay More perks Better title/ Bigger staff Being able to take on new projects/roles that excite you and benefit the company Retaining a small element of your hands-on job— perhaps managing a particular project or relationship that you find particularly rewarding. If delegating gives you concrete rewards, you will be happier about delegating. Embrace that delegating includes an element of stepping back and letting your reports shine. Your role is to set requirements and procedures, to mentor and evaluate— not to do the work yourself. Your system for delegating should include: -Identifying the key variables that will make your reports successful. -Hiring and training for success in these roles. -Establishing outcome-based performance metrics. -Evaluating employees on outcomes in real time, as well as when formal evaluations need to be performed. (Employees should not be kept in the dark about their performance until it is time for a review.) -Establishing excellent feedback loops from employees and customers so small problems do not become big ones and so that successes can be shared. -Procedures: I personally appreciate the concept of “loose/tight properties.” That is, to set specific performance targets, but to give your reports the flexibility to decide how they will meet these targets, within the bounds of corporate policy, legal constraints and business ethics. That said, some businesses (health care, manufacturing, systems management) are more process-specific, and yours might be one of them. If so, design a process that is as clear and easy to follow as possible, and is geared to achieving the performance goals that your employees must meet. I hope that some of these suggestions help you to delegate and allow you and your team to shine!

Rachel Reynolds

124

02/17/20 at 7:31PM UTC

Thanks for these ideas. Since all the programs I manage currently are subject to grant funding or soft sources of income, it's often difficult to just get more hands to do the work (even when it's justified by the volume). We're constantly being asked to "do more with less" and we are also asked by many departments to help play a role in community engagement, which can be its own kind of time-suck. So demonstrating where the time goes can be key. Any time we want to hire a new position there are so many hoops to jump through. Often, by the time we get that ONE position, our program volume has increased such that we now need another person. But if we don't have the grant funding secured, we can't just expand our services. So definitely looking for ways to monitor this better, especially my time. My work with the two programs overlaps but we are anticipating some exponential growth in one of the programs soon. If that happens, my role might move to full time and then we would need to backfill my other role. I'm learning how to delegate. Thanks for all the ideas!

Lindsey Joe

618

Healthy Eating & Employee Wellness Expert

02/16/20 at 7:19PM UTC

Try TIMENEYE! I make my interns use it to show details about how they're spending their time.

Jaimee Henry

Product Process / Enablement leader in Salt Lake

02/16/20 at 3:36PM UTC

Rachel, I feel your pain. I have been in various program management roles where I'm managing up to 4 programs all with different stakeholders and priorities. 1. I absolutely love the software Toggl (https://toggl.com). I keep the browser tab pinned next to all of my other daily apps. You can create programs and projects and easily start and stop a timer to capture all the small items you're doing. This is much more accurate than just allocating a certain amount of time to a project, allows you to calculate how much time you're spending on email or shadow work, and then allows you to export a gorgeous report with the amount of time you've spent. Doing this actually allowed me to grow my team in a previous role because I had the numbers to back up an additional FTE to just focus on one part of my role. Yes, you can get items that sync up with a larger OSR or HRIS system, but it often requires a lot of setup and buy-in from management. Toggl is free to start and allows you to take broader data and enter it into whatever tool your organization is already working. 2. This is also an area I struggle with. Being a program manager, you often don't have direct reports which can make it very difficult to delegate. What I've observed and started implementing is leveraging a regular program meeting. If you don't have a program team, get one. My programs are typically cross-functional so I have a member from each team that has work to do. We have a weekly or bi-weekly meeting where we discuss each area of the program and run it essentially as a standup. Each member is responsible for that area of the program and we ask 1. What did you complete last week 2. What will you complete in the next week (If you don't have it mapped out then you can ask for the best next action. If you already have a full project or backlog, have them choose the next best thing.) and 3. What roadblocks have you encountered or do you anticipate encountering. Of course, as the program manager, you should have a say in what needs to be accomplished next. After the group discusses an area of the program, I always try to ask the questions "So what are the best next action to drive that?" "Who can be responsible for these areas?" If there are clear areas of ownership, then it makes it easier for you to assign in the meeting as opposed to asking. I'm glad to hear that you got a program coordinator. They can certainly be a part of the larger team and take on more of the administrator tasks that come up. Because they're embedded in your team, it will become much easier to assign some of these tasks to them. Finally, I'm not sure what project management software you use, but something that allows your to clearly indicate the major areas of the projects, ownership, and best next actions is a must. I use Workfront because that's the company that I work for and it works great for all of my needs but this helps me track what's needed, assign tasks to others with clear due dates, and drive the program meetings by creating and updating tasks in real time and following up with folks after the meeting. Yes, you can then track your actual hours on the program, but I find this gets too tedious. A program manager has so many small tasks to keep a program afload, that I find something like Toggl much easier to get accuracy on. Good luck with everything!

Rachel Reynolds

124

02/16/20 at 7:30PM UTC

Thanks for all these ideas. Toggl sounds like it might help with what I'm looking for. I'll investigate!

Denise Geigle Bell

02/16/20 at 2:31PM UTC

It sounds like it might be an appropriate time to outsource and begin using an HRIS with a time and attendance web application with a reporting and job costing feature. Focus your attention to the more strategic objectives and leave the admin programs and processes to a professional. Helps during tax time, as well!

Jen Holsman

Creative Professional in Design/Photo Industry

02/15/20 at 3:14PM UTC (Edited)

I actually did a lot of research on this element because we were trying to track studio time allotted to each project/brand. There are great stopwatch widgets but most only function inside Trello and data is only exportable via paid third party account. But if you feel it could be worth the price, here is what I turned up. I'm sure there are ones with non-stopwatch tracking features, but these err on the side of what I was specifically looking for myself. - Time Tracking & Reporting – Manual log approach by entering team member and number of hours. Exportable data. Could work, but someone would have to externally keep track of time, so not ideal. ($100/yr) - Custom Fields – Manual approach like Time Tracking & Reporting but free. - TimeCamp – Start/stopwatch work log tracker. Exportable data to TimeCamp only. Requires account. (Power-up free but account has fee.) - Harvest – Also start/stopwatch timer. Exportable data to Harvest only. Requires Harvest account. (Power-up free but Harvest account has fee.) - Everhour – Most time track options – start/stopwatch, manual enter and edit time capabilities. Requires Everhour account. (Account is $96/yr.) -Activity – Start/stopwatch work log tracker. No exportable data. (Free) - Time Tracker (Chronos) – Start/stopwatch work log tracker. No exportable data. (Free) - Clockify – Start/stopwatch tracker. No exportable data, but data available through clockify app. Requires browser extension. - Hourly – Paid feature. Did not seem favorable above others. Did not put additional time into researching. - Clicktime – Paid feature. Did not seem favorable above others. Did not put additional time into researching. - Punchtime – Paid feature. Did not seem favorable above others. Did not put additional time into researching.

Jen Holsman

Creative Professional in Design/Photo Industry

02/15/20 at 2:48PM UTC

I know they have apps that will time track as you check off a list or move a card.

Jen Holsman

Creative Professional in Design/Photo Industry

02/15/20 at 2:46PM UTC (Edited)

In terms of tracking time and projects and who is responsible for what, have you ever tried Trello? I was a little wary of it when first introduced because it seemed like just another thing to maintain and "do." But it has been great for me to track all the different projects that come through our studio. I know they have several different "power-ups" aka add-ons you can use to also assign people tasks and track their work. Sometimes it's important to see in text so there's no confusion of, "Oh, I thought this person was handling that." It updates in real time, so everyone can be logged on and looking at the same board and you can see stuff change and move right in front of your eyes if someone is updating it. Plus, it's internet based so I don't need to have the app on my phone and I can check it from home without being on a company laptop or connected to the co's network. I think it's worth checking out. https://trello.com/b/I7TjiplA/trello-tutorial

Rachel Reynolds

124

02/15/20 at 2:47PM UTC

I do use trello and love it. This helps me with my to-do list but not really tracking the time I spend on each task.

Rachel Reynolds

124

02/15/20 at 2:52PM UTC

I haven’t looked into the time tracking aspect of trello. I might see if that’s an option.

Anonymous

02/15/20 at 2:27PM UTC

I try to categorize work into buckets, starting with rough estimates of what %of time is spent along specific types of tasks: A.) Core Responsibilities Sub-buckets: 1.) things that could be automated 2.) things that could be done by others 3.) things only I can do 4.) other B.) investments: What 3 things am I doing this year to make things better/different? Could be new projects or requests, could be automating some of my core work, could be training others to own core work. Add another bucket or sub bucket to really describe all your work. Then step back and estimate % of time of 100% with each bucket. Then step back and decide what decisions you can make to optimize. Propose a recommendation on what help you could get or work you could do that would provide a benefit... hours of efficiency, or benefit to customer, etc. can you get It automation? Can you cut tasks altogether for the greater value? Can a certain group of work be taken on elsewhere? Ie administrative support? Bringing yourself and others a specific proposal of how to get help and PAIRING it what investments/benefits come with making changes makes decision-making easier and more exciting.

Rachel Reynolds

124

02/15/20 at 2:51PM UTC

I think the challenge with B is not that I can’t demonstrate what is done and needs to be done. It’s that my boss has confidence in my skill and doesn’t really want anyone else taking on the responsibility. Plus there’s not a lot of option to hire a “duplicate me” (what would really be necessary). I’m actually asking for advice about relinquishing control, not so much figuring out how to get the work done. Although I acknowledge that’s a small part of it.