How can one person keep track of the minutiae of a hundred plus projects instantly and at once without breaking into a sweat? The answer is by using TimeTiger, a time saving and easy to use web-based time and project tracking system, and its new AutoMail feature.
AutoMail lets organizations automatically send, daily or weekly and by e-mail, a custom analysis to a chosen recipient or group. By so doing, it saves time and grunt work and keeps everyone on a project team in the loop without any additional effort. According to TimeTiger clients, it’s the only system that works this way.
The company’s AutoMail also helps sort out reports, some of which could otherwise be overlooked, explains Rob Stegmaier, a semiconductor professional and layout engineer at IC Enable of Richardson, Texas, “I use AutoMail to email me reports that I might otherwise forget to run because I don’t need them unless there is data in them… I don’t run them all the time (so) this way I only get an email if there is data logged to what those reports cover.
"Also, I use the AutoMail as a starting point for my weekly report generation. I can do a first pass and look through the data to see what things need to be fixed or looked into.”
Another thing that clients like about the feature is that it lets them invoice faster. Michael Lepage, a Kitchener, Ontario-based software trainer for CPM Systems instructs clients on using Primavera software and finds, “AutoMail helps me stay on top of my invoicing. I have AutoMail send me a report twice a month with all of the time logs that need to be invoiced.
“When the email comes in, I can pull up my accounting system and send out an invoice right away.” He continues, “I also have AutoMail send me a report to review where I've spent my time during the week, and a summary report at the end of the month. Having the information come right to my inbox is really invaluable.”
Reporting accurate project time allocation - actual hours spent on specific tasks - by team members to the Project Management Office (PMO) is absolutely necessary for government-funded projects, which is one of the reasons why non-profit supply chain standards body GS1 Canada relies on TimeTiger’s AutoMail.
According to Joe Cuzzolino, Senior Director of Technology Support & PMO at GS1 Canada, "Our project managers run a monthly report to determine which … team members are booking time against which tasks on specific projects. This allows the project managers to ensure that time is allocated against the correct tasks and projects, which was an area where we experienced challenges before we got TimeTiger. .
Once our team members began using TimeTiger, we started getting accurate reports approved by project managers, in a timely fashion.”
So how does it work? Continues Joe Cuzzolino, "The hours recorded in TimeTiger are summarized in the Project Closeout Report and compared against … estimated hours. This gives the project managers justification for allocating additional resources for future projects of a similar nature. And it enables the PMO to verify high-level estimates that are provided by the team in the Project Charter or Project Plan - thus allowing the PMO to perform more accurate resource allocation forecasting.”
GS1 Canada’s Finance Department needs to verify that recorded time has been approved by the manager before hours and costs can be allocated to specific projects, sector or departments. GS1 Canada must report actual hours spent on specific tasks for government funded projects. Our financial auditors also review approved hours to ensure project hours and corresponding costs are allocated appropriately." This makes it easier for GS1 Canada’s auditors to examine the records at year-end. “That couldn't have happened before TimeTiger and AutoMail,” added Cuzzolino. "All in all", says Cuzzolino, "TimeTiger, with its AutoMail feature, has enabled GS1 Canada to be more accurate with its time allocation reporting and better at forecasting funding and resources required for future projects."
TimeTiger is developed, distributed and supported by Indigo Technologies Ltd., a Toronto-based software development firm. Indigo was founded in 1997.