In this competitive business era with Agile and DevOps taking technology companies’ efficiency to a higher level, tracking employee productivity continues to grow in importance. How to keep a watchful eye on your team’s work without raising privacy concerns is another question. Finding a way to balance the two concerns remains a worthy goal for many modern tech organizations.

Let’s take a closer look at a few ideas on how to track your staff’s work in an unobtrusive manner. Hopefully, they boost your team’s overall productivity without ruffling any feathers.

Transparency is a Requirement of Employee Tracking

When instituting an employee-tracking policy, organizations need to be transparent about the entire process. Failure to do so only lessens the trust of your team, and might cause your retention rate to take a hit. Celeste O’Keefe, CEO of The Dancel Group, a technology firm, makes sure her staff stays in the loop when it comes to tracking.

“If you monitor your employees, make sure they know. Don’t keep it a secret. When an employee is first hired, we sit them down and explain the process and what [the software] will tell us. We also have them sign an acknowledgement that we are monitoring them,” said O’Keefe.

Technology Workers Aren’t Robots

Understand that your IT employees don’t operate in the same way. Some may take a few short breaks throughout the day, while others keep their heads down for longer periods. After-hours and weekend work from home also needs to be factored into any analysis of employee productivity.

Focusing on what each team member produces over time, instead of only looking at the number of hours worked is the key.

Clearly Defined Goals Are a Must

Setting reasonable objectives around productivity also needs to be part of any tracking policy. Determine what your organization hopes to achieve with tracking, and select the metrics that provide the most value for reporting purposes. The entire policy needs to be completely documented and easily accessible for employee review.

Ultimately, improving the efficiency of your staff is a worthy goal both employees and management can support. Following these three tips puts your organization on a path towards improved productivity.

When you need additional insights on building and managing a competitive technology team, talk to the experts at MindFinders. As one of the top IT staffing agencies in the Washington, DC area, we maintain a supply of great candidates able to contribute to your success. Schedule some time with us soon!

Written by Tim Booker, President and CEO of MindFinders, with over 20 years of industry experience.