In September, a legal decision was made that probably feels like a step back to the “old ways of working” for many contemporary employers: The Federal Labour Court declared the tracking of working hours to be compulsory. Admittedly, this does not mean that time clocks have to be installed in offices again, because corresponding software solutions are also permitted. But this obligation has some disadvantages - let's have a look.
Does time tracking still make sense today?
At first, recording working hours sounds sensible from both sides: Employees are protected from unpaid overtime, while employers benefit by having an overview of all working hours. Time recording systems give them an overview of all employees and their attendance - but is such control appropriate in times of data safety and flexible working? In our opinion: Not at all. Companies should offer their employees an open and efficient working environment and not base their motivation to work on completing 8 hours each day.
This is what our time tracking looks like
In order to avoid anyone getting bogged down in work and accumulate countless hours of overtime, we use Kanban. Task management and daily stand-up meetings give insight into the workloads of all employees. This way, it is not time but the actual work that is flexibly "recorded". Within a working day, the motto is: Flexibility is key. Because in addition to a flexible choice of workplace, there is also flextime. We start work between 8 and 10 a.m., and we determine when we finish. If you get everything done in less than 8 hours, you go home - it's that simple!
That's why time tracking is a New Work killer
Of course, New Work is more than being able to sit comfortably in a deck chair with a notebook instead of sitting at a computer in a stuffy office. Time in particular plays a very important role here. The "New Work" practice implies a change in work from something necessary to something individual and fulfilling. In this context, useless obligations such as time tracking are counterproductive: For decades, performance has been measured in terms of attendance and not in terms of actual output. Time-based work fields may still demand this, but in many areas this way of thinking has long been outdated. Instead, task-based daily targets can be set, where the completion of those targets are not related to a set time.. Win-win, then, for employees and employers.
One of the arguments of critics in favour of time tracking is still that employees abuse the trust of their bosses and work much less. We see it differently: In smaller companies like Startup Communication, daily meetings can be held in which everyone gets an insight into each other's tasks. In larger companies, this could also be implemented within departments. If someone has a small workload, work tasks can be redistributed - which in turn helps those who have too much workload. This way, no one is under- or overburdened and, ideally, everyone is happy. And we maintain: Happy and flexible employees who enjoy working.