What Every Business Can Gain from the Time Reporting Culture

Like most public relations consultants, I bill clients for the time I spend on their behalf.  So do all my colleagues.  A combination of time and expertise is our product, and, like any other product company, we have an obligation to ensure that our customers – our clients – receive the maximum benefit from the product we provide.

Because of this, we take great care to track our time and analyze it carefully.  I can tell you exactly how I spent just about every minute of every work day over the past several decades, including, with just a little effort, how the time I worked addressed the business objectives of our clients.

It is a fundamental part of my industry’s culture.  Right now, every public relations consultant is in one way or another making note of what he or she is doing and how long it is taking.  They are asking:  “Can I justify billing someone for this ten-minute increment, this hour, this day?”

This practice serves not only as a reporting mechanism, but as an extremely powerful motivator.

If you have ever started a new diet, the first step is often to write down everything you eat over several days.  This not only creates a record of our consumption, but causes us to think about whether or not we really should eat that next bite of something.   As a result, most of us eat more wisely.  We become more efficient.

And so it is with time reporting.  My time reporting program is up and running all day, causing me to continually think about what I am doing, how long it is taking and how long it should take.  I think about what I should do next and how much time that should require.

And that causes me to be more efficient.  Like the dieter who hesitates before eating the donut, I hesitate to waste much time during the day.  (Of course I allow time for mental breaks, call my wife to check on her day, enjoy a walk to clear the mind, but not to extreme.)

If your business does not incorporate time reporting, I urge you to give it a try.  Give yourself a one-week challenge to track how you spend your time. You don’t need fancy software; just write down every task during your business day, every phone call, every meeting, every correspondence, plus every break, personal call and conversation about last night’s big game.  Note the time you start, the time you finish and the total time spent on each of these tasks.

I promise you will work smarter and your productivity will increase.  Now, imagine if every member of your company did the same thing and how that might impact your business.

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