All posts by chris.vandersluis

timecontrol

FAQ: Dealing with approvals when supervisors are absent?

Question:
How do you deal with approvals when supervisors are absent due to vacation or if a person changes departments?

Answer:
It is a common occurrence for a person to be absent and this is just as
true for managers and supervisors as it is for any other employee.  TimeControl includes an “Alternate User” function that is designed to manage the situation where a supervisor or administrator will be absent and someone else must assume their duties.  A user can set their own Alternate in their Profile area and can define when the privileges of that alternate will expire.  alternate_login.jpgAn Administrator can set an alternate for any user in the User Table.  The Administrator can also determine who should receive email notices from TimeControl for things like missing timesheets.  They can go to the original user, the alternate or both.  In the example at the right, Joe Gardner has logged into TimeControl and is told that he has been assigned as an alternate for Tom Logan.  He can now log in as himself or as Tom.

When the alternate logs into TimeControl, they will be presented with a new intermediate screen after their login which asks who they would like to access the system as.

If alternate_headerthey select the Alternate, then TimeControl will indicate that at the top of the screen. In the example on the right, Joe Gardner has logged in as Tom Logan.

While the Alternate is logged into TimeControl they will see the menu and data selections that the absent person would see but TimeControl always keeps track in the background of who really did approvals or data changes for auditing purposes.

time keeping software, timecontrol

TimeControl Administrator Management

7276253TimeControl is a centralized timesheet system and requires administration as any other centralized system would.  In smaller deployments of 100 users or less, all the responsibility typically falls to one person who helps design the TimeControl implementation and then manages it ongoingly.  But what happens when the deployment is more complex?  Let’s talk for a moment about the Administration Roles and how this work can be distributed to more than one person.   First of all, there are several types of Administrators that are possible:

Technical Administrator

If you have installed TimeControl on premises, you will almost certainly require a Technical Administrator.  If you are subscribed to TimeControlOnline, HMS Software takes care of this responsibility.
The Technical Administrator is typically from the IT department and is responsible to keep the TimeControl system functioning.  They will be responsible for the server TimeControl is installed on, the database that TimeControl is using and technical responsibilities that include the following:

  • System Monitoring
  • System Usage
    • Database storage
    • Log file storage
  • Technical Support
  • Testing and Installing new Upgrades

TimeControl may have been installed with multiple instances to provide a production instance that everyone uses as well as a staging or development instance that is used for testing new updates prior to giving access to the update to everyone.

Main Administrator

Whether you are subscribed to TimeControlOnline or are using TimeControl on premises, you will want a Main TimeControl Administrator who will take charge of the centralized aspects of the system.  This includes being responsible for:

  • Documenting and Maintaining the System Processes
  • Table Maintenance of the Employee, User, Charge, Project, Resource and Rates tables
  • System Preferences
  • Management of User Profiles
  • Archiving of old timesheet data
  • Routine Data Cleanup
    • Deleting or hiding old projects, employees, users, pop-up values etc. so that current users don’t need to go through them as they use the system.

Secondary Administrators (optional)

Larger organizations may divide up some responsibilities to different people in the organization.  It is not unusual in larger deployments for example, to have an HR administrator who will deal with onboarding and offboarding employees who join and leave the company.  They will be responsible to add or remove these employees from TimeControl as part of the overall process of a new employee or one who is leaving.  Some common Secondary Administrators include:

  • HR Administrator
    • Users
    • Employees
    • Internal Rates
    • TimeRequest Wizard
  • Project Administrator
    • Project Table
    • Charge Table
    • Resource Table
    • Assignments
    • Project Rates
  • Costing/Billing Administrator
    • Rate Values

Training for these secondary administrators must ensure that the multiple roles don’t conflict so ensuring that one aspect of the data is the responsibilty of one person is critical.

Some other notes

  • Share the knowledge
    One thing we see often at HMS is a call from a client informing us that their long standing and very knowledgeable TimeControl Administrator has just left and they need to retrain someone “right away”.  While HMS often does such training, it’s important to remember that complete training requires intimate knowledge of your internal processes.  It’s much more effective to have more than one Technical and Main TimeControl Administrator trained and active so that if there is someone missing even for a short time, there is no loss of continuity.
  • Document your system
    No one loves this responsibility but it is important nonetheless.  HMS does system documentation as a matter of course but process documentation is also critical and this is often left to the client to produce.  The more documentation you have for your centralized system, the easier it is to update and to train new people when required.
  • Don’t miss out on what’s new
    When new versions of TimeControl are released, take the opportunity to see what new functionality will be of benefit to your particular deployment.  It is common to skip an update or even if the Technical Administrator updates the system to just keep using it the way you always have without pausing to see if any new or enhanced functionality would be of use to you.  So, take a few minutes, look over the new features and see if there is something there that will make your life easier!

If you need help with Administrator Training, talk to HMS Technical Services at info@hms.ca.

PMI, project management, timecontrol

See us at PMI Westchester April 2nd!

pmiwestchester_300x34.pngWe’ll be on the road next week at the PMI Westchester’s Professional Development Day which takes place April 2nd at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Kisco, NY.

HMS is this year’s Platinum sponsor so attendees will get a chance to talk to HMS personnel about their timesheet needs and see the latest of TimeControl, TimeControlOnline and TimeControl Industrial.

For more information on the conference, see pmiwestchester.org and if you’d like to make an appointment to speak to HMS personnel while you’re at the conference, contact info@hms.ca.

timecontrol

What is the difference between TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial?

industrial_300x180.jpgBoth products are part of the TimeControl family. TimeControl Industrial includes everything that the regular TimeControl has but adds modules and functionality to extend TimeControl in ways that are more appropriate for construction or industrial situations where end users will not be filling in their own timesheets.

Imagine a situation such as a construction site where there might be hundreds or even thousands of workers in the field working on our project today.  They are all managed by supervisors and may even have a time and attendance system to make sure they get paid properly.  But, management is having a terrible time trying to figure out what the exact cost of each project tasks is.  Yet these carpenters, welders, pipefitters and drivers aren’t expected to sit down at a PC and fill out a timesheet.  This is the world that TimeControl Industrial was designed for.  TimeControl supports high-volume entries by supervisors or data entry clerks who enter the timesheet data in crew timesheets on behalf of the employees who have finished their shift.

TimeControl Industrial is popular in industries like mining, heavy construction, utilities and infrastructure operations.  The additional modules in TimeControl Industrial include:

  • Crew timesheet entry
  • Non-Labor entry for materials, equipment and production accomplished entry
  • Extended Labor Rates
  • Extended Non-Labor Rates
  • Crew Management
  • Crew Approvals
  • Non-Labor Approvals

You can find out more about TimeControl Industrial and see it in action at industrial.timecontrol.com.

timecontrol

FAQ: How do I make corrections in a closed timesheet?

balance_debit_credit_dice_250x250Question:
If I need to make a correction in an already closed timesheet, can I do so? And, if so, can I see what was changed?

Answer:
Yes. This has been a part of TimeControl since version 1.0 and it is something that HMS has spent a lot of time on. The function allows you to both remove hours and add hours as you adjust and you can force those changes to balance so we’ve called the function Debit/Credit just as you would in an accounting system. The Debit/Credit function occurs only once the main organizational approval has completed. You can identify every line that has been adjusted and as it must comply with the Defense Contractor Audit Agency, TimeControl must be able to re-create a timesheet as it was first entered at the time by the employee and for each change that occurs. Using the optional balanced Debit/Credit, you can ensure that any adjustments to the timesheet result in the same total that was approved by the supervisor. This allows project managers to redistribute hours from one task to another or even one project to another but not to affect the timesheet totals that may have already been sent to payroll and HR.

Debit/Credit is one of the functions that makes TimeControl completely auditable. For more information about Debit/Credit and how it is used in the Matrix Approval Process, see www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/matrix-approvals.

In the historical timesheet, TimeControl optionally shows the source user of each line and, in the background, we can see the time-date stamp for when the line was saved and posted. When you look at adjustments you can instantly see any reversed lines and their corresponding adjusting lines.

best practices, timecontrol

Just tell us about your week

saving_time_300x200.jpgThere is a feature that you won’t find in TimeControl though it has been asked for more times than any other enhancement request.  The specification usually looks something like this:

“We want TimeControl to automatically populate a timesheet with all the hours that an employee should have done so that they can just click ‘Ok’ if the timesheet is correct and save time.”

“Sorry, we won’t do that,” we reply.

It’s not that we’re being difficult.  In fact client and prospective client feedback is a key source of enhancements in TimeControl.  And it’s not that it would be technically difficult to deliver this feature.  The projected hours could have come from the project plan, for example and populating each cell on a line for that task isn’t a major programming challenge.

No, the difficulty is what would happen if we delivered such a feature.  As desirable as it seems to be for end users, we are certain that the result would be bad data.

Imagine that I ask an employee, “What did you spend your time on this week?”

Instead of answering with hours and tasks, they respond to my question with a question, “What do *you* think I should have spent my time on this week?”

I’d be instantly concerned that if I give my expectations that the feedback I’d receive would be tainted by the employee’s desire to please.

Or, imagine this scenario.  You come to the end of your week and your timesheet happily pops up your expected hours.  “Uh oh,” you think to yourself.  “I can see that I was supposed to spend 35 hours on task #27.  But I didn’t spend a minute on task #27.  I spent 35 hours instead on task #25.”  The pressure you’d feel to put at least *some* hours of your timesheet on task #27 would be enormous.

In the over two decades we’ve been selling TimeControl, we’ve seen these scenarios play out in countless organizations.  It’s not that employees want to lie.  They just don’t want to disappoint their managers.

Here at HMS when we get this request we now know to ask what the client wants this feature for and then we ask what they expect will happen to the quality of data if we were to deliver the feature.  The request always fades away.  As it should.  After all, life happens to projects.  The chance that something changed between the plans for the week on Monday morning when the week started and Friday when the timesheet was filled out will be the exception, not the rule.

Instead of prompting people with what they should have done, we want TimeControl to ask something very simple: “What did you actually do?”  TimeControl can preload tasks from a project system’s schedule or from personal preferences to save time in looking up those tasks but TimeControl won’t prompt with the hours per day that were expected.  The result is high quality timesheet data and in the end, that’s what will make managers happiest.

For those who are interested in how to save a minute here or a minute there on configuring and entering their timesheet, the TimeControl website has a section on Best Practices for timesheets at www.timecontrol.com/resources/best-practices.

timecontrol

It’s tax time – Are your R&D Tax Credits ready?

r_and_d_chalkboard_300x113In today’s economy, maximizing innovation can make the difference between success and failure.  One way governments help companies to achieve this goal is through Research and Development tax credits.  There are R&D tax credit programs in many countries and regions including the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and the EU.  Governments have determined that offering R&D tax credits benefits citizens in numerous ways including promoting high tech jobs in the region, improving competitiveness of local firms and the long term benefits that come from capitalizing on cutting edge technology.

Every R&D program has reporting standards and controls that allow the government giving the credit to ensure that the funds are being spent on eligible R&D activities.

While there are different rules for R&D tax claim documentation in different jurisdictions, one thing is common: tracking the hours of your R&D workers with timesheet documentation is the best way to prove that the appropriate work was completed by the appropriate personnel.

TimeControl has been used for years by organizations in different countries to document R&D tax claims.  As an activity-based timesheet, TimeControl is ideally suited to deliver on the three levels of R&D financial audit that we refer to as the Triangle Audit.

The TimeControl website contains an R&D tax claim resource portal with tools, white papers, presentations and examples of how TimeControl can be used to help your tax claim process and to free your technical experts from tax claim paper work and get back to innovating!

To find out more about how TimeControl can help with your next R&D tax credit, see our TimeControl Use Case area for R&D or contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

 

SharePoint, SharePoint Timesheet, timecontrol

Leverage SharePoint with TimeControl

Sharepoint_TC_Puzzle_300x257TimeControl is a web timesheet application which has several integration points with TimeControl

SharePoint has emerged over the last few years as Microsoft’s fastest growing product line ever and millions of users now use Microsoft’s collaboration platform as they’re underlying operating environment.  TimeControl has had links to SharePoint since version 2002 and links with SharePoint 2002 – 2016 have all been maintained.

There are several ways SharePoint can be leveraged with TimeControl:

  1. Display platform
    sp_tc6timesheet_300x216TimeControl can be installed and configured to display from within a SharePoint page.  TimeControl is not just a web-part.  It is a complete web application but it was designed from the outset to be able to be displayed inside of SharePoint.
  2. Project/Task link
    TimeControl has a direct transfer link with SharePoint much like the links to other project management tools like Microsoft Project, Microsoft Project Server or Primavera.  The SharePoint link allows a SharePoint list of tasks to be automatically transferred in to TimeControl’s Charge Table along with resource assignments.  Then that list of tasks can be used in TimeControl just like any other project’s charges within the timesheet.  Transfers can be done on demand or on schedule.
  3. Integration TimeControl Data into SharePoint
    TimeControl fully supports Microsoft SQL Server and when TimeControl and SharePoint are installed together they are usually sharing a database server.  This allows SharePoint to take advantage of information in TimeControl directly for SharePoint dashboards made in SQL Server Reporting Services or the Dashboard builder of your choosing.  You can also blend TimeControl’s data into reporting mashups with your SharePoint data.

In addition TimeControl has extensive links with other Microsoft products like Excel and Microsoft Project.

To find out more about how TimeControl can leverage your SharePoint platform, see the use-case solutions page at: www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/sharepoint on the TimeControl.com website.

 

 

timecontrol

FAQ: What PM Systems does TimeControl link with?

Integration_300x227.jpgWe talk often about how TimeControl can link with many different systems but it’s worth taking a moment to talk about the pre-established links that all versions of TimeControl ship with.

Links to and from project management tools must each be designed from two perspectives:

  1. What is the connection mechanism for this project link?
  2. What business rules does this project management system require to pull information and then to push the update data back?

For each project system there are different features that don’t exist in the others.  For example, Primavera has a progress methodology called “Steps”.  TimeControl supports the progress of Steps but there is no such mechanism in Microsoft Project so Steps data doesn’t come in from or go out to Project.

In some systems there are more than one connection mechanism.  For example, Microsoft Project Server can be linked through Microsoft Project or directly with Project Server’s PSI (The application programmable interface for Project Server).

So, what project management tools does every version of TimeControl have a predefined link with?  Here’s a list:

Transfer in Transfer out
Microsoft Project  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Microsoft Project Server  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Oracle-Primavera P6  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Oracle-Primavera EPPM  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Deltek Open Plan  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Deltek Cobra  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
VersionOne  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
SharePoint  checkmark_green_36x30  xmark-red_32x30
Hard Dollar HD PCM  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30

There are numerous resources available on the TimeControl website for each of these links:

For Microsoft Project, Project Server and SharePoint, see these use-case solution areas:

For Oracle-Primavera’s P6 and EPPM, see these use-case solution areas:

For Deltek EPM including Open Plan and Cobra see this use-case solution area:

For VersionOne see this use-case solution area:

For Ineight’s Hard Dollar HD PCM see this use-case solution area:

For all use-cases go to the Use-Case Solutions or contact HMS at info@hms.ca where we’ll be happy to talk to you about your particular needs.

timecontrol

Linking TimeControl with desktop project management software

 When we talk project management systems around HMS it’s most common to hear about Enterprise Project Management systems like Oracle-Primavera’s P6 or Microsoft’s Project Server or Project Server Online.  But we still have an enormous number of clients and prospective clients who are using desktop project systems like Primavera Pro, Microsoft Project Standard  or even Open Plan.  Perhaps it’s not avant garde to talk about stand-alone desktop systems but that should be more of a surprise.  These indivdual tools haven’t lost any of their value and TimeControl has had links to all these systems since it was first conceived.  We’ll be putting together a few posts on this subject in the coming weeks leading up to some collaterals that will appear on the TimeControl website in the coming months.

When clients call to talk about linking TimeControl to their project management system the first question we’re asked is if it even possible and immediately after that how does it work.  It’s not a complicated concept but it’s easiest to think about if you can rewind the clock 15 years and think about computing as you-centric.  Think about linking a corporate timesheet system to your personal on-your-desktop project management system and for a moment, don’t worry about anyone else.

Every version of TimeControl includes bi-directional linking to several desktop project management systems.  Let’s say you’re using the ubiquitous Microsoft Project and you are thinking how awesome it would be if you could just automatically upload all the tasks in your project along with the expected dates and individual assignments to your corporate timesheet system and then, thinking it’s probably too much to hope for, get back from the timesheet system not only the hours each of your team members worked but also the estimate to complete from each of them for the tasks they’re assigned to.

TimeControl does that.

While at your PC, you set up a link in TimeControl to the Microsoft Project file located on your hard drive on your desktop.  You transfer to TimeControl from Project and to Project from TimeControl at the moment of your choosing.  You can do the same thing every week whenever it is convenient for you.

But what if you’re out of town on the top of a mountain where there’s no internet most of the week?  That’s fine.  When you get back off the mountain, do your connection then.  TimeControl’s data will still be standing by for you.

Now, if that works just fine for you, could it work for other project managers in your organization doing the same thing?

Of course.

Now envision a number of project managers, each using the desktop project management tool and version of their choice, using the exact process we’ve described above.  You’d end up with a hub-and-spoke kind of diagram and that’s exactly how TimeControl works.

From the timesheet user perspective, they don’t even know and probably don’t care where the definitions of those tasks they work on came from.  An individual might actually have lines on their timesheet that began in 3, 4 or 5 different desktop project management systems.  Should they care what system the project manager is using when they’re doing their timesheet?  Why?  It’s enough that they enter the time that they worked on each tasks and the estimate to complete to finish that task.

Linking TimeControl with your desktop project management tool means you can be centralized for functionality that is important for you to manage and collect centrally and decentralized for functionality that would be better for you to allow to be managed by individuals.

You can find out more about the project systems that TimeControl already has links to at: www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/project-tracking.