Maintaining productivity can be challenging at the best of times, but when you add in complications like working remotely, managing households while managing teams and projects, or the ever-increasing barrage of digital distractions, it can seem downright impossible.
Like any undertaking, the work is made easier when you have the right tools – especially when those tools work together to streamline your workflow and give you a single source of truth to help you stay on track. But when you’re dealing with time tracking software, plus a constantly growing tech stack, where do you begin?
Integrations. Period!
When you have the right time tracking software in place, smart integrations will help you pull together all the resources and tools you need to get a big-picture view of how your team is spending time and make adjustments quickly and efficiently.
At Replicon, we offer ready-to-connect integrations to solve our customers’ biggest challenges, and when a solution isn’t ready-made, we customize it for them.
If you’re looking to integrate to create a more powerful and robust time tracking workflow, we’ve got the top three integrations types you need to add to your software right now. But first, with the vast amount of integrations available, what should you be looking for?
Key Qualities of Effective Integrations for Best Time Tracking Software in 2021
Make sure the integrations you choose meet most or all of these qualifications:
- A tool you already use and are familiar with
- Fulfills a specific need you have
- Has a low learning curve, easy adoption and implementation, and a positive user experience
- Provides real-time data and insight
- Saves you time and hassle by integrating seamlessly with your time tracking software
Ready to get started? Here are the top three types of integrations we recommend beginning with:
Project Management/Collaboration Tools Integrations
Spreadsheets just don’t cut it anymore. Managing complex projects with large teams and multiple stakeholders takes the kind of power Excel just can’t provide.
Plus, in our increasingly remote workforce, you need a tool that not only allows for collaboration but encourages it.
Five Ideas on How to Become Better at Remote Project Management
What to look for in a project management integration for any time tracking software?
- Cloud-based system so your team can access information anytime, anywhere
- Real-time data and insights so you can keep an eye on metrics and adapt as needed
- Collaborative spaces for team communication
- Scalability to grow with your business
- Dynamic workflows to keep your process moving forward
Our top picks for project management integrations:
1. MS Project:
Microsoft knows as well as anyone the limitations of using Excel for project management, and this is their answer.
Get global visibility into project milestones, tasks, and resources so you can make smart decisions and sync and implement them easily with your existing time tracking software .
2. Slack:
Slack is a key tool for instantaneous team collaboration. Create channels by team, client, or project goal, and protect those with sensitive information by making them private.
Slack offers a great platform for remote workers to stay connected, gives you the opportunity to recognize good work and share with the entire team, and allows you to host virtual video meetings.
3. Asana:
Give your team a robust platform to manage project progress, track goals, and stay on-target with Asana. This intuitive system allows you to create projects by client, assign tasks, and store all your information in one location.
Create a visual dashboard that works for you, whether lists, tiles, or boards, and take advantage of reporting features so you always know what your team is working on and how much progress they’ve made.
CRM/ERP Integrations
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools create connections with your clients and with your team.
While the first helps you manage your customers, the second helps you manage your business. You can find both capabilities in numerous integrations, or choose a unique system for each if that better suits your needs.
What to look for in a CRM/ERP integration:
- Cloud-based platform with real-time insights
- Security features to keep customers’ data private and protected
- Cohesive and seamless integration between CRM and ERP to manage both front-end and back-end processes
- Automated workflows to improve efficiency and eliminate errors
- Single or integrated platform to avoid data duplication
Our top picks for CRM/ERP integrations:
1. Salesforce:
Seamless CRM integration offers a powerful platform to manage customer data and business performance on client engagements.
Salesforce is mobile, agile, and easy to implement, offering automated features and configurable, customizable solutions.
2. Oracle:
Oracle offers in-depth automation for both CRM and ERP, cutting down on the hassle of manually managing customer and business data.
The platform is cloud-based and designed to serve a wide variety of industries from healthcare to retail to construction.
3. Microsoft Dynamics:
Agile and innovative, Microsoft Dynamics offers a broad suite of CRM and ERP applications that help you manage everything from financials and operations to sales and marketing.
With promises to delight your customers and streamline business processes, Dynamics is a great all-in-one integration.
HRMS Integrations
Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS) are key integrations to connect to your time tracking platform.
HRMS, working in conjunction with time tracking software, will allow you to swiftly and accurately manage payroll, schedule and assign team members, and keep track of their information.
What to look for in an HRMS integration:
- Self-service features that allow team members to input their own data to reduce admin time
- Benefits management to track PTO, sick leave, and vacation time
- Focus on workforce management
- Real-time analytics and seamless flow of data between programs
- Data security to protect team member privacy
Our top picks for HRMS integrations:
1. Namely:
Integrating Namely with your time tracking software makes payroll a snap by centralizing the capture of all your time data and ensuring it is accurate and ready to be paid or billed.
It offers a quick launch and helps you eliminate redundancy and save time.
2. BambooHR:
Avoid bottlenecks and implement fast approvals with Bamboo.
Their focus on customer service ensures issues are resolved quickly, and you’ll be able to get back to focusing on people instead of paperwork.
3. Workday:
Workday’s platform is agile and adaptable to meet any business need. It also provides key insights into skills and capabilities for efficient and effective resource management, plus real-time insight into analytics to make smart & informed decisions.
Time tracking platform integrations do more than boost your productivity – they lighten your workload and give you back time, so you can allocate it to more important tasks.
Look into your time tracking software to find out what ready-to-use integrations they offer, and if you don’t see what you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to ask!
Wendi Williams is a writer for Replicon , a time intelligence company that provides hassle-free time tracking software. Wendi is based in Indianapolis, IN, and has over a decade of experience writing for a variety of industries from healthcare to manufacturing to nonprofit.
wendi@firstpagestrategy.com
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