Are you using Monday.com to track your team’s time? It seems like it should be straightforward. But what if your Monday time tracker isn’t giving you the insights you need? You’re not alone! Many users find the native time tracking features in Monday.com a bit…lacking. Let’s dive into the challenges of using Monday.com for time tracking and hint at a solution that’s on the horizon.
Is the Monday Time Tracker Right for You?
First, let’s talk about setting up the time tracking column. It seems simple, but there are a few things you need to know upfront.
Plan Requirements
To even access the time tracking column, you’ll need to be on the Pro or Enterprise plan. If you’re on a Basic or Standard plan, you won’t see this feature. Is it worth the upgrade just for time tracking? Maybe not. It depends on how much you value that functionality. If you’re curious about Monday’s different plans and pricing, you can check out their pricing page to see if it’s the right fit for your business.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Okay, so you’re on the right plan. Now what? Adding the column is pretty easy.
- Click “Add Column.”
- Click “More Columns.”
- Search for “Time Tracking.”
- Select the Time Tracking column and add it to your board.
Once it’s added, you’ll notice there aren’t a ton of customization options. One setting you might find useful is “Show Seconds.” This lets you track time with more precision.
Mastering the Basics: Starting, Stopping, and Editing Time Entries
Now that you’ve got the column set up, let’s go over the basics of tracking time.
Basic Time Tracking Functions
To start the timer, just click the play button. To stop it, click the pause button. Simple, right? But this is where the problems can start. More on that in a bit!
Editing Time Entries
Need to adjust a time entry? No problem. Just click on the cell in the time tracking column.
- Manually Updated Sessions: You’ll see manually updated sessions marked in red, so you know they’ve been adjusted.
- Adding Time: You can also add time manually. By default, it creates a one-hour session ending at the current time.
Unveiling the Frustrations: Key Issues with Monday.com’s Native Time Tracking
Okay, let’s get to the good stuff – the problems! While Monday.com’s time tracking seems straightforward, it has some serious limitations.
Overlapping Time Entries
The system tries to prevent overlapping time entries for the same user within the same item. But here’s the catch: you can add overlapping entries to different items. This can create a real mess if you’re not careful. How do you keep track of it?
The “Tiny Button” Problem
The start/stop timer button is small. Really small. It’s easy to miss, which means it’s easy to forget you have a timer running. This leads to inaccurate data and frustration.
Multiple Timers Running Simultaneously
Yep, you guessed it. You can have multiple timers running for the same person at the same time. This is a recipe for disaster! Can you trust the data you collect?
Cross-Board Chaos
You can add the time tracking column to any board. Imagine starting a timer on one board, switching to another, and completely forgetting about the running timer. You might not even remember which board the timer is on! Finding and stopping that timer can be a nightmare.
Automation as a Partial Solution
You can use automations to start and stop the time tracking column based on status changes. For example, when a status column changes to “Working on it,” the time tracking column starts. When it changes to something else, it stops. It helps make things more visual.
While automations help, they aren’t perfect. You still need to set them up correctly, and they don’t solve all the problems.
Reporting Roadblocks: Why Native Reporting Falls Short
So, you’re diligently tracking time. Now you want to see some reports. Unfortunately, this is where Monday.com’s time tracking really falls apart.
Lack of Column Summaries
There are no column summaries for the time tracking column. You can’t easily see the total time worked within a specific date range. This makes it hard to get a quick overview of your team’s efforts.
Multiple Dates in One Total
Time entries from different dates are bundled together. This makes it difficult to filter and analyze your data accurately. You need to know what’s happening!
Formula Column Workaround (and its Limitations)
Some users try to work around this by creating a formula column to extract the hours and create a sum. Here’s a conceptual example:
CONCATENATE({Time Tracking Column}," hours")
While this gives you a sum, you still can’t filter by date. So, you’re stuck with a total that includes time from multiple days. Not very helpful, right?
The Time Tracking Widget: A Disappointment
Monday.com offers a time tracking widget as another reporting option. But honestly, it’s not great.
- Limited Information Display: The widget displays very little information. You don’t get enough context about the tasks, deals, or projects being tracked.
- Setup and Configuration: You need to assign time tracking to specific people and choose specific time tracking sessions.
- Dashboard View: You can pull data from multiple boards in a dashboard view. But even then, the information is limited.
A Glimmer of Hope: A Native, Free, and Automatic Solution on the Horizon
Here’s the exciting part! A better solution is coming. It’s designed to address the limitations of th&e native Monday time tracker. This upcoming solution will be:
- Native: It’ll integrate seamlessly with Monday.com.
- Free: You won’t have to pay extra for it.
- Automatic: It’ll simplify the time tracking process.
- Improved Reporting: It’ll offer better insights into your team’s time usage.
Stay tuned for more information about this upcoming solution. It promises to make time tracking in Monday.com much more effective and user-friendly.