TimeTac Case Study

Challenges

Excel as a Time Tracking Tool Does Not Meet the Requirements Anymore

Greenpeace had been using a different time tracking system before TimeTac. However, in many aspects, this soon no longer met the requirements of an international organization with a large number of locations and employees. Director of Technology Florian Bolka describes the situation as follows:

"Our previous time tracking system was based purely on Excel and soon could no longer meet our needs. We have employees in eight countries and international colleagues who work from our site for other countries. This is the main reason why this time tracking system has reached its limits."

Because of the limited functionalities, the desire for a modern, web-based time tracking system grew. For example, it was not possible to track working time on different tasks within one day. In addition, it was not possible to enter multiple breaks. This data, therefore, did not reflect the employees' working days 100% accurately.

According to Florian Bolka, time tracking via Excel was also time-consuming, inconvenient, and not very user-friendly. It was precisely this outdated way of tracking working time that resulted in very low motivation on the employees' side to use the tool.

Therefore, Greenpeace decided to consider another time tracking system that could meet the organization's needs in terms of internationality, full transparency also for colleagues, specific and individual timestamps, and usability for the user.

The Solution

Practical Functions and Transparency for All

Through internet research, Florian Bolka came across TimeTac's time tracking system. After a thorough examination, it became clear that TimeTac could meet the organization's needs.

These needs include particular functions. For example, it must be possible to define different working time models and to change them flexibly. Similarly, individual teams at Greenpeace need their own individual tasks and projects, but these are not important for other teams. With TimeTac, employees can be assigned working time models that have already been preset or defined themselves, which can be flexibly changed or switched afterward. Projects and tasks are created individually in TimeTac. Depending on which team or department is responsible for the project, it is assigned. Due to the flexibility to track breaks or switch between tasks and projects at any time, accurate and traceable tracking can be guaranteed.

As already mentioned, international usability plays a significant role in the organization. TimeTac's time tracking system is available in several languages and also offers holiday calendars for many countries. In this way, cross-national usage is possible.

Full transparency is also essential to Mr. Bolka:

"Everyone should be able to see who is currently in the office or available outside the home/home office. Easier coordination of leave days and other absences, which also offers cross-team and cross-departmental insight, is also an added value for us."

TimeTac's status overview provides a clear overview of colleagues: Who is present, who is working in the home office, who is on break, and who is on vacation is visible at a glance. In addition, employees can view their direct colleagues' scheduled leave days and absences, given that they are authorized to do so. In this way, there are no collisions or misunderstandings when it comes to scheduling leave days. Requesting leave days or other absences is also very simple: The employee submits a request in the system, which is then forwarded to the responsible manager. The manager can then approve or reject the request with a single click while at the same time keeping an eye on the employee's remaining holiday entitlement.