Disclaimer: Evermenu is a third-party application developed by SOTFUL, not by Everhour. Any issues or feedback should be directed to the developer.

Evermenu Website
https://www.sotful.com/evermenu.html

Evermenu macOS App
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/evermenu/id1664905661?mt=12

What is Evermenu?

Evermenu is a dedicated macOS Menu Bar App designed to work with Everhour, providing users with a simple, streamlined way to manage their time. With Evermenu, you can:

• Easily Start/Stop Time Tracking: Directly from the menu bar or using keyboard shortcuts, you can start or stop tracking time for your current task.
• Quickly Access Recent Tasks: Start tracking time on any recent task or search for any specific task you have access to.
• Idle Detection and Reminders: Evermenu detects if you’re idle and prompts you to confirm if you’re still working. It also stops tracking time automatically if there’s no response and reminds you to resume tracking to ensure accurate time logs.

Why Evermenu?

The team at SOTFUL created Evermenu because they use Everhour in their daily operations and wanted an even more efficient way to manage time tracking on macOS. By integrating Everhour with their new app, they aim to provide a solution that offers more flexibility and quicker access to time management features.

How to Set Up Evermenu with Everhour

Setting up Evermenu to work with Everhour is straightforward. Here’s a quick guide:

1. Ensure You Have an Everhour Account: You must have an active Everhour account to use Evermenu.
2. Get Your Everhour API Token: You’ll need your API Token to connect Evermenu with Everhour. Visit your Everhour Profile to access your API Token. Follow the steps in the “My Profile” section to copy your token.
3. Connect Evermenu to Everhour: Once you have your API Token, open Evermenu and enter the token to link your Everhour account.

For more detailed instructions, you can visit the Evermenu Help Section.

Stay Up-to-Date with Evermenu

The Evermenu team is actively developing new features and improving the app based on user feedback. For instance, the recently approved version 24.2 introduces features like Recent Tasks, Search Task, and Resume Working Popup.

You can learn more about Evermenu, its latest updates, and version history on the Evermenu Website.

A Note from Evermenu’s Developers

SOTFUL, the developers behind Evermenu, expressed their excitement about this collaboration and are open to further partnerships. If you have any questions or need support related to Evermenu, please reach out to the Evermenu team directly via their website.

We hope you find Evermenu a helpful addition to your time management toolkit!

The post Introducing Evermenu: A New Way to Track Time with Everhour appeared first on Everhour Blog.

However, modern-day technology and software offer a wide range of useful tools to turn remote work into dream work.

Team Collaboration Tools for Remote Work

Team collaboration is a must regardless you are working in the same room or remotely. Because you always need to discuss something with your teammates. Hence, we have picked two team communication tools for you. Let’s see what is what and whether you can use them effectively or not.

Workplace

Workplace is like a private Facebook for businesses. You can use it for making company-wide announcements, having casual conversations, etc. The interface is cool and easy to use. This is mostly because we all know Facebook too well and we can deal with it too easily.

Generally, people don’t like change and it takes time to grow accustomed to any new software. But Workplace’s entire selling point is that it isn’t a change and everyone already knows parkit4d how to use it. So you can try and see how it goes for your team.

Facebook announced that they aim for Workplace to appeal to everyone from CEOs to factory workers to baristas. 

The workplace offers the basic Facebook features we all know like mentioning, liking, and commenting. If you want your team to actively socialize and get to know one another well, then Workplace can be the right choice!

Last but not least, I have much more faith in the infrastructure, servers, and expertise of Facebook to prevent any kind of downtime in the workplace.

Slack

Slack is sure one of the best communication tools for remote work. 

Slack allows for making company-wide announcements, notifying everyone about them, create different channels and group chats for different projects. It’s a great way of collaborating in small teams. This will give you the feeling of a real office. But the learning curve for Slack might be bigger for new users, especially non-techies/busy people.

Plus be careful with it, since it’s a real-time communication tool and if you have a large team, you might not be able to catch up to what is being said and done by the team on Slack. It’s a good idea to set up rules and guidelines for using Slack. Your employees should be able to use Slack in a way so as not to distract others or get distracted themselves.

While Facebook Workplace and Slack are communication tools for remote work, they have quite a lot of differences. The workplace is more social-wise and Slack is more project-wise.

RE pricing, both the platforms have a free version, Workplace has an advantage in the pricing of the premium version. Slack costs about $6.67 per user for the Standard paid version, and $12.50 for the Plus version. Workplace costs $3 per month per user, and down to $1 a month per user for groups over 10,000.

On the integration side, Slack offers hundreds of apps like Google Docs, Asana, Dropbox, etc. The workplace hasn’t mentioned much but has said this is intentional. They want to focus more on usage and engagement before working on integrations. The only challenge for Workplace is to convince employers in terms of allowing their staff to Facebooking all day 🙂

File-Sharing Tools

Communication is great. However, the actual work most of the time is done on files, spreadsheets, and documents. So, you need proper tools to share them with your team. Let’s see what tools you can use for file sharing and real-time collaboration.

Google Docs

Uncle Google can do it all for you. Whether you need to share documents in a word format, excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations, Google is there for you.

Note that you can manage access to each and every Google document you are creating. You can grant someone access to only view it or offer suggestions. One great feature of Google Docs is that several people can work on it in real-time and they all are able to see the changes made by their co-workers. Also, people can chat while working on the same document.

You can use Google Docs as a place to store your stock photos purchased from paid photo stocks or downloaded from free stocks. And you can have different folders for different projects or team members.

Google Docs is like a virtual shelf where you can store all your important project-related information.

Dropbox

Dropbox is another tool for file sharing and collaboration. All teams have those PDFs and scanned invoices and PowerPoint presentations that they are no more using. However, they just keep it because why not? You might need them one day.

Dropbox is the answer!

While Google Docs is good for sharing and collaborating, Dropbox is just perfect for storing files and then forgetting about them. Kidding, it’s a really good place to keep your stuff like HR and legal paperwork, third-party documents, and any other form of virtual data. Both services are good!

One problem I see with Google Drive is that it is very confusing, probably because all of its services (G+, Google Photos, Drive) are interlinked. Dropbox, on the other hand, is very simple and easy to use.

In terms of privacy, with DropBox, you own your data. With Google Drive – they own your data.

Project Management Tools

We all love projects and we all work on them. And, accordingly, we all use some kind of project management tool. Some of them are good, others are better. It’s a matter of features,  compatibility, and of course, personal preference.

We have a very detailed review of the 14 best project management tools. Read to decide which one fits your needs the most.  

Time Tracking, Reporting, and Invoicing tools

It is a good idea to have a project management tool in place. And it is even a better idea to add a time tracking software for remote teams too. This will help see how much of the planned work has been completed successfully and even how productively you have been working. Pick the best time tracking software and you won’t regret it!

Did you know that employee reporting issues cost $1,085 on average per employee per year? Or that the average time employees incorrectly report is 4.5 hours/week – the equivalent of 6 weeks of vacation.

Everhour

Everhour is a time clock app and an attendance tracker, a tool number one for time tracking, reporting, and invoicing built on top of the most popular project management tools. It offers transparent time tracking by integrating such tools as Asana, Trello, Basecamp,  ClickUp, Jira, GitHub, Teamwork, and BitBucket. You can set up your Monday time tracking or Jira time tracking easily with one click!

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Everhour allows finding out who is working on what in real time. In addition, if someone in the team fails to report time, you can track it really easy with the help of the tool. Also, you can get summary emails weekly and see how many hours each of your employees has worked.

Over 1,000 companies are using Everhour already. Join the fun and increase your team productivity through accurate time tracking at work and monitoring.

Bonus: Here is another detailed review of the best time tracking apps for freelancers and companies.

Video Calls and Screen Sharing

Chatting might be helpful if you want to share ideas. However, there can be topics you might want to talk about in person. And since the distance does not allow that, you can use video calling tools. Screen sharing is another must-have for remote work because sometimes showing something might be way more helpful than texting about it.

Whereby

Whereby will be just perfect for those who hate installing extensions or web applications. Your online experience will be completely browser-based. No need to install anything or create an account. You just have to share the URL of your meeting room with the team.

Whereby is a really good way of conducting quick video calls. Also, you can share your screen and present something. It’s as easy as one-two-three. You can join Whereby from any device.

And you can then lock the chat room as soon as all the participants are in. This is an extra measure of privacy.

Zoom  

Zoom is a video conferencing and web conferencing tool. While Appear.in is just perfect for small teams or for personal use, Zoom is more like an enterprise tool. You can use it to conduct webinars and online events as well as use Zoom to empower your apps with video, voice, and screen sharing. Over 750,000 businesses use Zoom, and so can you!

Appear.in seems to be peer-to-peer. That means the experience is only as good as your weakest link. And for a lot of our conversations, there’s always one teammate with a bad connection 🙂

Privacy, Security, and Password Management

You do not always want to share passwords with people. On the other hand, you might want to give them access to the apps or tools you are using. What to do then? Well, you can use password management tools across your teams and give access to whoever you want to.

1Password

1Password is a useful tool to store all your passwords and logins in one place. You can create strong passwords that your team won’t need to remember. And you can easily add new team members and grant them permission to see/use the passwords.

NordPass

NordPass is another awesome tool for remote work. It has a zero-knowledge architecture that guarantees your passwords are safe and there won’t be any breach in your security system.

Now that you have 10 awesome tools for remote work, you know what to choose from. Start planning and delegating work to your team. Some tools might be more helpful based on a specific work scenario. Choose from what you have and get started.

When making your selection, consider Everhour for its comprehensive time tracking and project management capabilities, ensuring seamless collaboration and productivity. Do not forget to leave us a comment below. Happy remote working!

The post 9 Best Remote Work Tools in 2024 appeared first on Everhour Blog.

What’s New in This Release

Our goal is to make managing tasks within Internal Projects more intuitive and efficient. With this release, we have made significant changes to how task details are displayed.

Now, when you click on a task within an Internal Project, the task details will open in a sidebar. This new layout provides more space for task information, comments, and future enhancements.

This sidebar view is specific to tasks accessed from the Internal Projects page. If you navigate to a task from other pages, it will still appear in a modal, similar to tasks from integration projects.

Adding Comments to Tasks

We have also introduced the ability to leave comments on tasks.

Currently, comments are in free text format without any formatting options. Users can edit or delete their comments, and this functionality will be improved over time.

On the board/list view, you will now see a counter displaying the number of comments on each task. This helps keep track of discussions and updates directly within the task.

Future Enhancements

This release is just the beginning. As we continue to improve our Internal Projects, you can expect to see additional features such as attachments, subtasks, custom fields, and more.

One of the most important features is the Inbox, which will serve as a notification center. The Inbox will display all notifications to keep you informed about project activities, comments and updates.

Summary

• Task Details Sidebar: Task details now open in a sidebar on the Internal Projects page, providing more space and a better user experience.
• Commenting: Users can leave, edit, and delete comments on tasks. Comments are currently in free text format.
• Comment Counter: The board/list view displays a counter for the number of comments on each task.
• Future Features: Look forward to attachments, subtasks, custom fields, and an Inbox notification center.

We are committed to continuously improving our platform and making it easier for you to manage your projects. Your feedback is invaluable, so please try out these new features and let us know your thoughts.

Thank you for being a part of our community, and we look forward to bringing you even more enhancements soon!

The post Internal Projects: New Task Details and Comments appeared first on Everhour Blog.

For example, if an employee is entitled to 24 vacation days annually, these days can be calculated from their hire date or calendar year. Given that each employee has a different start date, it can be challenging to determine the exact number of available days at any given time. This feature solves that problem.

Setting Up Allocations

Admins can create allocations by navigating to the Time Off tab. A new “Create Allocation” button has been added to the header, along with a new “Allocations” column that displays the current balance for each employee.

1. Period: Define the period for the allocation (e.g., one year).
2. Frequency: Choose how the days will be accrued.
3. Days: Enter the total number of days to be accrued.
4. Carried Over Balance: Carry over unused days from the previous period.
5. Restrict Over-Allocation Requests: Prevents users from requesting more days than they have available if checked.
6. Mark Allocation as Complete: Marks the allocation as finished, so these days are not added to the total balance.

Clicking the edit icon opens a table-popover showing all allocations, used days, and the remaining balance for the selected user.

Employee and Admin Transparency

Employees requesting time off can easily see their current balance, ensuring they are aware of how many days they have left.

If an employee attempts to request more days than they have available, and the “Restrict Over-Allocation Requests” option is enabled, a warning message will appear: “Insufficient allocated days to proceed with time off.”

This prevents the creation of the time off request, ensuring both the admin and the employee are always informed about the available days.

Benefits of the Feature

• Accurate Tracking: Admins can always know the exact number of days an employee has available, reducing errors and misunderstandings.
• Employee Awareness: Employees have clear visibility of their time off balance when making requests.
• Flexibility in Allocation: Days can be allocated all at once or gradually, depending on the company’s policy.
• Seamless Management: Easily carry over unused days and manage allocations with intuitive tools.

We Value Your Feedback

We believe the “Time Off Accrual” feature will greatly enhance your ability to manage and track employee vacation days. As always, your feedback is crucial. Please try out this new feature and let us know how it works for you. Your insights help us to continuously improve and better serve your needs.

Thank you for being a part of our community, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts!

The post Introducing the “Time Off Accrual” Feature appeared first on Everhour Blog.

1. Take stock

Before you can even begin to engage in a time management plan, it’s essential to know what you’re actually spending your time doing. You might be surprised to learn that you spend way more time than you think returning emails and answering messages, which is the first step to understanding how to trim down that time, or if that’s not an option, how to accommodate that time and adjust other things in your day around it.

Who it’s good for: Anyone looking to optimize their time management. This technique is particularly useful for professionals overwhelmed by tasks and needing to identify time drains.

2. Plan For The Next Day

Before you close up shop and end your workday, sit down with your planner, calendar, or whatever you use to keep track of your to-do lists and what you need to get done. 

Write down a list of the most important things you have to do the next day, and then make sure you have everything you need to hit the ground running when you get back to your desk in the morning. Tidy up, make sure everything’s charged, sticky notes stuck, etc. 

It doesn’t hurt to keep a daily calendar of inspirational images on your desk or quotes on time management as a homepage in your browser. You’d be surprised how much a clever or insightful phrase can motivate!

26 Famous Time Management Quotes to Motivate You and Your Team

A master list of the best time management quotes out there to keep you inspired and away from procrastination.

Who it’s good for: Busy professionals, students, and anyone with a hectic schedule. This technique helps individuals who need structure and a clear plan to start their day effectively.

3. Organize Your Morning Routine

When we follow an easy, low-maintenance morning routine, it sets the stage for the mood for the rest of the day. Even if it’s just a shower, coffee, and breakfast before you even look at anything work-related, make it a ritual, it doesn’t have to be a big deal as long as it puts you in a space of relaxed focus. 

When you do get to your desk, be mindful of your time when you read and respond to emails and messages to make sure you’re staying on track, then revisit the task list you made the night before and prioritize them based on new information you may have received through any new emails and messages, deadlines, etc. 

Time blocking is an excellent method for prioritizing your tasks and staying on track. For more information about time blocking and how it works check out: 

Time Management Worksheet for Accurate Time Blocking

How to make all your tasks manageable, organize your time effectively, and digitize your diary with this time blocking technique.

Who it’s good for: Individuals who struggle with starting their day on the right foot. This is especially beneficial for those who find mornings chaotic or who want to boost productivity from the outset.

4. Put Unpleasant Tasks First

Start achieving your daily goals by completing the most unpleasant tasks first. The reasoning behind this is twofold: first, your focus is sharper and less fatigued at the beginning of the day, you’re able to think more clearly and efficiently. The second is perhaps more important when it comes to stress – if you procrastinate, that task will loom over you. Just get it out of the way, it’ll feel so good to strike it off your to-do list and that weight will be lifted. (BTW, this time management technique is particularly useful for students.)

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Who it’s good for: People who procrastinate or feel overwhelmed by daunting tasks. Ideal for anyone who needs to tackle tough tasks head-on to prevent them from hanging over their heads all day.

5. Pad Your Schedule

ALWAYS budget more time than you predict you’ll need to complete a task, not only because sometimes you’ll need more time than you expected, but also because you need some time to come up for air.

When your watch or timer tells you to stand up, do it! Take a quick walk to get the circulation flowing, and clear your head. Oh, and unless you’re a robot, you may need a bathroom break or two.

Who it’s good for: Professionals and students who often find themselves running out of time. Useful for anyone needing to account for unexpected interruptions and avoid burnout.

6. Eliminate Distractions

When starting a new task our brain takes time to get accustomed to it. This means that if we get distracted, we need time to get back to the same level of concentration. Besides, nothing is more frustrating than spending some time devising how you’ll approach the task, then just as you’re ready to dig into it, someone texts you with something unimportant. Now you’ve lost your pace and have to refocus to start over!

No one loves that, so eliminate as many distractions as possible. Turn off your cell phone to avoid pop-up messages and social media, find a comfortable place away from noises and talkative colleagues, and consider using the Pomodoro technique.

How to use Pomodoro technique to dramatically increase your focus and productivity

Could a simple kitchen timer in the shape of tomato make a MASSIVE difference in organizing your daily routine?

Who it’s good for: Those who work in environments prone to interruptions or who struggle with focus. This technique is beneficial for anyone needing a quiet, distraction-free workspace.

7. Communicate

While eliminating distracting factors helps you concentrate, we do recommend reaching out and communicating when it can save you some time and brain overload.

One well-formed question to the right person can save you hours of work or scrolling through the internet in search of the answer! Also, it’s a good way to build a great working relationship with your coworkers and ensure that your team members are in sync with each other.

Who it’s good for: Team members and collaborators who need to coordinate tasks or clarify uncertainties. Essential for anyone working in team settings or remote environments where communication is key.

8. Avoid Multitasking

Experts have been saying for years that multitasking has a negative effect on our brains and our productivity. It reduces our ability to concentrate which opens us up for more mistakes, more time wasted fixing avoidable mistakes, and more stress. 

One of the ways we can avoid multitasking is to use project management software – Asana is one of the crowd favorites – and a time tracker that seamlessly integrates with it. When working in conjunction with one another, they systematize your tasks in order and help review the estimated time you’re spending on each. 

Reviewing the time you and your team spend on tasks throughout the day or week is a key part of time management in other ways, too. It gives you a leg-up by providing insight into how efficiently you and your team used resources for past projects, so you can plan future projects more efficiently knowing how much time and other resources you’ll need to complete specific tasks, and who is best suited for what tasks.

Who it’s good for: Individuals who find themselves juggling multiple tasks at once and experiencing decreased productivity. Particularly useful for those needing to focus deeply on specific tasks.

9. Delegate

Delegation is one of the best ways to get some of those things off your plate that are eating your time. If there’s someone you work with (or who works for you) that can do that task just as well or better, team up and ask for some help, particularly if you see that person’s schedule allows it. This isn’t confined to the work environment, either. Ask for help with tasks at home so you can get in a little more downtime. 

Also, learn to say no. If someone invites you to lunch and you know it’s going to end up as a two-hour social call, take a rain check for when you may have a little more time to spare.

Who it’s good for: Managers, team leaders, and anyone feeling overwhelmed by their workload. This technique is useful for people who need to distribute tasks effectively to manage their time better.

10. Reward Yourself! 

Give yourself extra incentive to be productive by taking time out to do things that you enjoy after completing a particular task or project – especially the ones you were least looking forward to.

Even if it’s just a run down to your favorite coffee shop or 15 minutes catching up with friends on social media, giving your brain a signal to relax and enjoy can provide you the extra bit of energy you could use to get through the rest of the day. (Another reason why we like the Pomodoro Technique!)

Who it’s good for: Anyone needing motivation to complete tasks. This technique is great for individuals who find it hard to stay motivated throughout the day or week.

11. Read Time-Management Literature

If you want to implement time management techniques fully, you need to develop many skills – concentration, task prioritization, building a routine, consistency, and others. All of them require hard work, and if you want to get results, just one article isn’t enough. It may take time to find a solution that works for you.

We humbly suggest you should do some homework. Read some books by the pros to figure out what works best for you, and what doesn’t:

Top 5 productivity books that are totally worth reading

Here we’ve gathered some of the best books on productivity that you might like, just to get you started. 

Who it’s good for: Those looking to deepen their understanding of time management techniques. Ideal for individuals interested in exploring new methods and improving their overall time management skills.

12. Try New Trends

By implementing a new or unusual approach to scheduling, like the 9/80 work schedule, for instance, you may find your productivity increase while your stress decreases.

We’re also big fans of time management games and activities. They’re great for getting out of the rut of traditional time management techniques for a while and exercising your creativity. Plus they’re fun! (Many of these can be done during virtual meetings, too).

Who it’s good for: People who are stuck in a rut with traditional time management methods. This technique is perfect for those looking to refresh their approach and experiment with innovative strategies.

Time Management Techniques: Final Word

As you undoubtedly already noticed, a lot of us beat ourselves up over the things we “should” do. Sometimes, the stress we experience is self-inflicted.

Time management is definitely a key factor in helping us decrease that stress, but it won’t do us a ton of good if we’re stressed about following our time management plan. Ease into your own routine in your own way, and give yourself a break when things don’t work out down to the minute. 

Here at Everhour, we are using these effective time management techniques and they seem to be working out well. That’s why we wanted to share them with you, too! You can power up your experience by using best time management apps or best productivity apps.

The post Conquer Chaos: 12 Best Time Management Techniques for a Stress-Free Life appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Here, you’ll learn about:

✅ Why you should consider QuickBooks alternatives
✅ What alternatives are there
✅ Which specifics do you need to know about when choosing accounting software

QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online

Surprisingly enough, QuickBooks’s desktop software significantly differs from its online analog. The desktop version is aimed at medium-sized, large, and niche businesses and boasts a massive set of features. QuickBooks Online, in turn, suits small and medium-sized businesses. Here’s a quick side-by-side comparison:

You’ll learn more about Quickbooks Online further in the article. Now that we got this out of the way, let’s dive into the vast world of QuickBooks alternatives!

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Quicken vs QuickBooks Online

Editor’s note: Quicken was formerly part of Intuit, Inc. On March 3, 2016, Intuit announced plans to sell Quicken to H.I.G. Capital. The terms of the sale were not disclosed.

While QuickBooks Online is great for running accounting for businesses, Quicken suits best for personal accounts management. However, if you upgrade it to the Home & Business plan, it gives you a simple solution for small business management. Here is the main Quicken vs QuickBooks Online comparison: 

In short: If you need business software, QuickBooks is the way to go. That said, Quicken is still worth your attention for one of the best apps for self-employed or have a very small business. 

Xero vs QuickBooks Online

Xero is a web-based accounting system offering a variety of helpful features for small businesses. With this tool, you can review your up-to-date financials at any minute and from any device.

Comparing Xero vs QuickBooks Online is like getting into an argument with twins. Yes, these two apps perform the same accounting functions, both are aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. But they have their differences:

In short: Choose Xero for user-friendliness, lower costs, and unlimited user access. QuickBooks, on the other hand, offers more comprehensive accounting features, though it comes at a higher price.

FreshBooks vs QuickBooks Online

FreshBooks suits the self-employed or businesses that provide services. As far as accounting software goes, FreshBooks is quick to learn and simple to use. It can be integrated with essential project management software, helping your project and accounting teams stay on the same page.

Its main functions include invoice generation and time-tracking. Recently the manufacturer added the double-entry accounting feature.

In short: FreshBooks is ideal for small businesses and sole proprietors, offering simplicity and excellent customer support. QuickBooks excels in complex accounting needs and scalability.

Wave vs QuickBooks Online

What’s good about Wave? Wave offers a small set of functions, just good enough to satisfy a budding entrepreneur or a small business. In the QuickBooks Online vs Wave comparison, QuickBooks Online scores a flawless victory.

So, why does Wave still exist? One word. It’s free. While QuickBooks Online offers to Start your business from a $12 per month option, Wave lets you do it at no cost!

What’s the catch? How does Wave make money? Wave makes money from financial services. They offer payroll services in Canada and the U.S. at a reasonable price for the market price. They also allow businesses to accept payments online. They charge a 2.9% + 30¢ fee to process most credit cards (with 3.4% + 30¢ fee for American Express), and 1% for bank payments (where available).

So, Wave is a perfect solution for those who start their businesses from scratch. But as your business gets more complex, you may have to search for a more powerful solution. So, it’s up to you and your accountant whether starting out with free software is worth it or you should invest from the get-go for a more in-depth solution.

In short: Wave is a free, basic accounting solution perfect for startups. QuickBooks, while more powerful and expensive, is better suited for growing businesses with complex needs.

Sage vs QuickBooks Online

Initially, Sage, formerly known as Peachtree, started as a project management tool with a few features for financial management. Over time the app has grown into a cloud-based solution, called Sage 50cloud Accounting, and added more bookkeeping functions in the tool. 

When comparing Sage aka Peachtree vs QuickBooks, it becomes clear that QuickBooks overlaps and exceeds Sage in its accounting functionality. But Sage also offers project management solutions to small businesses. 

If you’re not ready to integrate your QuickBooks with other apps for project management,  and you’re searching for a simple functionality in bookkeeping, then Sage is right for your enterprise.

In short: Sage is a solid choice for small businesses that need simple bookkeeping and project management. QuickBooks, however, surpasses Sage with its robust accounting features.

Gusto vs QuickBooks Online

Gusto is a tool aimed at handling your employees and everything that’s connected to them in accountancy.

Gusto offers: tracking employees’ taxes payment, support for each employee from the moment of hiring until their dismissal, various insurance packs, advice on HR compliance issues, and more.

However, QuickBooks Online provides similar options for employee management. Let’s have a look at the differences between Gusto vs QuickBooks payroll features:

In short: Gusto is better for businesses that prioritize employee management and HR support. QuickBooks is more comprehensive for payroll and insurance but offers fewer benefits.

Mint vs QuickBooks Online

Mint is more a handy app than a fully-fledged accounting tool. It helps control your budgets over several financial accounts. All you need is to provide Mint with your passwords, and it’ll report on your budget statistics. The company also claims that they keep a sharp eye on their security, meaning your data should be secure.

Mint is available only in read mode. You can’t change or insert any sums, you can’t calculate your debit and credit or track your inventory in it. This app just wasn’t made for that. It simply pulls your transactions and bills together and shows your credit score.

You cannot directly compare Mint vs QuickBooks. They are just too different. But Mint is absolutely free, so it may be useful for self-employed people or those with simple accounting needs.

In short: Mint is not directly comparable to QuickBooks, as it’s a basic, read-only budgeting app. It’s free and great for personal finance, while QuickBooks is a full-fledged accounting tool.

Hurdlr vs QuickBooks Online

Hurdlr is a simple app designed especially for freelancers. With Hurdler, you can track your mileage, calculate taxes, manage your spendings, and track income.

It lacks most of the features of a serious bookkeeping app like QuickBooks. But do you really need them all? Hurdlr is just enough to track personal budget calculations and estimate taxes for self-employed and freelancers.

All the data is presented in automatically generated reports. To get all of these features, you need to pay Hurdlr up to $10 monthly. There are also cheaper tires with less functionality. For example, a $5-a-month version and even a freemium option.

Of course, if you have a fully-fledged business to take care of, Hurdlr isn’t for you. Instead, you’ll need a more complex solution. So once again, this Hurdlr vs QuickBooks comparison is a no-contest scenario.

In short: Hurdlr is perfect for freelancers and self-employed individuals needing basic budgeting and tax management. QuickBooks, being more comprehensive, is better for established businesses.

Square vs QuickBooks Online

Square is a convenient inventory tracking and payment processing tool. With Square, you’ll always know what particular products you have in stock, if stock is getting low and what stock updates were done recently.

And all that in one email letter notification from Square. Moreover, you can use a Square memory reader gadget plugged into your laptop, smartphone, or tablet for customer transactions.

Although QuickBooks has an inventory tracking feature, it’s not that detailed as Square’s solution. And QuickBooks can’t read bank cards. The good news is that Square easily integrates with QuickBooks, and its basic tier is free. However, there are small fees for reading bank cards.

In terms of inventory tracking, Square is an excellent competitor for QuickBooks. But for overall financial management, QuickBooks is our winner. Comparing Square vs QuickBooks for your business, consider what you need them for and make your decision based on need.

In short: Square is excellent for inventory tracking and payment processing. It integrates with QuickBooks, but for overall financial management, QuickBooks is the stronger choice.

Aplos vs QuickBooks Online

Aplos is an accounting app specially designed for non-profit organizations. Tailored to NGOs, this is what drives the software’s design.

This app provides:

• Fund accounting
• Donation tracking
• Creating a customized chart of accounts 
• Generation of non-profit financial statements
• Generation of budget reports
• General ledger management and a lot more.

On the other hand, QuickBooks isn’t adapted for non-profit organizations and its accounting specifics, although it does have extensive accounting functionality. Therefore, for doing bookkeeping for these organizations in QuickBooks, you’ll have to search for clumsy workarounds to complete certain NGO business specifics. So, if you want to do ‘good’ work, then Aplos is your match.

In short: Aplos is tailored for non-profit organizations with specific features for fund accounting and donation tracking. QuickBooks, however, lacks specialization for non-profits but excels in general business accounting.

ZipBooks vs QuickBooks Online

ZipBooks is a great start in accounting for small businesses. It offers a number of accounting features. A lot of individual businesses opt for ZipBooks for one main reason – its pricing. ZipBooks offers an unlimited freemium with cuts in its features.

However, as your business develops, at some point, it’ll grow up from the simple functionality ZipBooks provides. Here is what you can do in ZipBooks:

• Manage your bills and generate invoices
• Do bookkeeping and check reports
• Check your credit card balance and track its transactions, and more.

It’s hard to debate the ZipBooks vs QuickBooks as they are intended for different things.  The bottom line is, ZipBooks is a good runway to take off, but after some time it’s hardly a great option to continue your flight with.

In short: ZipBooks is a great alternative for small businesses and freelancers looking for a cost-effective, simple-to-use accounting solution. However, for more comprehensive features and scalability, QuickBooks Online remains a stronger choice.

NetSuite vs QuickBooks

NetSuite isn’t just accounting software. However, its functionality does match QuickBooks to a large extent. The manufactures added more features to their product, including:

• E-commerce
• CRM
• Inventory and warehouse management
• Finance management
• Asset management, and much more.

Making NetSuite is a truly powerful, scalable, and cloud-based solution for mid-size and large businesses. You’d need to purchase the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise tier to compete.

In comparison to QuickBooks Enterprise, NetSuite provides more detailed financial management, supply chain management, e-commerce and retail, and human capital management features.

NetSuite is an ERP (Enterprise resource planning) software that can be used for managing worldwide businesses with several divisions around the world. These divisions can collaborate and coordinate their work in the cloud. Though the price tag depends on the number of users.

In short: If your business is growing and requires a more comprehensive, all-in-one solution, NetSuite is the way to go. However, for small to medium-sized businesses that primarily need accounting features, QuickBooks Online is more than sufficient.

QuickBooks vs Excel

Every professional accountant has experience working in Excel. And even if you’re not an expert, you can still try Excel to manage your finances. When starting out with the tool, you might at first think it’s simple, but soon you’ll be impressed with its extensive functionality. 

So, what about our QuickBooks vs Excel comparison? It’s easy. If you’re an Excel guru, then you can choose freely which software you prefer to use. However, if you’re not an Excel nerd, then you should think of something intuitive and user-friendly. And that something could be QuickBooks.

In short: Excel is suitable for businesses or individuals with very simple accounting needs and who prefer a DIY approach. However, if you need automated accounting features, tax management, and integrations with other business tools, QuickBooks Online is a more efficient option.

Quickbooks Alternatives Wrap-Up

To have your accounts and operations clean clear, and most importantly, accurate, you need to choose your accounting app wisely. For this, you should consider the following factors:

• Size of your business
• Type of your operations (service, product, or other)
• How you deal with your customers

Just because Quickbooks takes the leading position in Google, doesn’t mean that it’s a 100% perfect solution for your enterprise. Make a decision that you can stick with, as you cannot easily convert and transfer data between apps. Usually, these tools aren’t compatible and you don’t want the hassle of manually transferring your data.

The accounting software market provides a wide range of options with varying functionalities to satisfy the needs of any user. We hope that this article helped you make the right choice for your business!

All-in-one time management system for your team

Estimate tasks, set budgets, customize reports – direct in your project management tool.

✔️ Asana time tracking
✔️ Trello time tracking
✔️ Basecamp time tracking
✔️ Jira time tracking
✔️ GitHub time tracking
✔️ ClickUp time tracking
✔️ Monday time tracking

The post Why Switch from QuickBooks? 14 Best Alternatives for 2024 appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Referent power is the type of power that can dramatically change your business and make your team work better. All you need is to reconsider your leadership style and include referent power in your self-improvement schedule. In this article, you’ll uncover:

✅ What is referent power?
✅ Why do you need referent power in your company?
✅ What are some examples of referent power?
✅ The most useful tips on how to develop your referent power.

What Is Referent Power?

When it comes to power in the workplace, a lot of people associate it with formal ranking and obedience. However, John R. P. French and Bertram Raven conducted a survey in 1959 and identified 5 bases of power, aka where power comes from. These are:

• Referent power
• Legitimate power
• Expert power
• Coercive power
• Reward power

By defining these bases, French and Raven reveal that “power” is far more than a chain of command. So, then, what is referent power, and how does it work? In the corporate world, the referent power definition boils down to this:

This definition of referent power derives from the idea of soft power. It relies on trust and democracy where a leader influences their followers (or in the workplace subordinates) through admiration and respect. This is recognized by followers. 

Referent power is never a formal type of power as it relies on the personal qualities of the leader. The followers admire these qualities and see the leader as a role model. They look up to him or her. In many situations, they consider what the leader would do in this case.

In modern team environments, leveraging the right tools can enhance leadership and team efficiency. For example, Everhour is one of the best time tracking software and the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

This type of power works great for those business owners and entrepreneurs who want to build strong collaborative relationships with their colleagues. The referent leadership helps to create an enabling environment at work and boost employees’ morale so that they feel like wanting to do their jobs instead of treating it as an obligation.

For a quick overview of referent power as one of the types of power, and why it’s key to professional communication, take a look at this video below:

What Makes Referent Power So Effective in Leadership?

Referent power is an effective thing for creating a positive atmosphere and improving employees’ working style. But how does it work in practice? Here are 5 reasons why you should use a referent power in your leadership style:

1. A respected and admired leader inspires their staff to strongly commit to their jobs. They work as a practical model for all the employees by showing an example of how work should really be done in the company.
2. An encouraging and supportive leader who is ready to back up with tough issues decreases their employees’ anxiety level and minimizes counterproductive behavior. This way, each worker in the company isn’t afraid to approach the leader with a question and can get an answer at any time. 
3. Workers feel free to share their ideas and vision of a project, which can significantly contribute to its success and result in positive outcomes. With a strong collaborative working style at a company, employees know that they can express their ideas and be heard.
4. Well-built collaboration reduces bureaucratic procedures in the company and accelerates the workflow between teams and departments. This way, employees realize that their work is about successful results rather than paper procedures and obtaining authoritative permissions.
5. Referent power has a direct connection to better employee retention. Nobody wants to have an intimidating boss. Gallup survey shows that people tend to resign from bosses and not the companies. 

Referent Power Examples

It might seem surprising, but we quite often run into examples of referent power. The main source of referent power is the world of fame and popularity. For example, having a boss who treats every employee fairly and helps them when they need it. Another example is Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, who inspires his fans to work on themselves – whether in the ring, on film, or simply by being himself.

“Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence.”

George Washington
the first president of the United States

The business world is also full of referent power examples. Elon Musk is a person lots of people admire and many more look up to. All of his followers are proud to work with him and share their interests in technology and Mars travels. His leadership style inspires and pushes his team to make new creations.

Another great example is Bill Gates, a software developer and philanthropist who encourages people to launch the most outrageous startups or donate money to charity. And as we all know, his Microsoft corporation has been a game-changer in the world of computing.

Referent power in the workplace

Below are some examples of how referent power works in practice.

✔️ As a leader you fulfill your promises

Why this works: By showing yourself as reliable, you create a stable work environment where your team knows that what you say will happen, will happen. Whether this following up on a task, project, or even an employee review. 
Effect on your team: From your example, they are more likely to follow up on tasks or promises they make to others as you have set workplace culture.

✔️ As a leader you lead by example

Why this works: It’s one thing to say to do something. It’s another to actually do it. If you want your team to adopt certain habits or practices, you need to do them yourself. For example, this may be participating in team building.
Effect on your team: You show yourself as someone who isn’t “all-talk” and gain respect.

✔️ As a leader you are open to new ideas

Why this works: Think you always have the best ideas? Think again. Being open to what your team tells you is one of the best ways to advance. After all, you can’t think of everything.
Effect on your team: By showing you listen to your team, they will feel more able to express their ideas and take ownership over their work.

How to Harness Referent Leadership Power?

So, how to be an effective leader and utilize referent power? The good news is that you can build it in yourself. Here are some useful tips that help you to lead your employees with referent power.

Keep your promises 💪

There is nothing more off-putting than unfulfilled promises. If you say that you’ll take care of something or have a look into a problem, don’t put it in a drawer till better times. Promptly addressing your employees’ problems and getting really involved in helping to solve them is a sure way to gain respect. 

On the other hand, this can have a detrimental effect when your employees start referring to you even with minor issues. To avoid this, you should learn how to evaluate the occurring problems quickly and consider them well before saying your ‘yes.’ 

Lifehack: Try to solve problems WITH your staff and not FOR them. 

Follow the rules you set 👆

Great leaders not only know what is right to do for others but also follow the formulated rules. If you want to boost your employees’ productivity by banning the use of social networking sites, then don’t use them at work either. Put yourself in an equal position with your workers and lead them by example.

Remember that if your employees are not ready to do something, they are very likely not to. Therefore, it’s essential to set rules and discuss with your staff why it’s important. Moreover, if you deprive your employees of Facebook during working hours, there are always some more effective ways of how to organize their breaks and enhance productivity.

Lifehack: To set fair rules that will work both for your business and your employees, establish informal meetings for discussing rules and policies in your company. Let your employees speak out in a relaxed environment and be ready to listen. 

Complimenting never hurts 🗣

When your team finishes a project successfully or finds a smart way to resolve a long-pending issue, it’s vital that you recognize and celebrate the success with them. Why? If your employees feel unappreciated, they may end up resigning in the long term. 

A recent 200,000 person study shows that 79% of employees tend to quit due to a lack of appreciation of what they do. Therefore, besides constantly highlighting areas of improvement for your staff, mark their achievements as well. You can do it by evaluating their work in a positive spirit or just throwing a thank-you party after a hard day. 

Lifehack: Compliment your employees in front of other workers, though discuss their blunders in private. This way, you’ll help them to feel valued and respected in the company.

Get to know your employees 🤝

Referent power is about being sincerely interested in your employees. This means getting to know your employees and caring about what makes them tick.

A little small talk about their weekend or family can go a long way to forging a deeper relationship that will inspire your team to work harder. That way, they’ll be more likely to tell you when they are experiencing issues that may affect their work so that you can solve them together.

Lifehack: Value the person, not just the role. 

Involve active listening 👂

Practicing active listening will help you build strong referent power. Though it might seem easy, in reality, to listen and comprehend what your employees are really trying to say is a great skill. It’ll help you to better understand what issues your staff is dealing with in their work and what they need to successfully fulfill their tasks. For this, you need to:

• Stop multitasking and put aside all the gadgets when you are talking with your workers
• Maintain eye contact to make it clear that you have your full attention on the issue at hand
• Use verbal and non-verbal messages to prove that you’re listening, such as smiling, nodding your head, saying ‘Yes,’ or reformulating the statements to better understand your opponent. 

Lifehack: These techniques assure your employees that you are really involved with their issues and ready to help, making them trust you more.

Fight for your employees 🙌

The main quality of a mature leader is the ability to bear responsibility for the mistakes of their employees. You should be ready to stand up for your workers in conflict situations instead of shifting the blame on them in front of your customers. After all, you’re responsible for each employee you hire.

You will always have some time later to consider the issues that lead to a particular problem and create a plan on how to improve the situation. This attitude requires a sensible approach and shows you as a wise leader in the eyes of your colleagues. 

Lifehack: If your employees have to work in a stressful environment, give them a chance to unwind by devoting one day to relaxing and team-building time management games. 

Keep an open mind 🧠

Leaders with referent power realize that they can’t be professionals in every field. They are ready to follow their employees’ expert advice and admit that it if their ideas appear to be not as great as expected. 

Discussing your views and opinions with your employees is the most important contribution you can make to your business development. Brainstorm your employees and decide which suggestions you want to put into effect. It’ll prove that you’re ready to hear your staff’s ideas and encourage them to come up with the best ones. 

Lifehack: Make sure you give your employees plenty of opportunities to improve their group decision-making skills that are essential for effective decision-making and brainstorming new ideas.

Referent Power Wrap Up

Becoming a role model for your employees requires lots of hard work though it pays off well in the long term. Here we recap what you need to do to become a more respected and trusted leader:

• Keep your promises
• Follow the rules you set
• Praise your employees’ work
• Get to know your employees
• Involve active listening
• Fight for your employees
• Keep your mind open

We, at Everhour, hope that you’ve learned how to become an effective leader, and now you’ll inspire your teams for even more productive work and achievements!

All-in-one time management system for your team

Estimate tasks, set budgets, customize reports – direct in your project management tool.

✔️ Asana time tracking
✔️ Trello time tracking
✔️ Basecamp time tracking
✔️ Jira time tracking
✔️ GitHub time tracking
✔️ ClickUp time tracking
✔️ Monday time tracking

Featured image: IndustryWeek

The post Unlock Referent Power: Strengthen Your Leadership Skills appeared first on Everhour Blog.

If you feel like you need to boost up your team efficiency and make your business projects go more smoothly, then this article is right for you. You’ll discover:

✔️ What is team dynamics;
✔️ Why do you need to consider team dynamics in your work;
✔️ Examples of team dynamics;
✔️ What are the strategies to build an ultimate team.

What Are Team Dynamics?

In short, the definition of team dynamics boils down to this:

Kurt Lewin, an influential social psychologist, first mentioned team dynamics in 1939. He defined team dynamics as “positive and negative forces within groups of people.”

Kurt Lewin
German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology in the United States

It means that each group has its psychological climate that influences group behavior and performance. Moreover, each personality involved in the group unconsciously sets the direction of group dynamics, whether it’s positive or negative. 

So, then why do you need to address group dynamics in your teams? Let’s break this down, step by step.

Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Why Do You Need to Consider Team Dynamics?

The answer is simple — group or team dynamics defines how effective your team is going to be in their work performance and generating new ideas. As a result, it influences the overall project outcome. 

The good thing about team dynamics is that if you know its parameters and monitor them, you can influence them. This way, if one of your projects started badly, you can do something about it by trying to change the team dynamics rather than observing your project slowly going off the rails.

Project managers and human resource managers strive to create positive group dynamics in teams. It means that team members trust each other, are ready to work collectively, provide support, and productively brainstorm ideas, and listen to other group members. In groups with positive dynamics, team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and having a constructive dialogue. 

Whereas groups with poor dynamics disrupt work processes and fail to achieve positive results just by repeatedly making poor decisions that lead to even poorer choices. All of these generate negative conflicts inside a team, making each participant feel vulnerable and unwilling to share their ideas. 

The craziest thing about poor team dynamics is that even if your team consists of world-class professionals, the result of their collaboration will be far from perfection (at best) or just a downright disaster.

Examples of Team Dynamics 

Surely, every business owner and each team leader wants to create only dynamic teams that develop positively and reach their goal. But, for this, they need to learn how to recognize the signs of a positive team dynamic. Here are some examples of team dynamics done right:

• Open communication. When team members are willing to discuss issues and problems throughout a project.
• Alignment. When each team member understands their duties in the project, overall project objectives, and project development direction.
• Conflict resolution. When each participant feels comfortable enough to resolve conflicts through discussion or take it to the group for public discussion.
• Commitment to the project. When each team member is deeply involved in the project and feels at ease to share their ideas on how to improve it.
• Optimistic thinking. When participants are ready to commit to the project even when everything is going wrong.

Building the Ultimate Team

Now, as you know how to spot the signs of positive dynamics in your team, let’s get to the strategies on how to develop such a team effectively.

Get to Know Your Team

Starting with positive thinking development strategies without getting acquainted with your team will result in failure. Therefore, before applying any practical techniques to team development, do this one thing: study your team.

But how? In all likelihood, you’re not a psychologist, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be observant. Here’s how to understand your team better:

👉 Observe your team during the working process and at breaks. Watch the way they communicate and solve problems. This gives you a better understanding of their current interactions and how they work together.
👉 Have individual interviews with team members. Let them share their concerns and feelings about the project and team they work in. Encourage open discussion.
👉 Interview team-related employees such as line managers and others to see their point of view on the effectiveness of your team.

As you conduct the study, you’ll understand better any pain points within your team or weaknesses in communication. That allows you to address any underlying issues and solve them before they become critical.

All teams have different problems. However, some of the most common include:

❌ Inefficient leadership. This is when your team needs a stronger leader who will delegate tasks, define project development direction, and estimate the accomplished work more effectively.
❌ Groupthink and authoritative approach. This is the opposite of weak leadership and is when team members feel uneasy in expressing their opinions and contributing to the project. For example, when team members are punished for their mistakes or for disagreeing with the team leader.
❌ Lack of interest when some team members aren’t involved with a project and throw parts of their work on other colleagues. As a result, several members of the team do all the work on a project.
❌ Psychological discomfort. This is when team members hide their feelings or are motivated at work by their emotions. They may have hidden aggression, recognition-seeking, or negative attitudes. All of these result in poor communication of information and a bad attitude towards a project. 

Develop and Apply Your Strategy

Now, as you know your enemy you need to fight it and form positive team dynamics. For this, you need to choose the right strategies that could improve the psychological environment and performance of your team. Here are some strategies you could use:

💨 Resolve problems quickly

No team exists without conflicts of opinions and interests. Therefore, in case you start observing conflicts in your team you need to address them quickly. For this, get your team members to talk. It can be a private conversation or a group talk depending on the situation – every team and person is different in this respect.

The aim of this strategy is to encourage your team members to speak openly and prevent them from hiding their real thoughts and emotions. Conflict resolution helps team members to keep positive dynamics within the team, excluding sarcastic and joking attitudes in interpersonal communication.

🤝 Develop collaboration

Collaboration is the key to successful project accomplishment. When each team member gets deeply involved in collaborative work, they are more willing to share new ideas and aim at achieving a common goal with high results. For this, you need to develop collaboration within teams and spread this practice over the whole company. 

👨‍💼 Help team leaders to develop

Team leaders are the driving force at the core of every team. This way you should have your team leaders be strong and experienced professionals who can set goals and delegate tasks in the team effectively. 

Set for team leaders essential areas of improvement to help them develop their leadership skills. These could be time management skills, organizational skills, public speaking skills, people management skills, and others. 

📣 Build communication

Transparency and effective communication help teams achieve their goals successfully and much easier. Though, not every team member has developed communication skills by default. You could use various techniques to encourage your employees to work on their communication skills. 

For example, you can use self-advocacy development techniques, group decision-making development methods, or just team-building games to enhance collaboration and interpersonal relationships among team participants. 

In case your team works remotely during the pandemic or due to work specifics, you can teach your team how to build effective remote communication. 

👣 Follow stages of group development

Every group passes more or less the same stages of group development. This way you can foresee and prevent possible difficulties each team member can face in the group and channel team dynamics in the right way. It’ll help you to avoid lots of issues in the early stages of your group forming and prevent them along the working process. 

What Tools Are Out There to Assist in Improving Team Dynamics?

We wholeheartedly believe that the right time-tracking software + project management platform help to keep everyone filled in, focused on their tasks, and, consequently, boost accountability.

For example, Everhour prevents employee burnout, thus promoting a healthier work environment, and excludes overlapping vacation time so that departments aren’t understaffed. Likewise, project management software provides employees with a central hub where they can track and assign tasks, keep calendars, and monitor shared goals.

Building a Dynamic Team: Wrap Up

Team dynamics is a powerful force that can be disruptive for your projects if it takes a negative form or a creative and enhancing power for your team if it turns to be positive. To have only positive group dynamics in your teams you should apply various strategies depending on the occurring problems within teams. 

Whatever path and tools are chosen to grow a team, know that when time, attention, and resources are invested into making team dynamics healthier, you will see a significant impact on employee awareness of themselves and their coworkers.

• Featured image credit: Tripadvisor

The post Team Dynamics 101: Understanding and Improving Group Interactions appeared first on Everhour Blog.

You can be the best project manager and have the best team in the world; if nobody knows who is doing what and when your projects will definitely fail. And to avoid that, that’s why we use task management software. In fact, task management software is an interface that connects team members and allows them to manage tasks and successfully handle projects.

Whether you are looking to use the tools for yourself or to manage a team, this curated list will reveal to you the best eight task management software in 2023. Let’s get started!

Exploring the Top Free Task Management Software

Understanding the defining characteristics of the best free task management software is essential for fine-tuning your efficiency and organizational strategies. Whether you’re an individual striving to enhance personal productivity or an integral part of a collaborative team, leveraging premier free task management software provides valuable tools for effectively managing your daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks.

Importance in Streamlining Tasks: Embracing leading free task management software empowers you to streamline your workflow, maximizing your productivity and achieving your goals effectively.

Key Criteria for Evaluation

Real-time task tracking: These applications seamlessly initiate, pause, and complete task-tracking features, ensuring precise time allocation and meticulous progress monitoring. Task categorization: Effortlessly categorize tasks into relevant groups for enhanced organization and focused work. Collaboration and communication: Access features that foster teamwork, enhancing communication and collaboration among team members. Integration and synchronization: Streamlined functionality that seamlessly integrates with various tools and platforms, ensuring a cohesive and efficient digital workspace. User-Friendly Accessibility: The software ensures easy access and utilization of productivity-enhancing features across different devices and platforms.

Our Approach to Software Evaluation and Testing

Our assessments are meticulously curated by experienced professionals who specialize in software analysis for task management. Each software undergoes rigorous testing and scrutiny against our predefined criteria. It’s crucial to note that we strictly uphold a policy of not accepting compensation for featuring software or incorporating them into our articles. Our primary goal is to uphold the trust our readers have in our unbiased and authentic software assessments, tailored to optimize task management efficiency across various contexts.

Task Management Software: Top 9 Picks

Asana

💡 Best for: Large teams working remotely

One of the most reputed tools in the market today with lots of Asana alternatives (for example, check this article on Asana vs Monday). The word Asana means ‘Easy’ in Sanskrit and the tool lives up to the name. A fantastic UI and entering tasks into a project is a breeze. If prioritizing tasks and meeting deadlines is your priority, then Asana can be a great choice for you.

Asana is best for teams of 15+ members working remotely. Basically, it allows you to create departments of your company (i.e. Marketing). Then in the department, you can create projects (i.e Google Ads Campaigns), and tasks. Its management features make Asana one of the best project management software in the market.

✨ Key features:

• Projects, tasks, and subtasks creation
• List view, timeline, board, calendar
• Goals setup and monitoring
• Workload: manage your team’s workload in real-time
• Seamless integration with 100+ tools
• Routine tasks automation
• Forms and rules creation
• Real-time team’s progress reporting and much more
• Time tracking with Asana + Everhour integration

💻 Platforms

As expected of a giant project management tool, Asana delivers Asana for desktop (Windows & Mac) and mobile (Android & iOS).

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Signing up for Asana is as easy as putting butter on a slice of bread. Plus, you access hundreds of premade templates immediately. Finally, Asana provides support with agents, Asana Academy, guides, and a forum.

💰 Pricing

• Basic: forever free for a maximum of 15 users
• Premium: $10.99/user/month billed annually
• Business: $24.99/user/month billed annually
• Enterprise: for companies that want more.

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Jira

💡 Best for: Developers with Roadmap based projects

Created by Atlassian, Jira is best for developers. You can make roadmaps when designing your project. The parent company is a trusted name in software development so you can be sure you will get the best support. It is built for every member of a software team to plan, track, and release great software.

One of Jira’s key features is its issue development panel. In this panel, you can view and create branches, and pull requests so that your team can immediately work on them.

Jira is very modular. So you can interconnect different pieces to build yourself a system that contours exactly to your existing workflow. Its basic and advanced features plus its flexibility really make many believe Jira is the #1 software development tool for agile teams.

✨ Key Features

• Scrum boards
• Kanban boards
• Roadmaps
• Agile reporting
• Jira time tracking, billing, budgeting
• Over 3000 integrations plus much, much more.

💻 Platforms

With Jira, you can track and manage projects in real-time on iOS and Android. Unfortunately, when writing this article, there was no Windows or Mac app for Jira.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

All Jira clients have access to resources such as support articles, a community. Nevertheless, depending on your plan, some premium users get 24/7 support.

💰 Pricing

• Free: for up to 10 users
• Standard: $7/ user/month with a user limit of 20,000 per site
• Premium: $14/user/month with a user limit of 20,000 per site with extra features
• Enterprise: For enterprises with global scale, security, and governance needs

Trello

💡 Best for: Rapid project management prototyping with templates

Are you planning to occupy a new planet? Not to worry – in all probability, Trello will have a ready-to-use template for it. They have a template for everything!

Why use Trello? Also created by Atlassian, Trello is one of the most popular task management tools worldwide. Used by over 1,000,0000 teams, Trello is very famous for its Boards and Cards. Basically, all you need to do is create a board (e.g. Sales) and create and assign cards to your team within the board.

Trello is best for small teams and focused groups.

✨ Key Features

• Intuitive user interface
• Easy kanban boards and cards management (more on how it’s different from Jira in our Trello vs Jira article)
• Integrate top work tools
• No-code automation
• Estimate tasks, set budgets, customize reports & keep time with Everhour’s Trello time tracking tool

💻 Platforms

Besides the web platform, Trello works seamlessly wherever you are: Mac, Windows, Android, and iPhone.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Joining Trello is pretty straightforward. As a popular task management software, there are tons of tutorials on platforms like YouTube.

However, Trello itself provides lots of support articles and premade templates ready for you, no matter your market. When you are stuck, you have a support agent ready to assist you with a click of a button.

💰 Pricing

• Free: for unlimited members
• Standard: $5/user/month billed annually
• Premium: $10/user/month/ billed annually
• Enterprise: for teams that need to do more.

Basecamp

💡 Best for: Customer facing project managers

Good communication makes a project great. Basecamp features group chats and message boards that ensure everyone is on the same page – all the time.

So, unlike competitors, Basecamp adds all the necessary tools inside every project (i.e., Message Board, To-dos, Group Chats, etc.). Although these tools serve different purposes, they all keep conversation and updates in the corresponding project.

Also, Basecamp is best for the web. With one click, you can share an update or a post with a client. They see nothing else but that particular post. You can retain the privacy of all internal communications.

✨ Key Features

• Message board
• Automatic check-ins
• Group chats
• Advanced client access
• Company HQ
• Basecamp time tracking

💻 Platforms

Access Basecamp for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows so you can use it wherever you are.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Unfortunately, when writing this article, we couldn’t find premade templates for their users, which is disappointing considering what the competition offers. However, as a client, Basecamp promises priority support.

💰 Pricing

• Personal: free for up to 20 users with limited features
• Basecamp Business: $99/month for unlimited projects and users.

ClickUp

💡 Best for: Multi-project management

ClickUp does well when it has to integrate with other software. It syncs up easily with Google calendars so that your project milestones are mapped automatically. In short, create a task in ClickUp, add a start and end date, and it will appear in your Google Calendar at the same period.

ClickUp is best for advanced project management. It features the concept of ‘Spaces’ and these virtual areas manage information very well. All information about a particular space is easily found in a single location.

Although ClickUp may seem to fit large teams only, it actually matches smaller groups. In fact, a single person can quickly and efficiently manage their projects.

✨ Key Features

• 15+ views such as list, board, calendar, activity, Gantt, workload, etc.
• Built-in time-tracking tool
• Goals
• ClickUp time tracking
• Thousands of integrations with your favorite tools (including ClickUp time tracking integrations) and much, much more.

💻 Platforms

Just like all the ClickUp alternatives mentioned above, ClickUp obviously provides a web platform. Moreover, ClickUp is very proud of its desktop apps (Windows, Mac, Linux) and smartphone apps (Android & Apple).

But where others struggle to provide value with their smartphone app, ClickUp fantastically works on it, consistently adding the web features into the app.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Regarding onboarding, ClickUp sets the tone in the market. With massive documentation, on-demand demo, support articles, webinars, coaching, onboarding video series, and consulting, you have a beautiful headache when deciding where to start. And when you have issues later, you can count on their 24/7 world-class support. All this customer care makes ClickUp one of the best task management software out there.

💰 Pricing

• Free: for unlimited members 
• Unlimited: $9/member/month + additional features
• Business: $19/member/month + advanced features
• Enterprise: for those who need more.

Todoist

💡 Best for: Simple task lists and mobile access

Sometimes all you need is a simple task management tool. Todoist is precisely that. You can add tasks within seconds, prioritize them, and delegate them. The tool will set up automated reminders and deal with repetitive tasks intuitively.

In fact, if you just want a task management tool to add work and personal reminders quickly, this is the tool for you.

Unlike all the tools in this list in the business project management genre, Todoist is also a personal life management tool. Its goal is to help you regain clarity and calmness by getting all those tasks out of your head and onto your to-do list.

✨ Key Features

• Quick Add: lets you capture and organize tasks in seconds
• Recurring due dates: help you remember deadlines and build habits
• Extensive integration list
• Productivity visualization
• Different tasks and project views

💻 Platforms

Given its approach to task management, it might be surprising to learn that Todoist provides desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux) and mobile apps (Android, iPhone, and iPad).

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Todoist even gives users dozens of premade templates to start with an idea. Moreover, customers have access to a vast list of support articles. And as a paid customer, priority support gets you covered.

💰 Pricing

• Free: for five active projects and five
• Pro: $3/month billed annually
• Business: $5/member/month billed annually

SmartTask

💡 Best for: Project & task management with advanced team collaboration

SmartTask replaces several tools in your tech stack with one centralized platform. Packaged in an intuitive UI, It offers a pain-free way to go after your goals. Whether you’re trying to plan the entire year or the next few hours, SmartTask has project views for each. 

Adding tasks is straightforward, but there’s room for depth. With nested sub-tasks and custom fields, you can go as granular as you like. 

Automated check-ins and reminders ensure critical work never slips through the cracks. Chat, video conferencing, and voice calls centralize team communication, saving you countless hours.

All these features (and more) come together seamlessly, helping 20,000+ teams triple their productivity.

✨ Key Features

• Intuitive user interface
• List, board, calendar, and timeline views
• Nested sub-tasks
• In-built CRM
• Workload management
• Team performance dashboards
• Project-level instant messaging
• Time-tracking
• Client Portal

💻 Platforms

SmartTask is available across the board. On the cloud, desktop (Mac and Windows), and mobile (Android and iOS).

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

SmartTask comes with dozens of templates so you never have to start from scratch. The in-app onboarding experience strikes the perfect balance between being helpful and not getting in your way. And of course, there’s 24/7 support and comprehensive documentation for when you’re in a jam.

💰 Pricing

• Free forever: for unlimited projects and tasks
• Premium: $5/user/month billed annually
• Business: $8/user/month billed annually
• Enterprise for teams that need more

Wrike

💡 Best for: Agencies and creative projects

While Todoist provides a straightforward solution, on the other hand, sometimes you need elaborate workflow design. This is where Wrike is valuable. It allows you to design custom workflows.

And to efficiently manage your projects, Wrike gives you access to beautiful Gantt charts and additional views.

A key feature that stands out is the ability to comment on images, documents, and even videos. If you are a creative agency or you often deal with unique projects – give Wrike a try.

✨ Key Features

• Customizable tools
• Work Intelligence
• Visual proofing
• Digital publishing
• Shared team calendars
• Approval process automation
• Time tracking software, etc.

💻 Platforms

Wrike for Windows and Mac enables you to break free from your browser since the apps offer the same features and UX in the browser. Do you use an Android smartphone or have an iPhone? Wrike got you covered too.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Any excellent task management software must facilitate onboarding for new clients. And that’s exactly what Wrike does. A simple email in a small box and you’ve signed up. To even get you started fast, you have access to free webinars, resources, and templates. Finally, Wrike does deliver 24/5 customer support to freemium users and 24/7 to paid users.

💰 Pricing

• Free: for unlimited users with limited features
• Professional: $9.80/user/month for 5 to 200 users + additional features
• Business: $24.80/user/month + additional features
• Enterprise and Pinnacle for teams that need more.

Monday

💡 Best for: Agencies and creative projects

True to its name – Monday is the tool you should log in to on a Monday morning. Built for enterprises and small teams like most of Monday alternatives – it is a comprehensive project management system that will cater to all your needs. Brilliant support makes this product stand out. Monday is so visual, easy, and intuitive. All you need to do is drag and drop.

✨ Key Features

• 8 different data visualization modes
• Exportable data
• 30+ customizable column types
• Live doc editing
• Unlimited automation
• Powerful Monday project management capabilities
• Seamless connection with your favorite tools and many more features.

💻 Platforms

Get access to Monday on smaller devices like your Android and iPhone because you have access to these apps as a Monday customer. And like most of its competitors, Monday also has a desktop app for both Mac and Windows.

👩‍🏫 Onboarding & Support

Onboarding for such a task management tool is relatively easy. Monday gives you access to webinars and hundreds of articles to get you started. Plus, there is a vast list of ready-to-use templates. Regarding interactive customer support, Monday also gives 24/7 to all its users.

💰 Pricing

• Individual: free for up to 2 users
• Standard: $12/seat/month for unlimited seats
• Pro: $20/seat/month for unlimited users
• Enterprise: for those who want more

Everhour

There is ONE feature about any project management software that makes it stand out – Time Tracking. Unfortunately, not all tools come bundled with it.

As one of the best time and attendance software out there, Everhour is the comprehensive time tracking toolkit that, among many other things, allows you to keep on top of every project by tracking time and progress. All you need to do is use the Chrome extension, and the time-tracker embeds directly into your favorite management tool.

With a simple click, you can track time on any tasks, see who is tracking time, how the time is spent, hours of work, breaks for each employee, generate beautiful reports, and send invoices to clients.

What else can Everhour do:

• Manual time entry
• Budgets and Expenses monitoring
• Payroll
• OverBudget Disallow
• Task management in List and Board views
• Native integration with your favorite tools like Asana, Trello, Basecamp, Jira, ClickUp, and many more.

Find out more about what you can do with Everhour here, including all its 50+ time management features to not let finances catch you.

What is the Best Task Management Software?

In this article, we’ve dissected the best time tracking apps, best productivity apps, task or project management software in the market. We’ve covered their best features and what makes the tool stand out. Each of them lets you manage your projects and teams on your mobile devices.

So now you may be wondering: “well, I have checked all of them. But what do you recommend? Which one is the best?” The answer is simple: it all depends on your needs and your goals.

Will you work alone, or do you have a small/huge team? Are onboarding and support crucial? Or do you prefer a modern and futuristic interface?

Check their website, read their features, see if you like the user experience, and watch their demos. You will always feel that ‘aha’ moment and choose the right software.

The post 9 Best Free Task Management Software Tools: Optimize Your Workflow Without Spending appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Boosting productivity and efficiency have always been at the top of any businesses’ priority wishlist. In recent years, more and more companies have been experimenting with time management solutions to get the most out of their employees’ day. We recently discussed the Pomodoro technique as one such example of in-office time management.

Read more

Pomodoro Technique: Empty Promise or Effective Assistant?

But, aside from during-working-hours tricks, companies are increasingly looking at how long we work and are exploring alternatives to the traditional 5/40 working week. One of the top runners proposed is the 9/80 schedule.

What Is A 9/80 Work Schedule?

The 9/80 work schedule is a compacted work schedule taking place over a 2-week period, giving employees one extra day off by compressing work into eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day. 

By compacting the working week and adding that extra day off every 14 days, this alternative work-week schedule aims to boost productivity and efficiency while giving employees a little more time to relax. 

How Does the 9/80 Schedule Compare?

But how does this compare to a regular working week? Well, of course, what a ‘regular working week’ looks like depends on where you are in the world and your job. 

Statistics gathered by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) show that working hours across the world vary greatly, ranging from 29 to 48 working hours per week. 

Here are some of the world’s key stats:

• Lowest working hours: 116 per month – The Netherlands takes the lead in the lowest working hours, with a total of 29 on average per week. 
• Most common working weeks: 144 and 156 hours per month – Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden, and Australia are the proud owners of one of the most common working hour schedules – a 36-hour week. Followed by a 39-hour week adopted as standard practice by the Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.
• Longest working hours: 192 per month – For those workaholics looking to put in extra hours on the job, look no further than Turkey and Columbia. Workers from these two countries rack up an impressive result of 48 working hours per week on average.

So, does working less or more affect productivity?

The short answer – yes! 

It’s no secret that numerous research studies have shown that being overworked is detrimental not only to the health of your employees but also to their productivity. And this is the driving force behind the initiative to redefine the work-life balance and new experiments into the most effective work schedule.

Now, let’s look at where the 9/80 falls on that scale.

Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

What Are the Pros And Cons Of A 9/80 Work Schedule?

While the overall working time in a month is around the same as the traditional 5/40 schedule, what effect does that condensed system have? Like everything in life, there are a number of pros and cons to the 9/80 work schedule. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Pros 👍

Aims to provide a better work-life balance

Ever really needed to make a doctor or dentist’s appointment, but simply couldn’t find the time during the week, so you kept putting it off and off? Or perhaps you just needed to get some extra tasks around the house done? We’ve all been there. The 9/80 schedule allows employees that little bit of extra time to fill in the gaps and simply take care of those all-important personal tasks. 

4-day work weeks

With two 4-day work weeks per month, your employees may find themselves more motivated to get the work of 5 working days squeezed into 4, increasing levels of productivity in your business. Plus, you might just save a little on those office costs by remaining closed an extra two days per month. 

Productivity boosts

This is the cornerstone of the 9/80. By adding in those extra days off per month, employees may just have enough time to relax, get stuff done, and feel motivated to give their all to the job. Thus, increasing productivity during those office hours. 

Cons 🤔

Actual working hours aren’t that different

In general, the hours worked don’t differ significantly from the traditional 5/40 schedule meaning those benefits of working fewer hours overall don’t apply. Whether or not your employees find a condensed week effective might boil down to individual preference

You might end up paying overtime

Any adjustment to working hours can cause chaos for your company. Not only may your employees find the change challenging, but it can come with a number of legal complications as well, such as tracking and paying for overtime and calculating holiday and sick-leave payments based on the alternative working schedule. 

Employee Time Tracking – Why Is It Necessary and Even Required By Law?

Employee health and morale 

Your employees are the backbone of your company; without them, nothing is possible and your success depends on how much of their time and energy they are willing to dedicate to the work at hand. While the 9/80 schedule does provide a full two extra days off per month, those long working hours the remainder of the time could leave your staff with a lack of time to relax in the evenings leading to sleep deprivation, lack of morale, and lower performance. 

Should You Consider A 9/80 Work Schedule Option?

Now that you know a little more about the pros and cons, you’re probably wondering if the 9/80 schedule is right for your business. Here are some helpful points to help you decide:

Is the 9/80 legal in your jurisdiction and for your employees?

While we can give you specifics on this one, before making any changes to your company’s working hours, it’s always best to check on the legal implications in your region, especially if your employees can work extended days and if there are any requirements for doing so.

How should overtime be paid?

Some states require overtime to be paid based on hours per day, others on hours per week or per month. Check your local regulations first and foremost before adopting a new working schedule. This is particularly important when calculating holiday pay and sick leave.

How to Accurately Calculate Overtime Pay [Full Guide]

Is your business time-based?

Each company reacts to time management in a different manner. Some focus more on productivity and less on actual hours worked, provided the results reflect the effort. If this is your business, then 9/80 may not be for you. However, if your company requires certain business hours to fulfill its function, then a 9/80 schedule may be right up your alley in terms of productivity-boosting effectiveness.

Bonus: Will it work for your employees?

As a business owner or manager, you know your employees best – their strengths and weaknesses, most productive hours, and, of course, those tell-tale signs of poor time management. Deciding to change working hours is the individual decision of any company, so take into account your company’s needs and those of your actual employees. 

How Can Everhour Help You Implement a 9/80 Work Schedule Effectively?

If you’ve decided that a 9/80 schedule is the way forward – good for you! While we can’t guarantee success, we commend you for taking the first step into developing your business. So, what comes next?

First, after you’ve got your team on board, you’ll need to know if the changes you’re making are effective and what better way to do that than with metrics. Markers such as productivity and time tracking are useful in seeing how your employees’ performance has been affected.

At Everhour, time tracking is our bread and butter, so when you need help checking up on those new worked hours and how they were used, we’re on hand to provide you with some of the most effective time and attendance software out there.

It’s not just our opinion. Here’s what our customers have to say. As an alternative, you can also use this handy and FREE timesheet and timecard templates to get you and your staff on track and help with the transition. 

By tracking time and work done, you’ll be able to see over time how effective your changes were and if you need to consider reverting to the traditional 5/40 schedule or seeking a new alternative to meet your needs. We wish you luck in your new work scheduling adventure! And don’t forget to check out the best productivity apps and the best time management apps out there!

The post Exploring the 9-80 Work Schedule: How It Can Improve Work-Life Balance appeared first on Everhour Blog.