Project Management: Timesheet

When you manage a project with many different resources, timesheets are essential. Useful for both project managers and employees, they provide an overview of workloads and allow better project monitoring. Discover the benefits for your project management.

Discover how to effectively manage your timesheet with Planzone, and much more!

What is a timesheet?

A timesheet in a project is a chart that allows the project manager to see the workload of each team member, their assigned hours and hours remaining on each project activity. Once a team member has validated ‘time worked’, the project manager can integrate this into the project’s schedule, which then results in the time left to complete an activity being automatically recalculated.

Benefits of a timesheet for the Project Manager

Identify the availability of the members of the project team
With a timesheet, you can easily distribute the workload amongst members of the team with most availability. The tasks assigned to each employee are clearly identified and quantified in terms of time. Project management is simplified while remaining effective.

Monitor the progress made by users to anticipate delays on deliverables
The timesheet records valuable information regarding any delays incurred during the completion of a project e.g. unexpected difficulties when performing a task, absence of an employee due to an urgent meeting or non-attendance. It makes it easier to redistribute the workload to compensate for these delays and thus meet the original deadline.

Estimate the cost of the project from the time spent on it
The timesheet is an excellent tool for estimating the cost of a project. Each element is evaluated in terms of time spent; the management of a project is thus facilitated by being able to compare prediction to reality at any time during its execution.

Benefits of a timesheet for employees

Determine one’s workload over a period of time
For the employee, the timesheet is an effective means of self-regulation in terms of time spent on each task. It also makes it easier to plan in advance by knowing the workload coming up over a period of time.

Keep up to date with time spent on each phase of the project
Regularly updating the timesheet allows employees to accurately track the progress of their work against deadlines. It can indicate the time spent on the major project activities and / or for each particular task.

Anticipate delays in tasks and refer them to the project manager
With the timesheet the employee can inform the project manager of the progress being made in real time. In the case of delays, the manager can then change the schedule or re-assign urgent tasks to available employees.

Remember that the timesheet is a powerful feature in Planzone. Directly tied to resource planning and task management, it contributes to the success of your project management.