What is self-driving time tracking?

Updated on May 10, 2023

Tracking time has historically proved an arduous process for small businesses. Despite all the technology and apps at our fingertips, time tracking errors are notoriously common.

Tracking time has historically proved an arduous process for small businesses. Despite all the technology and apps at our fingertips, time tracking errors are notoriously common.

In this survey alone of small businesses, for example, 87% of participants reported significant challenges with time tracking.

These efficiency challenges abound at both the organizational and personal levels. As important as it is for owners and managers to know where their employees’ time is going, it’s just as important for team members to receive available insights into their time spent working.

The more insights you have, the more productive you can become.

Perhaps you billed a client incorrectly for 5 hours instead of 6. Perhaps you realize that you get more accomplished while working in a different environment i.e. outside the home, night versus morning, etc. Being able to garner insights like this from hard data is a win for people trying to balance their personal and professional lives.

It’s not necessarily about making more money for everyone (but that’s a big upside). For individuals on a team, tracking time accurately may be more about making time for things that matter to them personally. Project managers also get clearer insights into how productive their teams are and where the pain points might be. 

In order to make that happen, you’ll need to nudge your time tracking game to the next level.

"The key to tracking your time more diligently is by actually tracking it less. Seems like an impossible catch-22, right? It’s not, thanks to some innovative thinkers who know how to leverage technology to make project management easier."

We’re talking about self-driving time tracking. It’s the revolutionary new way to automate the time tracking process, and it’s equally beneficial for individual team members and managers/owners. Find out what self-driving time tracking is, the benefits of self-driving time tracking, and how you can use self-driving time tracking to benefit your project management as a whole.

Definition of self-driving time tracking

Self-driving time tracking automates the time tracking process to prevent errors and the need for manual entry. Self-driving time tracking as a system is given certain parameters and rules to follow and learn from in order to automatically track time of individuals across an organization.

How it works: Self-driving time tracking leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to track user time and categorize it according to corresponding projects or tasks. 

For example, in the PSOhub environment, time can automatically be tracked and then allocated to the correct project, without manual entry. So not only is time tracked accurately, there’s less ambiguity as to where that time is going. This can help you  focus on profitability in a lot of ways. For one, you can more easily find out how billable your employees are. But more on the benefits of self-driving time tracking in a minute…

In short, self-driving time tracking is just what it sounds like– time tracking software that ‘drives’ itself.

Who is self-driving time tracking for?

Self-driving time tracking and other self-driving capabilities can clear out time, money, and energy that organizations can then use to grow their business. It’s also a boon to consultants and other professionals who want to maximize their time and work more efficiently, either to make more money or make more time for other interests.

However, the professional services industry is most likely to benefit from self-driving time tracking, in that it’s already familiar with tracking time across multiple team members and projects. 

Here are some examples of organizations that have adopted self-driving time tracking with PSOhub:

• IT Service & Consulting
• HubSpot agencies
• Salesforce agencies
• Marketing
• Legal
• Architecture
• Accounting
• And more…

Benefits of self-driving time tracking

☑ Save time and money

☑ Eliminate errors

☑ Improve productivity

Self-driving time tracking was developed to minimize or do away with the time and effort required by manual time tracking. Its other key purpose is to eliminate inaccuracies and errors that can negatively affect the bottom line.

While self-driving time tracking is the best solution currently available to eliminate time tracking errors, it also can positively impact productivity at both the organizational and individual level. 

Team members can stop wasting time with manual time entry and see exactly where their efforts are going. Meanwhile, managers and owners get a more accurate representation of the status of their projects and where/how time is being used. 

Check out the benefits of self-driving time tracking for both team members/consultants (aka the individual level) and at the organizational level for managers and owners:

Benefits of self-driving time tracking for team members and consultants

• Save time and money by foregoing manual time entry
• You can block out your time to be more productive
• You can stay focused on the task at hand
• You can bill correctly EVERY TIME
• Make corrections when needed
• Put your saved time toward a rewarding life or earning more

Benefits of self-driving time tracking for managers and owners

• More accurate grasp of project status in real time
• More accurate capacity planning and better resource management 
• Improve cash flow by saving time and money on admin
• Budget your projects more accurately
• Save real $$$ and be more efficient by consolidating your tech stack
• Put your saved time and energy to growing your business

How does self-driving time tracking work?

Self-driving time tracking is designed to reduce errors like duplicate entries, inaccurate billing, and missed hours. With PSOhub, self-driving time tracking integrates your Google or Outlook calendar with project management software.

So first, you use your calendar to schedule meetings and block out time toward certain tasks. Then, the self-driving time tracking from PSOhub will automatically track that time for you. A GPS time tracker also comes in handy to account automatically for time spent on-site in fields like architecture, building and planning, etc.

You can even customize PSOhub self-driving time tracking to the extent that an invoice is automatically generated from your time. AKA automated invoicing. This means you're essentially going straight from your calendar– which you’re using anyway– to invoicing without missing a beat.

Self-driving time tracking for project management

Managing time is one of the key components to holistic and effective project management. The whole point of leveraging self-driving time tracking in the first place is to enable the software to learn more, so that it can do more work.

For that, you need data. It therefore makes the most sense that your self-driving time tracking is integrated with all the other data on your projects: budgets, invoicing, etc. That’s why PSOhub includes self-driving time tracking as a feature in their all-in-one project management software. It’s the most seamless way to keep your time together with all the other moving parts in your project lifecycle.

It’s critical that if you’re using a CRM, your self-driving time tracking is integrated with that platform. That way you can account for all those hours without going to an outside solution. Self-driving time tracking from PSOhub can keep track of everything you do in HubSpot and Salesforce and feed it directly to the project side. You can therefore start billing before the project officially begins and keep everyone on your projects in the know about sales and vice versa.

Final Thoughts

"At the end of the day, it’s about productivity, saving money, and earning more."

Self-driving time tracking is a valuable tool for professionals and organizations to improve time management, productivity, and project management on the whole. This technology uses AI and self-learning to forgo the need for manual time entry.

Anyone who bills by the hour can benefit from self-driving time tracking to save time and money, eliminate errors, and improve productivity. Self-driving time tracking works by connecting to other platforms you use, like your Google or Outlook calendar, to correctly account for your time.

Self-driving time tracking that’s part of your project management solution can go a step further by automatically tying time entries with the correct project. This really comes in handy for project managers and team members alike who are working on multiple projects at once. 

By using self-driving time tracking for your business, you can…

• Get paid correctly
• Get paid on time
• Get paid faster

… than with any other current time tracking solution. Try it for FREE with PSOhub today!