20 Best Employee Productivity Tracking Software (2024)
- Published:
- Updated: June 27, 2024
Tracking productivity is tricky, especially with the rise of remote work and teams engaging and collaborating virtually, distributed across the globe. Managers tasked with tracking and monitoring team member’s level of productivity require innovative and interactive tools to guide their teams to be more efficient and productive.
To help, employee productivity tracking software empowers managers with the tools to assess their team’s quality of work and improve task completion time – without micro-managing their employees’ day-to-day.
What are the best tools for tracking employee productivity?
- Whatfix
- Time Doctor
- ActivTrak
- iDoneThis
- Airtable
- ProofHub
- Everhour
- Asana
- Apploye
- ConnectTeam
- Workplus
- Teramind
- Hubstaff
- Teamwork
- SmartTask
- Insightful.io
- Traqq
- ClickUp
- CurrentWare
- We360.ai
What Is Employee Productivity Tracking Software?
Employee productivity software offers real-time data on employee efficiency and the time taken to complete assigned tasks. The data analyzes employee behavior and records task-based timelines to measure their productivity during working hours. It helps employees manage their workload for optimum results while also offering managers the ability to track their direct reports’ usage of software applications and measure employee performance – with the ultimate goal of improving employee performance.
Such software helps team managers and business owners optimize and refine their employee engagement, and create innovative methods to streamline tasks that help save time and money – and deliver maximum ROI.
Types of Employee Productivity Tracking Software
Employee productivity tracking software comes in various forms, each addressing different aspects of productivity and management. Here are the main types:
1. Time traking software
Time tracking software helps monitor the amount of time employees spend on various tasks and projects. This type of software is essential for identifying time-wasting activities, optimizing work schedules, and ensuring accurate billing for client work. Some examples of time tracking software include Toggle, Clockify, Harvest.
Key features:
- Time logging: Automatically or manually track hours spent on tasks.
- Reporting: Generate detailed reports on time usage and productivity.
- Integration: Often integrates with project management and billing software.
2. Project management software
Project management software helps manage and track the progress of projects, ensuring that deadlines are met and resources are utilized efficiently. It is ideal for coordinating team efforts and keeping projects on track. Some examples of project management software include Asana, Trello, JIRA.
Key features:
- Task assignment: Assign tasks to team members with due dates and priorities.
- Progress tracking: Monitor the status of tasks and projects.
- Collaboration: Facilitate team communication and file sharing.
3. Employee monitoring software
Employee monitoring software provides insights into how employees spend their time at work, tracking activities like website usage, application usage, and keystrokes. This software is useful for ensuring that employees are focused on their tasks and for identifying potential productivity issues. Some examples of employee monitoring software include Hubstaff, Teramind, ActivTrak.
Key features:
- Activity monitoring: Track application and website usage.
- Screenshots: Capture periodic screenshots to monitor activity.
- Reports: Generate reports on employee activity and productivity levels.
4. Communication and collaboration tools
Communication and collaboration tools enhance productivity by facilitating better communication and collaboration among team members. These tools are essential for remote teams and businesses with distributed workforces. Some examples of communication and collaboration tools include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom.
Key features:
- Real-time messaging: Instant messaging and group chats.
- File sharing: Share documents and files easily.
- Video conferencing: Host virtual meetings and webinars.
5. Performance management software
Performance management software helps in setting goals, tracking performance, and providing feedback to employees, which is crucial for maintaining high productivity levels. Some examples of performance management software include BambooHR, 15Five, Lattice
Key features:
- Goal setting: Set and track individual and team goals.
- Performance reviews: Conduct regular performance appraisals.
- Feedback: Facilitate continuous feedback and development.
6. Task management software
Task management software helps employees prioritize and manage their daily tasks more efficiently, ensuring that important tasks are not overlooked. Some of the examples of task management software include Todoist, Microsoft To Do, TickTick
Key features:
- Task lists: Create and manage to-do lists and tasks.
- Reminders: Set reminders for upcoming deadlines and tasks.
- Collaboration: Assign tasks and share progress with team members.
20 Best Employee Productivity Tracking Software in 2024
There are many employee productivity tracking software tools, packed with different feature sets. However, it is essential to understand which software works best for your team, your employees, and your organization’s unique needs.
Here’s a list of some of the best employee productivity tracking software to help companies manage, monitor, and improve their workforce’s productivity:
1. Whatfix
Best works for: Monitoring enterprise application usage
Whatfix is a digital adoption platform (DAP) that simplifies organizational processes and drives productivity levels by providing employees with on-demand training and support on the software tools and processes they use in their day-to-day.
With contextual in-app training content, Whatfix offers on-demand support, combined with insights to measure training effectiveness. Its features such as in-app guides, walkthroughs and flows, self-help FAQs, beacons, task lists, and pop-ups all improve employee’s productivity by helping them become expert users, while in the flow of work. Whatfix helps employees understand their tasks by offering contextual resources directly in your team’s software apps, thereby, reducing third-party intervention, and saving time.
Features:
- In-app FAQ and knowledge base
- Interactive walkthroughs, flows, and product tours
- Automatic tasklist progression monitor
- Pop-ups, tooltips, beacons
- Integrates leading enterprise software applications and systems across CRM, ERP, HCM, and more – while also natively integrating with LMS systems.
2. Time Doctor
Best works for: Remote Employee Management
Time Doctor offers detailed insights and analytics into the amount of time spent by an employee on tasks. This helps employees manage their time better and assists managers in exploring the scope of their productivity, while also providing feedback on how to improve it.
With several feature sets, including project management, time tracking, and employee monitoring, this solution helps employees share productivity reports easily. Managers receive weekly progress reports outlining employee time tracking statistics to help maximize productivity in the future. Companies can seamlessly integrate Time Doctor with most project management and internal communication platforms, and track employee time with ease.
Features:
- Time tracking offers insight into the daily productive and unproductive times.
- Keeps track of the websites and apps being visited and used during work hours.
- Gives employees the autonomy to manage their time to improve productivity.
- Alerts managers of time wasting activities and can block unproductive or non-work related websites.
- Equipped to integrate with 60+ accounting, project management, and communication software.
3. ActivTrak
Best works for: Workforce analytics to measure employee productivity
An affordable and easy-to-use employee productivity monitoring software, ActivTrak is best suited for SMBs, especially for those managing a remote team. It integrates with hundreds of different platforms – including starter templates that sync with the variety of Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Salesforce suite ecosystems – leveraging those native capabilities, especially those in the analytics sector.
ActivTrak enables managers to access and assess employee performance via its easy-to-understand dashboard. This dashboard offers insights and deep-dives into employee productivity data to improve workflow understanding, thus improving overall productivity levels through better processes. Its time tracking functionality further supports the analytics features to measure employee performance.
ActivTrak’s interactive UI gives it a BI (business intelligence) touch when merged with productivity-focused and data monitoring tools. While tracking is an integral part of the software, its access control tools ensure user privacy too.
Features:
- Real-Time Activity Monitoring: Tracks employee activity across applications and websites in real time.
- Detailed Productivity Reports: Generates comprehensive reports on productive versus non-productive time.
- Customizable Alerts: Allows for setting alerts for specific behaviors or thresholds.
- Screen Capture: Captures screenshots to provide context for user activity.
- Behavioral Analytics: Analyzes work patterns to identify trends and productivity bottlenecks.
4. iDoneThis
Works best for: Task management and team synchronization
iDoneThis is a no-frills, agile time management tool that helps streamline teams’ work processes and supports simple cross-functional collaboration. Employees can easily update the status of their tasks and projects by tracking their progress, adding tasks, and even tagging team members on projects. These statuses are quickly reviewed by managers who can also access the employee progress reports anytime.
iDoneThis is a great solution for teams working off a sprint model, allowing managers to benchmark the productivity of each team member, hold them accountable to this amount of work, and begin to improve that level of productivity to improve team member output.
Features:
- Daily Check-ins: Allows team members to log daily accomplishments and progress.
- Progress Reports: Generates automated progress reports based on daily check-ins.
- Team Collaboration: Facilitates team communication and collaboration through shared updates.
- Goal Tracking: Helps track and monitor progress towards team and individual goals.
- Integrations: Integrates with popular tools like Slack, Trello, and Asana for seamless workflow management.
5. Airtable
Works best for: Managing and tracking projects for collaborative teams
Airtable is an easy-to-use and versatile online collaboration and project management tool. It allows users to enter data, manage projects, assign tasks, plan their product roadmap, organize data inventories, and more – all in a modernized spreadsheet with a beautiful, intuitive UI. With Airtable, team members can see the progress of their duties, see upcoming tasks, work on collaborative projects, and get an overview of larger projects.
Airtable also integrates with the Google suite of products, allowing team members to invite members to add their inputs and edits directly to the documents. Its friendly color schemes make it easier to categorize each task and scan through the project, while adhering to brand guidelines.
Airtable has different pre-built templates that help users easily understand and adopt an already simple interface. The tool is loved by content creators, which may be a result of the wealth of pre-built templates such as content calendars, social media tasks, and editing and publishing sheets. In fact, the Whatfix content marketing team uses Airtable to manage its editorial and publishing calendar!
Features:
- Customizable Databases: Allows creation of tailored databases to track various projects and tasks.
- Collaboration Tools: Facilitates real-time collaboration with team members through shared views and comments.
- Integration Capabilities: Integrates with a wide range of apps like Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox.
- Visual Project Management: Offers multiple views such as grid, calendar, and Kanban for effective project tracking.
- Automations: Enables workflow automation with triggers and actions to streamline repetitive tasks.
6. ProofHub
Works best for: Efficient and transparent project planning and collaboration
A SaaS-based project management software, ProofHub is a great way to decentralize communication among team members and clients. It integrates chats from internal messaging tools such as Slack and MS Teams, project management Kanban boards and Gantt charts, and internal workflows to help streamline communication, driving projects to completion, and enable remote teams to stay connected.
ProofHub has the customization option to suit different teams and working methods. The user-friendly interface further simplifies end-to-end project planning, giving managers a bird’s eye view of all the open and completed tasks and to-do lists. In the event of roadblocks, ProofHub also uses organization tools to present team members with contextual files and process documentation to help them find solutions to problems when they happen.
Features:
- Task Management: Organizes tasks with to-do lists, deadlines, and task dependencies.
- Gantt Charts: Visualizes project timelines and progress with interactive Gantt charts.
- Time Tracking: Tracks time spent on tasks and projects to improve time management.
- Team Collaboration: Facilitates communication with discussion boards, chat, and file sharing.
- Reporting Tools: Generates detailed reports on project status, team performance, and productivity metrics.
7. Everhour
Works best for: Time tracking and workforce management for freelancers
Everhour is a comprehensive time and workforce management solution. It helps users enhance their productivity with integrations in popular freelancer platforms such as Asana, Trello, Basecamp, Clickup, and more – allowing for budgets, invoices, payroll to be automated. The seamless project scheduling & tracking tools further make it easier for users to stay on top of the progress and create comprehensive reports at the end of the month.
Features:
- Time Tracking: Tracks time spent on tasks and projects in real time.
- Project Budgeting: Monitors project budgets and expenses to ensure financial control.
- Integrations: Seamlessly integrates with project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Basecamp.
- Detailed Reporting: Provides comprehensive reports on time usage, project progress, and team productivity.
- Invoicing: Generates invoices based on tracked time and project data for accurate billing.
8. Asana
Works best for: Project management and task tracking
Asana is a task management software helping users categorize their projects into tasks and subtasks. The easy-to-understand dashboard allows users to receive project details, reminders, team members, and duties.
The calendar feature presents the complete picture of project status, where users are able to tag different team members when passing off tasks. For greater collaboration and efficiency, Asana has native integration with Google Docs and Sheets. Reminders and project deadlines sent directly to employees’ emails help with task management and managing timelines.
Features:
- Task Management: Organizes tasks with deadlines, priorities, and assignments.
- Project Tracking: Tracks project progress with timelines, boards, and calendars.
- Team Collaboration: Facilitates team communication with comments, mentions, and shared projects.
- Automation: Automates routine workflows with customizable rules and triggers.
- Integrations: Connects with tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams for seamless workflow integration.
9. Apploye
Works best for: Desktop, mobile, and remote employee time tracking
Apploye is a time tracking and employee monitoring software that caters to both freelancers and workforce time tracking and productivity use cases and helps teams improve productivity and time management. With features that support time tracking, remote employee monitoring, and detailed reporting, automatic timesheets, it offers an all-in-one solution for managing employee productivity.
Managers can benefit from the reports and dashboard that provides a snapshot of team productivity, thereby identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
Features:
- Time Tracking: Records employee work hours with a detailed time log.
- Activity Monitoring: Monitors application and website usage to analyze productivity.
- GPS Tracking: Tracks the location of remote or field employees in real time.
- Payroll Management: Automates payroll calculations based on tracked hours and rates.
- Project Management: Manages projects with task assignments, deadlines, and progress tracking.
10. ConnectTeam
Works best for: Team communication, employee scheduling, and task management for non-office teams
ConnectTeam is a scalable and customizable employee management platform simplifying internal communication and promoting collaboration. The platform is especially focused on training non-desk employees, boosting transparency among team members, and boosting employee engagement. A few examples of industries that ConnectTeam is built for include construction, retail, logistics, hospitality, and film.
With its focus on non-office teams, it offers unique features for its core user personas including geofencing, GPS tracking, on-the-go reminders, mobile dashboards, and more.
Features:
- Task Management: Assigns and tracks tasks with due dates and progress updates.
- Time Clock: Tracks employee work hours with a built-in time clock and GPS location.
- Communication Tools: Enhances team communication with chat, updates, and announcements.
- Training and Onboarding: Provides digital training materials and onboarding checklists.
- Employee Scheduling: Manages employee shifts and schedules with an intuitive calendar.
11. Workpuls
Works best for: Workforce and productivity monitoring and analytics
A time tracking and employee monitoring software rolled into one – Workpuls is helping team managers get a detailed report on the team performance. The software relies on productivity monitoring data to create workforce and productivity insights. It also allows managers to organize their project timelines, budget them for greater revenue, and offer precise project insight to stay on top of the progress.
Features:
- Automatic Time Tracking: Tracks employee work hours automatically without manual input.
- Activity Monitoring: Monitors application and website usage to assess productivity levels.
- Productivity Analysis: Provides detailed insights and reports on employee productivity and performance.
- Screenshots: Captures periodic screenshots to offer visual context for work activities.
- Project Management: Allows tracking of time spent on specific projects and tasks for better management.
12. Teramind
Works best for: Employee monitoring, employee behavior analytics, data loss prevention, and insider threat detection
Teramind is a comprehensive employee monitoring solution helping team managers track their employee work, engagement levels, and activities. It also monitors employee behavior to detect insider threats, suspicious activities and safeguard confidential information.
Teramind offers three different solutions – Starter, UAM, and DLP. Teramind Starter helps team leaders record screens, receive live viewing of the applications and websites to track employee work. The Teramind UAM helps in user activity monitoring, audit forensics, and policy regulations. Lastly, the Teramind DLP tracks and filters content that may indicate data loss and prevent it in the future.
Features:
- User Activity Monitoring: Tracks user activities across applications, websites, and documents.
- Behavior Analytics: Analyzes user behavior to detect anomalies and improve productivity.
- Screen Recording: Records user screens to provide a detailed view of work activities.
- Real-Time Alerts: Sends instant alerts for suspicious or non-productive activities.
- Time Tracking: Monitors time spent on various tasks and projects for accurate productivity assessment.
13. Hubstaff
Works best for: Comprehensive time tracking and employee productivity management. Hubstaff is a powerful time-tracking and productivity management tool designed to help businesses streamline their operations, manage remote teams effectively, and boost overall productivity. Hubstaff offers a wide range of features including time tracking, employee monitoring, project management, and payroll, making it a versatile solution for companies of all sizes.
With Hubstaff, managers can track employees’ time on tasks, monitor their activities, and gain insights into productivity levels. The software also provides detailed reports, helping managers identify areas for improvement and optimize workflows. Additionally, Hubstaff integrates with various popular project management and communication tools, enhancing its functionality and making it easy to incorporate into existing workflows.
Features:
- Time Tracking: Tracks work hours with detailed timesheets and activity levels.
- GPS Tracking: Monitors the location of remote and field employees in real time.
- Activity Monitoring: Records application and website usage to gauge productivity.
- Screenshot Capture: Takes periodic screenshots to provide visual evidence of work.
- Payroll Integration: Automates payroll processing based on tracked hours and rates.
14. Teamwork
Teamwork is a project management and collaboration software designed to help teams organize their work, communicate more effectively, and deliver projects on time. It offers a suite of tools for task management, time tracking, team collaboration, and reporting, making it a comprehensive solution for enhancing team productivity.
Features:
- Task management: Organize tasks with clear assignments and deadlines, ensuring accountability and timely completion.
- Time tracking: Monitor time spent on tasks and projects to manage resources effectively and improve time management.
- Collaboration tools: Facilitate communication and file sharing within teams, enhancing teamwork and coordination.
- Gantt charts: Visualize project timelines and dependencies to aid in better planning and tracking.
- Reporting and analytics: Gain insights into project performance and team productivity to make informed decisions.
15. SmartTask
SmartTask is an all-in-one work management platform that integrates task management, project management, CRM, and team collaboration features. It helps businesses streamline their operations and enhance productivity by providing a centralized hub for managing various aspects of their work.
Features:
- Task management: Simplify task organization and prioritization to keep teams focused and on track.
- Project management: Track project progress, set milestones, and ensure timely completion of deliverables.
- CRM integration: Manage customer relationships and sales pipelines efficiently within the same platform.
- Collaboration: Enhance team communication and file sharing to reduce silos and improve workflow.
- Reporting and analytics: Monitor performance metrics to identify bottlenecks and optimize processes.
16. Insightful.io
Insightful.io (formerly known as Workpuls) is a productivity tracking and employee monitoring software designed to provide deep insights into how employees spend their time at work. It offers tools for time tracking, application usage monitoring, and detailed productivity analytics.
Features:
- Time tracking: Capture accurate time logs for various tasks, improving accountability and time management.
- Application monitoring: Track application usage to ensure employees are using tools effectively and identify any misuse.
- Automated screenshots: Periodically capture screenshots to verify work progress and maintain transparency.
- Productivity reports: Generate comprehensive reports on employee productivity to identify areas for improvement.
- Employee monitoring: Monitor overall activity levels to gauge employee engagement and focus.
17. Traqq
Traqq is a time tracking and employee monitoring software that emphasizes ethical monitoring and transparency. It offers tools for tracking work hours, monitoring activity levels, and generating detailed productivity reports while ensuring privacy and trust.
Features:
- Time tracking: Accurately log work hours to ensure fair billing and payroll.
- Activity monitoring: Measure activity levels without invasive monitoring to maintain employee trust.
- Ethical monitoring: Blur screenshots and capture only necessary data to protect employee privacy.
- Detailed reporting: Provide comprehensive reports on time usage and productivity for performance analysis.
- Offline time tracking: Track time even without an internet connection to ensure complete time logs.
18. ClickUp
ClickUp is a versatile productivity platform that offers a wide range of tools for task management, project management, and team collaboration. Its customizable interface and comprehensive feature set make it a popular choice for teams looking to centralize their work processes and improve efficiency.
Features:
- Task and project management: Create, assign, and track tasks and projects to ensure timely completion.
- Customizable dashboards: Tailor views to individual and team needs for better visibility and productivity.
- Integrations: Connect with various other tools and platforms to streamline workflows and data management.
- Collaboration tools: Facilitate team communication and document sharing to enhance teamwork.
- Time tracking: Track time spent on tasks to manage workloads and improve efficiency.
19. CurrentWare
CurrentWare is an employee monitoring and internet security software designed to track internet usage, manage device endpoints, and ensure data security. It helps organizations monitor employee activity, enforce acceptable use policies, and protect sensitive information.
Features:
- Internet monitoring: Track and report on internet usage to ensure compliance with company policies.
- Endpoint security: Manage and secure devices to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
- Web filtering: Block access to inappropriate or non-work-related websites to improve productivity.
- Employee activity tracking: Monitor application usage and user activity to gain insights into productivity.
- Reporting and alerts: Generate detailed reports and real-time alerts to aid in proactive management.
20. We360.ai
We360.ai is a cloud-based employee monitoring and productivity tracking software that provides insights into employee activities, application usage, and productivity levels. It aims to enhance transparency and efficiency within organizations by offering detailed analytics and monitoring tools.
Features:
- Real-time monitoring: Track employee activities in real-time to provide immediate insights into productivity.
- Application usage tracking: Monitor which applications are being used to identify productive and non-productive behaviors.
- Productivity analytics: Analyze activity data to highlight trends and areas for improvement, facilitating better management.
- Screen recording: Capture screen activity to verify work progress and ensure compliance with company policies.
- User-friendly dashboard: Provide an intuitive interface for viewing and analyzing productivity data, enhancing usability.
Benefits of Employee Productivity Tracking Software
Here are some of the most significant benefits of an employee productivity tracking software.
1. Sets Clear Objectives
Employee productivity tracking software helps set clear objectives by allowing managers to define specific goals and tasks for each employee. These objectives can be tracked and measured, ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities and the expectations placed upon them. This clarity helps in aligning individual efforts with the overall organizational goals, leading to better performance and accountability.
2. Offers transparency
Transparency is enhanced through productivity tracking software by providing visibility into work processes and employee activities. Managers and team members can see who is working on what, the progress being made, and how time is being utilized. This openness reduces misunderstandings, builds trust, and fosters a collaborative work environment where everyone is aware of each other’s contributions.
3. Improves productivity
Productivity tracking software improves productivity by identifying and addressing inefficiencies. By monitoring how time is spent, the software can highlight areas where time is wasted or where processes can be streamlined. Employees can receive feedback on their performance, encouraging them to adopt more efficient work habits. Additionally, the data collected can be used to optimize workflows and allocate resources more effectively.
4. Simplifies task prioritization
With productivity tracking software, tasks can be easily prioritized based on urgency, importance, and deadlines. The software often includes features like to-do lists, project timelines, and priority markers, helping employees focus on the most critical tasks first. This structured approach ensures that essential tasks are completed on time, reducing the risk of missed deadlines and improving overall efficiency.
5. Provides a real-time job status
Real-time job status updates are a key feature of productivity tracking software. Managers and team members can instantly see the progress of tasks and projects, identifying any delays or bottlenecks as they occur. This immediate visibility allows for quick adjustments and proactive problem-solving, ensuring that projects stay on track and goals are met more consistently.
6. Streamlines billing for freelancers
How to Choose Employee Productivity Tracking Software
1. Identify your business needs
2. Evaluate software capability
3. Consider cost and ROI
4. Traning and support
5. Gather feedback from stakeholders
Accelerate and track employee productivity with Whatfix in-app guidance and user analytics
Accelerating and tracking employee productivity can be seamlessly achieved with Whatfix’s in-app guidance and user analytics. By offering intuitive, real-time assistance within the software applications employees use daily, Whatfix enhances user proficiency and reduces learning curves.
Furthermore, Whatfix analytics provide deep insights into how users interact with applications, highlighting areas for improvement and ensuring that training efforts are effective. With Whatfix, businesses can not only boost productivity but also ensure that their workforce is fully equipped to meet their goals efficiently. This holistic approach to employee productivity tracking and enhancement makes Whatfix an invaluable tool for any organization looking to optimize performance and achieve sustained growth.
To learn more about Whatfix, click here to schedule a free demo with us today!
Software clicks better with Whatfix's digital adoption platform
Enable your employees with in-app guidance, self-help support, process changes alerts, pop-ups for department announcements, and field validations to improve data accuracy.
Shefali Mathur
Shefali is an experienced content marketer who focuses on employee management topics such as employee development, engagement, onboarding, training.
Table of Contents
Subscribe to get new content delivered directly to your inbox.