Good Managers Don't Hide Behind Timesheets

It's no secret that I have a hatred of timesheets. In many organisations/teams they simply do not give you the information that you think they do. This is exceptionally apparent when dealing with software/tech teams. See my previous post here: https://anthonydotnet.blogspot.com/2019/09/stop-using-timesheets.html

In this article I will give a view regarding timesheets in organisations from a management perspective. I hope this doesn't ruffle too many feathers ;)

Note: I am writing from the perspective of software/web development.

Managers Don't Read Timesheets

This might come as a shock to some people, but staff timesheets will almost never be viewed by their manager. There is a common belief that timesheets can tell you what your staff are actually spending their time on. If you subscribe to this belief, I hope this article will give you some food for thought:
https://anthonydotnet.blogspot.com/2019/09/stop-using-timesheets.html

Perhaps there are some managers who decide to look at timesheets in the hope that they will try to understand a person's day, and how they spend their time. I'm going to be very blunt and say that if a manager needs to do this, then they are not doing their job properly. Sorry, not sorry.

A good manager will already know what their staff does, what they are working on, and how they feel. A good manager will periodically say hello, so that they can ask questions about the day/week/project. They make an effort to have some personal one-to-one time, and even ask other people about other staff members (directly or indirectly).

Managers Don't Know How To Approve Timesheets

As a manager, I have been asked to approve people's timesheets. I will be totally honest and tell you that I often didn't even know what I was looking at. So in reality I just approve them all. Yes that's the truth. 

Why? But what if they did their timesheet wrong? 

Simply put... I trust the people I work with - The people whom I am there to support. I'm not a micromanager. Realistically, how the hell am I meant to know if my developers did their timesheet correctly? In fact, in my previous company we ended up eliminating them entirely.

You may be thinking "But how do we know if they were on billable work?"

See my previous post here: https://anthonydotnet.blogspot.com/2019/09/stop-using-timesheets.html

Managers Don't Use Timesheets To Track Effort

In my experience in leading teams, it is always obvious to me when developers work overtime. It comes out in conversations about their work. This is generally because they want to solve a problem or fix something that they broke. I also know that most developers typically do not track this time in any meaningful way. So, I also routinely ask developers if they have worked any overtime hours, then insist that they take some time off.

From my perspective, there is one of the only positive uses of timesheets, which I have leveraged in the past. Some organisations need "proof" to justify why someone deserves more vacation time or higher pay. This is one way to give HR/higher manager that proof. In short, timesheets can be used as leverage to put forward a case for more time off, or more pay.

Final Thoughts

I hope this has been a little bit insightful for those of you who wonder what your managers are doing with your timesheets. For the managers out there, I hope that you agree with what I'm saying. We don't need timesheets to help our staff. We only need interactions.