Promoting transparency in remote or hybrid work settings without
overwhelming employees with surveillance can be challenging.
Nevertheless, when implemented thoughtfully, remote
employee monitoring software
can connect remote workers and their managers, fostering trust-based
accountability.
Suppose you plan to open the hiring process at your company to
work-from-home workers or feel the urge to consolidate all the team
members regardless of their work location. In that case, this remote
work monitoring handbook will guide you through how to deal with
remote employee monitoring without losing your team's trust.
Get to know:
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What is remote employee monitoring?
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What kind of practices does remote work monitoring include?
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What is the ethical background of remote user activity monitoring?
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How to encourage hesitant remote employees to use employee
monitoring systems?
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What other benefits are coming from implementing remote work tracking software?
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How does TimeCamp streamline remote workforce management?
Make sure your team stays on top of their work regardless of where
they work from.
Get your free account
of TimeCamp, a top-notch remote productivity monitoring software.
What is remote work monitoring?
It's a long-term process of observing and analyzing remote employees'
activity using various digital tools, such as time tracking,
productivity, or task management software.
Why do companies monitor remote workers?
Modern, thriving remote teams need more comprehensive solutions than
endless chains of emails and phone calls to ensure stable, real-time
communication. Remote employee monitoring software is like a virtual
office—it gives them a shared space to collaborate, report progress,
and stay in touch regardless of their work timezone.
What are the other reasons why employers monitor remote workers?
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Tracking employees' time spent working on their tasks is crucial to determining whether there are any
differences in performance between in-office and remote
workers.
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Measuring employee engagement rates helps
convince remote employees to take ownership of their tasks and be
more accountable for their work.
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Requiring remote employees to use a time tracker daily
ensures hourly employees are billed fairly for their work hours.
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Inviting remote employees to the tools the company uses
daily
helps establish one system for the in-office and remote workforce.
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Tracking work time daily automatically marks
remote employees present at work and collects their attendance
data.
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Analyzing time tracking data regularly is
essential to determining productive and distracting activities.
And so on! Remote work monitoring software caters to employers' needs
to stay connected to their team members regardless of location and
provide employee services as similar as possible to the in-office
experience.
Managing remote employees has never been easier.
Sign up for free and level up your remote monitoring
with TimeCamp!
What are the most common methods of monitoring how remote employees
work?
There are plenty of remote employee monitoring methods employers can
choose from.
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Automatic time tracking: Logs hours spent on
tasks in real-time to get detailed reports on remote employees'
work performance.
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Keystroke logging: Tracks what employees type
using corporate devices.
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Mouse/touchpad tracking: Registers mouse movement
to determine whether employees really work or just use a mouse
jiggler that imitates user activity.
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GPS tracking: Pinpoints the exact location of a
remote employee.
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Apps and website monitoring: Tracks what applications or websites employees use during
work hours.
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Screen recording: This method captures
employees' screens in real time irregularly or at set intervals
(in the form of screenshots or videos).
Most of the tools currently available offer more than one employee
monitoring solution. However, the comprehensiveness of the employee
monitoring process often reflects the level of trust between an
employer and their employees—the more employers are willing to monitor
every step of their remote teams, the more their methods seem to
invade their employees' privacy.
That's why it's a good practice to ask yourself how you would feel if
you were overly controlled before purchasing remote employee
monitoring software.
Usually, a cross-platform time
tracker with computer
activity tracking features is perfect for effectively monitoring
remote employee productivity.
Get a free TimeCamp account and see for yourself!
Can remote workers be monitored?
Currently, existing laws do not restrict employers' rights to install
employee monitoring software on corporate-owned devices like laptops,
tablets, or smartphones or to ask employees to keep them turned on
during business hours.
However, ordering your remote employees to download an app on their
own equipment may raise serious concerns about violating employees'
privacy, either when onboarding new hires or announcing it to the
current staff. That's why explaining why the company uses remote
employee monitoring is crucial to avoid staining the employer-employee
relationship.
How to address the ethical issues of remote worker monitoring?
Properly explaining why the company uses remote workforce monitoring
software is crucial to addressing the legal and ethical issues
surrounding employee data collection. A transparent approach
encourages positive feedback, builds trust, and increases employees'
willingness to cooperate.
The most common concerns about remote employee tracking software:
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What kind of employee activity does the employee monitoring tool
track, and to what extent?
-
What types of data does it track? What about personal data, such
as login credentials?
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Where is the collected data stored? Who has permission to browse
it?
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What does it mean that the tracking software is intended to boost
employee productivity?
The perfect approach would be to address these concerns before your
remote employees even voice them. Be consistent and transparent in
your answers to ensure your employees fully understand the tool's
purpose.
Also, consider creating a remote employee monitoring software handbook
to summarize answers to your employees' concerns. Keep it handy,
preferably pinned to a shared workspace within the team collaboration
app, and openly communicate the plans for adjusting the company's
worker productivity monitoring policy.
How to encourage remote and hybrid employees to track their time and
productivity?
A successful and complete implementation will be possible only when
remote workers start using the company's chosen employee monitoring
software.
How can remote workers' doubts about productivity monitoring software
be dispelled?
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Communicate openly: As mentioned above, explain
clearly why the company wants remote workers to report their work
progress in detail. Define what kind of data the employee
monitoring software collects and provide training on properly
using the tool.
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Clarify work results expectations: Provide a
clear job description for remote positions and explain how remote
employee tracking tool helps assess employees' engagement in
fulfilling their responsibilities.
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Highlight how remote workers can benefit from employee
monitoring software: Introduce the tool as practical for performance
self-checks, and as a guarantee of fair compensation for time
employees spend on their assignments.
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Focus on results to enhance job satisfaction: Use
remote worker monitoring software to define your remote workers'
core strengths. This will help you quickly identify
high-performing employees and reward them for their efforts, which
is a perfect way to build trust, encourage the spirit of remote
teams, and increase engagement.
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Let remote workers discover their weaknesses. Self-check is a valuable tool for employees to assess their
performance and react quickly to drawbacks. This way, they can
strive for improvement without experiencing negative situations
that could damage their morale.
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Respect privacy: Explain thoroughly what
data the remote employee monitoring software collects and for what
purpose. Just as your company gets certified to ensure your
clients' complete data protection, you should provide your
employees with the highest level of data safety.
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Provide support at every step: A remote work
environment has limits, especially if remote workers work from
around the globe. Provide them with detailed training on how to
use the remote employee monitoring software, check regularly to
ensure they have the latest versions of the apps installed on
their corporate devices, and keep them posted about even minor
changes in the company's remote employee monitoring policy.
In a nutshell, transparency and highlighting the positive outcomes are
the keys to encouraging employees to stop hesitating about remote
worker monitoring software.
What other benefits are coming from implementing remote worker
monitoring software?
The most valuable players in the remote employee monitoring software
market offer more than different abilities to track remote employees'
time and activity. What are the other areas in which it helps improve?
Employee performance improvement
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Broader visibility into employee activity: Due to
limited face-to-face contact with remote workers, supervisors
overlook deficiencies unless an employee raises concerns.
Monitoring employees unlocks valuable insights into what employees
struggle with the most.
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Productivity trends indication: Tracking
employee productivity includes classifying user activity into
productive and unproductive activities, which allows for
pinpointing and eliminating sources of distraction.
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Enhanced accountability: Using employee
monitoring software fosters transparency among the team members
and encourages them to be more proactive.
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Healthy time management practices: Giving remote employees a tool to
perform regular self-checks on how they spend their working hours
fosters pursuing a path of self-improvement and planning their
work time more efficiently.
Streamlined task management
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Seamless task tracking: See in real-time how your
employees work to plan and manage workload according to the
current team's capacity.
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Higher task completion rate: Remote workers aware
of remote work monitoring software running on their computers tend
to focus better on their assignments.
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Enhanced communication: Remote work
monitoring tools with collaboration features keep remote teams
connected and make it seem like they share the same workspace
despite the distance.
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Control budgets: Measuring time spent on
different tasks helps prepare more accurate budget estimates and
compare them with actual spending during a project's execution
phase.
Simplified workforce management
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Streamlined payroll: Integrating a remote
monitoring tool with accounting systems ensures accurate payroll
lists and timely compensations, which is crucial for building
trust-based employee-employer relationships.
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Reduced micromanagement: Thorough analysis
of time data provides more detailed information about employee
productivity and is much less stressful for employees than
constant nagging.
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Strengthened team cohesion: Remote monitoring
tools build a bridge between in-office, remote, and hybrid
employees, fostering an inclusive remote culture.
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An eye on employees' well-being: Remote workers
tend to work longer hours than their in-office colleagues. Time
and activity data help supervisors
track their overtime
and react when numbers indicate their employees work excessive
hours.
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Working hours flexibility: Remote workers
management software streamlines the process of establishing
separate policies for employees who need more flexibility in
managing their time, such as when they balance work and parenting
responsibilities.
Enhanced security
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Centralized system: Using one multipurpose tool
for monitoring employees helps implement solid data security
measures to avoid sensitive data breaches and aids in successful
insider threat detection.
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Full law compliance: Certified remote employee
monitoring tools cater to employers' needs for the highest data
protection standards and
compliance with employment laws
around the globe.
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Proactive attitude: Employees are comfortable
with their online activity; they should not give it too much
thought or, quite the opposite, use its features to their favor.
Implementing time and activity tracking tools should be the first step
for companies to keep up with the rapid workforce transformation. Just
one app can spoon-feed employers with performance summaries for each
remote employee, hence reducing their urge for extended control and
stressful micromanagement practices.
So, what tool should a thriving remote team choose?
Why TimeCamp is the best employee monitoring software for remote
teams?
TimeCamp is fully adjustable to help companies of any industry achieve
their goals. It also provides a fully featured toolkit for monitoring
remote employees' work.
Time tracking
How does TimeCamp track remote workers' time?
Choose from a variety of time trackers to monitor your remote
workforce:
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Automatic time tracking: The desktop app
(available for all operating systems) monitors user time and
activity to assign time entries to appropriate projects and tasks.
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Timesheets: Time logs
can be filled out by starting a new timer or manually entering
time. They also show time entries registered using different time
tracking methods in TimeCamp. Time logs are easily accessible to
employers and employees and thus contribute significantly to
fostering a culture of transparency.
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Mobile apps: Time trackers for mobile devices
facilitate logging hours from remote locations even when users are
offline.
Regardless of what you choose for remote employee productivity
tracking, the top-notch synchronization between the apps guarantees
accurate time records to streamline attendance and payroll.
Read more: Ways of tracking time in TimeCamp
Computer activity tracking
Desktop apps work in the background and collect users' activity. More
specifically, they register the names of websites and applications and
the exact time employees work on them. They assign tracked time to the
appropriate tasks based on previously set keywords.
Desktop apps boost productivity by reducing distractions. They
automate the timesheet-filling process so that users can focus solely
on their assignments.
Read more: Computer Activities in TimeCamp
Screenshots
This is an optional feature of a desktop app. If enabled and the
desktop app is on, the system automatically takes screenshots every 10
minutes and saves them for further review. Only administrators and
supervisors can access the screenshots; they have 60 days to review
the records.
Read more: Screenshots in TimeCamp
Detailed reports
Employers and managers can create performance summaries that provide
detailed insights into employees' typical work habits. These thorough
analyses can help them understand why engagement rates decrease or
recognize and reward high-performing employees.
Read more: People reports in TimeCamp
Attendance tracking
Tracking absences is another essential part of the TimeCamp employee
monitoring system. The attendance module can be configured based on
timesheets or computer activity data; however, the latter seems to be
a better choice for
tracking the attendance
of remote teams.
An attendance report displays a breakdown of each employee's
workweek, including data such as:
The hours of clock-ins and outs.
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The number of hours in between (compared to a default workday
length for this company).
Overtime value.
Private time value.
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An overview of leave balance for the year in progress, including
sick time and remote work days.
A brief review of employee attendance data reveals whether employees
are fulfilling their required working hours and the frequency of their
tardiness. Additionally, it aids in evaluating whether their overtime
contributes to improved performance and enhanced work outcomes.
Read more: Attendance reports in TimeCamp
Idle time tracking
Idle time is an essential part of TimeCamp's remote worker monitoring.
A desktop app in TimeCamp registers user activity and, thus, the
overall time when the computer is actively used. Suppose the app
doesn't record any mouse/touchpad or keyboard activity within the
previously specified time. In that case, the system automatically
registers time away from the computer and pops up a window that asks
the user to define the reason behind this break.
However, if remote employees tend to overuse this feature, it can be
turned off for specific users in the settings.
Read more: Idle time in TimeCamp
Productivity dashboards
Thanks to the real-time activity dashboards, each user can access
their performance data anytime they want. The dashboard shows the most
often visited websites and apps and daily/weekly breakdowns of tracked
hours, grouped by activity category, projects, or tasks.
Enabling this feature allows employers to encourage their employees to
perform regular performance self-checks. This way, they can better
understand how they spend their time and take ownership of their time
and task management.
Read more: Activity tracking dashboard
Quick TimeCamp remote work monitoring Q&A
Does TimeCamp support ethical monitoring of remote workers?
Absolutely. We do our best to help you establish a solid remote work
tracking system while providing high-quality measures to prevent
insider threats.
TimeCamp does not offer intrusive remote worker monitoring methods
like keystroke logging or live recording. Instead, it provides
features that help employers encourage employees to be accountable for
their work.
Moreover, TimeCamp ensures full compliance with GDPR and other data
protection laws, so none of its apps register sensitive data.
What kind of data does TimeCamp collect?
Employee time data, computer activity to detect keywords in the names
of apps and websites (can be turned off), and computer screenshots
(only if the feature is enabled).
Subscribe to the only employee-friendly time tracking software that
encourages remote teams to take ownership of their work time
management.