Similar software with different usage models can be extremely useful and support mentoring and staff development.
I’ve been using tools like manictime and more recently the open source activitywatch to help junior staff learn how to manage their own activities.
I also use a paper based system similar to the emergent time tracker[3] for the same purpose.
The key difference in approach is these are tools are for the individual to use to record their own activities, either to later record in other tools like JIRA or simply to remember and review their work.
Time tracking and activity logging is really important for some businesses, but having a sensible approach from senior management is critical to avoid them becoming self defeating. When I ask my colleagues to log their time I set and expection that useful accuracy of more than 60% is unachievable.
Whenever a senior manager suggests that developers need to log more time in JIRA I tell them they are focused on the wrong data points and will end up with every developer logging a flat 8 hours a day - probably with an automated script. Maybe useful for billing but nothing else.
I’ve been using tools like manictime and more recently the open source activitywatch to help junior staff learn how to manage their own activities.
I also use a paper based system similar to the emergent time tracker[3] for the same purpose.
The key difference in approach is these are tools are for the individual to use to record their own activities, either to later record in other tools like JIRA or simply to remember and review their work.
Time tracking and activity logging is really important for some businesses, but having a sensible approach from senior management is critical to avoid them becoming self defeating. When I ask my colleagues to log their time I set and expection that useful accuracy of more than 60% is unachievable.
Whenever a senior manager suggests that developers need to log more time in JIRA I tell them they are focused on the wrong data points and will end up with every developer logging a flat 8 hours a day - probably with an automated script. Maybe useful for billing but nothing else.
https://www.manictime.com/
https://github.com/ActivityWatch/activitywatch
[3] https://davidseah.com/node/the-emergent-task-timer/