Managing Shift Time with Shepherd’s Timesheet Functionality
There are a lot of things that need to happen for a field service to be a success. But success isn’t just about making things run correctly. There’s all the admin that goes with it, there to make sure bills go out on time, and accurately. Making sure the technician can help with that without added headache is where Shepherd again has the answer.
Tracking time for service technicians is now dead easy thanks to Shepherd’s Shift Time functionality. This feature streamlines timesheet management and ensures all recorded work hours are captured and accurately reported, eliminating the need for external calendar or event management tools, which bring them the potential for integration and update headaches. It’s also accessible by the Service manager meaning everyone is in the loop.
Kicking things off
Accessing the Shift Time feature means the Timesheet feature must be active in the app. Once activated, technicians can easily navigate to the Timesheet page, where they can access and manage both new and previously recorded time entries. The Timesheet page summarize and counts time by day as well as allowing for correction and employee approval before passing on to manager approval.
When technicians are ready, they can create a new entry by pressing the “+” icon. However, this cannot happen if the “Start Shift” option is not enabled within the application’s setup. Once enabled, the app prompts the user, allowing them to quickly and intuitively begin tracking their time.
Managing when things get in the way
Once a shift begins, the system can record any interruptions that may occur throughout the day. These interruptions may be beyond a technician’s control and not something the customer or service department can count as billable, such as machine-related delays. To capture these, the technician toggles the “pause” and “resume” buttons, ensuring an accurate time record.
If, for whatever reason, the pause turns out to actually be the end of the shift, they can choose the “finish” button instead of the resume one. This flexibility ensures that technicians can accurately log all time worked, even if there are breaks or interruptions during the day. All the while, Shepherd understands that a tired employer, working in potentially unpleasant conditions could brush the finish button prematurely. To avoid the mess of a shift ending before it should, a technician has a confirmation box they must approve before the shift is finally logged as complete.
A key feature of Shepherd’s Shift Time functionality is the restriction of only one shift per day. After a shift is started, it cannot be restarted or duplicated on the same day. Some technicians may grumble at this, but it does ensure that what goes into the system is based on actual times, and not estimations from the day, week, or month before. This feature helps prevent errors and ensures that time records are not duplicated. If technicians are ready to confirm their shift, the system will prompt them to confirm the start time.
Finishing touches
Once that day’s shift is confirmed as finished, the system automatically records that confirmation in NetSuite on the respective timesheet. The completed shift appears alongside any other time entries for the same week, providing a comprehensive view of all logged work hours. This feature helps service managers and team leaders monitor technicians’ weekly time and offers a clear snapshot of the day’s activities.
It can also help spot situations where a technician may need additional support, or if legally mandated limits to a particular type of work over a given period are close to being reached, helping companies avoid putting staff at risk, and falling foul of the law in the process.
Shepherd’s Shift Time functionality significantly simplifies time tracking by providing a centralized, efficient solution. By reducing the need for third-party scheduling tools, the app ensures that all technician time is tracked accurately, offering an easy-to-use and effective way to manage work hours.
Book a demo today to see the value of this for your organization, leaving fewer of your work records to chance and fewer of your invoices needing corrections.
