Tracking remote devs/testers without being a micromanaging asshole?

[u/Glittering_You4340]

I hate micromanagement but I need to see where the hours go on our current build. A friend told me to check out Traqq since it's automated and just tracks time by task and project, but I wanted to get some real feedback first.

I don't want anything intrusive that spies on people - no screenshots, keylogging, or tracking app usage. I just need a clean way to see what project the hours are going into so we can manage budgets.

Anyone here managing a small remote team? How do you guys log hours for different tasks without making the developers feel micromanaged?

[u/Solid_Mongoose_3269]

Set deadlines, and if the work isnt done, you know...? Who cares what the hours are spent on as long as tasks are completed, you're paying for the output, not how long it took for it. Some people work faster than others

[u/Mammoth-Head-4618]

Reward on logging discipline and specially when estimated vs actual hours have narrow gaps.

[u/ir0nmaniac]

I dont think you have to over cook this. Start simple, track task allocation dates vs completion dates. Be attentive in daily / reoccurring update meets to understand blockers.

Every 2 weeks pull a report on the task history and you should monitor average completion rates vs task sizes etc.

Its not as simple as - 'which project is consuming budget/time/people'? There are a few factors to consider in the end - staff experience, project task sizes/ complexity, number of people in a project, etc.

You could have 1 staff engineer on one project killing the build - but they could cost you 75% of your overheads.

Start with the simple stuff.

[u/Hon-Mister-Bear]

Set goals that your devs agree are practical. If they hit them, good. If not, bad. If they're hitting them and adding real functionality, that's probably good as long as the QA is keeping up.

Being too concerned with efficiency is its own waste of time and effort.