Do you know which skills your workforce needs to succeed in 2025 and beyond? 83% of HR leaders believe workforce demand is developing faster than workers’ skills, and technology is the biggest driver of change. 

Digital workplace systems, business intelligence tools, cloud computing, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence have massively impacted many job profiles. The transition to renewable energy, advancements in cloud computing, and the adoption of digital twins and autonomous agents will further change how we work (and live). 

Understanding what skills will be in demand in 2025 and beyond will help you future-proof your career or ensure your company has access to the right competencies.

TL;DR—Key Takeaways

• Candidates and employees need soft skills like adaptability, creative and analytical thinking, and management chops. They should also be equipped with technical and digital skills like AI, data analysis, software engineering, and cloud computing. 

• Digital skills are in high demand as part of almost every job. Yet almost half of EU workers are digitally under-skilled. They lack the necessary digital competencies to do well in their current role and require upskilling to stay employable in the future. 

• Apart from digital skills, the fastest growing skills between 2025 and 2030 will be creativity, advanced IT and programming skills, scientific research and development, advanced communication, and negotiation skills. 

• A few of the highest-paying skills at the moment are roles relating to software engineering, data analysis, and project management. This is because AI and Machine Learning Specialists top the list of fast-growing jobs, followed by various green sector jobs. 

• The top 25 skills in demand in 2025 include communication, management, emotional intelligence, leadership, teamwork, continuous learning, software engineering, AI, data analysis, financial management, operations, and UX/UI design. 

• The top emerging skills of 2025 are prompt engineering, AI risk management, consultative selling, virtual collaboration, and green skills in sustainability management. 

• To nurture a future-proof workforce, companies use skills assessments to find the right candidates at the hiring stage, identify workers with necessary competencies for internal mobility, and determine workforce upskilling needs. 

What are the fastest-growing skills in demand, and why?

To understand the skills demand, you need to understand broader economic, technological, and societal shifts. 

In 2010, most of us worked a 9 to 5 in an open-space cubicle. But in 2025 and onward, more and more teams will adopt hybrid or remote work. Top-down hierarchical organizational structures have become flatter, and more collaborative leadership styles are preferred. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), employee well-being, and ESG reporting are central priorities. 

New technologies like cloud computing, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and renewable energy production are changing how businesses work, how work is organized, and what employees are expected to do.

3 trends driving the demand for new skills
Technological: Emerging technologies require new technical competency and stronger cognitive skills.
Economic: Business cycles have become faster and the operating landscape—riskier, requiring a more agile workforce.
Environmental: Transition to renewable energy sources, sustainable manufacturing, and regenerative agriculture create high demand for new skill profiles.

Because of these changes, a role description you saw (or signed for) eight years ago is no longer the same one you’ll see today or in five years.

Since 2016, 25% of job skills have changed, and by 2030, another 65% will further change. 

According to McKinsey, there’s a strong need for talents with better technological, cognitive, and social skills. Their predictions for top fastest-growing skills between 2025 and 2030 include:

Basic digital skills	Advanced communication and negotiation skills
Creativity	Technology design, engineering, and maintenance
Advanced IT and programming skills	Interpersonal skills and empathy
Scientific research and development	Leadership and management

Upwork also reports technical and digital skills are in high demand among employers hiring freelancers and fractional workers. Per their findings, the top 10 in-demand skills on the job market for 2025 are: 

1. Data analytics (also the fastest-growing) 
2. Machine learning (second fastest-growing) 
3. Data visualization
4. Data extraction
5. Data engineering
6. Data processing
7. Data mining
8. Experimentation & testing
9. Deep learning
10. Generative AI modeling (third fastest-growing) 

Skills gaps are more apparent in other areas, such as project management, data analytics, emotional intelligence, and cultural competency, as job descriptions change and new positions emerge. These trends create new talent market dynamics.

Employees find themselves in an hourglass-shaped labor market. For highly skilled individuals, a progressive work environment allows for greater autonomy and a better balance of work and family life. While the ‘squeezed middle’ of the workforce see jobs disappearing, low-skilled workers compete ferociously for positions (across all sectors).

The Future of Work. Jobs and Skills in 2030 Report

Without upskilling or reskilling, workers risk getting stuck at the bottom of the ‘hourglass’, especially as roles continue to evolve.  

This is evidenced by the fact that, by 2027, almost half (44%) of workers’ core skills will be disrupted due to the effects of job creation and destruction from environmental, technological, and economic trends.  

The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts a loss of 83 million jobs, but 69 million new ones will be created. These new jobs come with a 44% change in a core skill set, per WEF, with a greater emphasis on: 

• Creative thinking 
• Analytical thinking
• Technological literacy 
• Curiosity and lifelong learning
• Resilience, flexibility, and agility 
• AI and big data 
• Systemic thinking 
• Motivation and self-awareness 

LinkedIn’s research found that employers are seeking talents with strong interpersonal skills, such as communication, customer service, leadership, and management. The company also ranked adaptability as the fastest-growing skill over the last year. 

Adaptability is on the rise because more and more work is becoming fractionalized. Roles are no longer limited to a narrow, itemized list of responsibilities. They have become cross-functional, assuming a continuous flow of evolving projects and tasks requiring a variety of skills and competencies. A data analyst may work with a marketing team for six months on a new go-to-market strategy, then get reassigned to help the finance department with some budgeting tasks. 

We see a stronger convergence of tech and soft skills from multiple sources. Technology isn’t going away. On the contrary, it’s getting embedded into more and more processes. But automation doesn’t fully remove humans from the workplace. 

No matter how ‘smart’ systems get, people still need to be present in the loop to supervise, tune, and program their performance. Moreover, future progress will require further innovation, and with that, skills like creativity, analytical thinking, data-driven decision-making, and strong people management will only become more important. 

As Bernard Marr, best-selling author, futurist, and  technology advisor to governments and private companies, puts it: “Success in 2025 will belong to those who can seamlessly integrate technological acumen with distinctly human capabilities.”

Fastest-growing data science & analytics skills

• SQL and NoSQL databases
• Apache Spark and Kafka
• Data pipelines development
• Data governance
• BI tools: Tableau, Power BI, and Looker. 
• Data governance 
• Advanced machine learning 

In 2024, we’ve produced and consumed over 149 zettabytes of data. By 2028, global data volumes will increase by 2.6 times to 394 Zb. To transform raw numbers into actionable insights, business leaders need more people with strong data analytics skills. These include folks proficient in advanced machine learning and deep learning modeling techniques for real-time data processing. 

Fastest-growing coding & development skills

• Python 
• Java 
• Javascript 
• C/C++
• Typescript 
• Cloud engineering 
• API programming 
• DevOps
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Microsoft Azure

Spending on IT continues to grow year on year as companies rush to become digitally-native. With that, tech skills shortages will remain in the news headlines. IDC expects over 90% of global companies will continue to experience IT skills shortages until 2026. Choosing a STEM specialization or pursuing new coding certifications is a future-proof career choice. 

Fastest-growing sales & marketing skills

• Marketing automation 
• Email marketing
• Sales and business development 
• SEO, SEM, and SMM 
• Lead generation 
• Digital marketing strategy
• Sales funnel management 
• Framing and negotiation 

68% of marketing professionals believe finding a new job today is more challenging than five years ago. However, candidates with in-demand skills in automation, marketing analytics, and digital campaign execution get competitive compensation.

Sales roles, too, now require more software knowledge. But ‘traditional skills’ like negotiation, rapport building, and effective framing still give candidates an edge on the job market.  

Fastest-growing financial skills

• Advanced financial modeling 
• Bookkeeping 
• Statistical analysis 
• Financial data mining 
• Risk management 
• Financial planning and analysis
• Data visualization 
• Basic coding skills 

Employers in the financial sector look for talents who bring a good combination of core competencies and adaptability. High volatility means companies seek resilient, analytical, and flexible professionals who can quickly respond to regulatory landscape changes and dips in economic indicators.

Aside from math and statistics skills, many financial roles also require basic coding knowledge or familiarity with low-code tools for data analysis and visualization.

Fastest-growing customer support & administrative skills

• Digital project management 
• Market research 
• Dropshipping and order processing 
• Medical virtual assistance 
• Supply chain management 
• Customer relationship management 
• Cybersecurity awareness
• Knowledge of automation and low-code tools 

Customer support and admin roles are arguably seeing the biggest skill transformation. Technologies streamlined many common responsibilities like data entry, transcriptions, and invoice matching, typically done by admin staff.

Instead, operational staff is now expected to help with a wider range of project management, research, and business process optimization tasks. Customer service is also evolving from basic issue troubleshooting to a relationship-driven function, requiring people with strong interpersonal skills to create memorable customer experiences.

What are the highest-paying skills in demand right now?

Like any demand and supply situation in business, people with in-demand skill sets receive higher compensation. 

Global talent shortages have reached a 16-year high, as 75% of employers can’t find the talent they need with the right blend of technical and soft skills.

Source

Despite massive layoffs, tech sector workers continue to enjoy high compensation. In the US, senior AI engineering and machine learning positions continue to offer salaries of $300,000. The median salary of a software engineer in the US also continues to sit at a lavish $161,433 per year. 

Healthcare is another sector where talent shortages drive wage growth. In the UK, NHS nursing staff received a 5.5% pay rise and GPs — an extra 6% in 2024. However, unions also demand further pay grading from 2025 to 2026. In the US, healthcare employers are offering 20% higher pay to workers who’d agree to come on-site 4 to 5 days per week. 

The British banking sector will offer the highest salary budget increase by 5% in 2025. Across roles, the US employers plan a 3.5% salary budget bump for 2025 and Canadian by 3.3%, according to Payscale. 

Overall, if your goal is to make more cash this year, look into the following positions.

Technology

Role	Average US Compensation	Average UK Compensation
Software engineering manager median compensation	$192,472	£144,542
Machine learning engineer median compensation	$166,665	£95,950
DevOps engineer median compensation	$141,446	£75,975
Data engineer median compensation	$132,940	£71,071

Operations

Role	Average US Compensation	Average UK Compensation
Program manager median compensation	$123,317	£95,317
Project manager median compensation	$136,363	£80,575
Business analyst median compensation	$128,604	£60,089

Marketing and sales

Role	Average US Compensation	Average UK Compensation
Marketing manager median compensation	$114,556	£81,317
Content marketer median compensation	$108,824	£31,468
Sales development representative median compensation	$79,354	£63,720

Top 25 future-proof skills for 2025 and beyond

Before we jump into the meat, here’s a quick note on our methodology:

• To come up with this list of in-demand skills, we’ve analyzed data from the World Economic Forum, University of South Wales, KornFerry, LinkedIn, and McKinsey, among others. 

• Additionally, we’ve examined anonymized skills testing data from Toggl Hire to understand the current dynamics and consulted our People Team for their insights.

With that in mind, let’s look at the top skills HR teams prioritize in workforce planning and what candidates need to have (or develop) to be in demand. 

Soft skills

Soft skills, like communication, empathy, and adaptability, are just as important as tech savviness and core job-related skills. Even as tasks become more automated, strong collaboration, problem-solving, and organizational abilities will set apart top candidates. 

Two-thirds of employers say soft skills are more important than educational qualifications in hiring.

Source

1. Adaptability

With faster business cycles, an expanded risk radar, and rapid tech disruptions, businesses prize people with strong adaptability skills. For 77% of business and HR leaders, flexibly moving skills between roles is critical for navigating future disruptions.

Therefore, companies seek people who can quickly respond to changes, try new approaches, think resourcefully, go with the flow, and excel in cross-functional roles. Adaptability is a critical component of innovative thinking, too, as it challenges your ways. New technologies rise and fall on the hype cycle. Customer sentiments shift, budgets fluctuate, and adaptable people can ride out all those changes.  

2. Analytical thinking

Analytical thinking is a range of cognitive skills that help you parse information, assess it critically, and develop creative, rational solutions. 72% of companies expect analytical skills to rise in importance between 2023 and 2027. 

Cross-functional analytics skills include data interpretation, problem-solving, critical thinking, problem synthesis, and data modeling. Each is essential to succeed in modern workplaces where data-driven decision-making is a given. 

There’s more of a focus and an interest in having people with analytical thinking, and people with creativity.

Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum 

3. Management

Management skills indicate how well someone can organize and influence others to do assigned work. Strong people leaders excel in communication, conflict resolution, mentorship, problem-solving, time and task management, and accountability. But they’re also hard to find in the talent market. 

Almost two-thirds (63%) of European startup employees say only a fraction of managers at their company are well-equipped to take on the role. Many don’t know how to lead or communicate well. That’s problematic because a bad manager costs companies around the world billions in lost productivity and is the number one reason why people quit their jobs.

🔥 Unsure how to find employees with great management skills? Learn how to spot leaders with great management skills.

4. Creative thinking

Creative thinking (and creativity in general) is another skill consistently mentioned in the Future of Work reports. 

The demand for creative thinking will grow faster in the next five years, by 73%, than the demand for analytical thinking.

World Economic Forum

Creativity in the workplace refers to the ability to think differently about a problem and a motivation to produce new and valuable things. It’s about coming up with a solution others may not have considered. 

Another aspect is being open-minded, receptive to unconventional ideas, and enthusiastic in your approach to testing those options. Human ingenuity will be crucial to driving differentiation and further innovation.

AI systems cannot produce new ideas independently; they need expert input and fine-tuning. And for that, businesses need their people equipped with creative thinking abilities. 

5. Communication skills

There’s no surprise that communication is one of the top in-demand skills. Every business needs people with the right communication style to build rapport with coworkers, customers, and other stakeholders. 

Communication is also the crux of effective collaboration. Lack of alignment between teams (courtesy of poor communication), negatively impacts project outcomes. So do other negative practices of shifting blame, concealing information, or just perpetually forgetting to share updates with colleagues.

To find strong communicators, companies use skill assessments for written, verbal, active listening, and async communication skills early in the hiring process.  

Business communication is among the top global emergent professional skills, rising in demand by 19% at the end of 2024.  

Udemy 2024 Global Workplace Learning Index

6. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your emotional responses and maintain a high awareness of how others are feeling and the effect you have on them. Empathy, self-awareness, good listening skills, and sensitivity are examples of emotional intelligence in action.

Employees with high levels of emotional intelligence can motivate other team members, resolve conflicts quickly (or avoid them altogether), and create a positive work environment. So, it remains a #1 leadership skill for the future, according to WEF. 

Discover why leaders with emotional intelligence stand out in this Harvard Business School video.

7. Leadership skills

Good leaders can inspire teams to do their best even during tough times. This is an essential skill in companies that experience a lot of change (startups, tech-focused companies, etc.). Strong leaders also share traits like integrity, good communication skills, gratitude, and influence.

Great leaders know how to attain and retain team trust. High trust in leadership leads to higher employee engagement and better physiological safety at the workplace. This, in turn, improves the overall company culture, which attracts more people to work for or do business with your company. 

8. Life-long learning

As mentioned earlier, skill sets now become obsolete in a matter of years. A willingness to upskill and continuously gain new knowledge is staying employable. It also maximizes your options for exploring new career paths through internal mobility. 

57% of workers pursue training outside of work. Many more also take advantage of the mushrooming internal learning & development (L&D) opportunities. If you don’t invest in sharpening your skills, you risk finding yourself at the industry outskirts. 

9. Taking ownership

Employees who take ownership or responsibility for their tasks are a big asset to their team and the organization. They can be trusted to consistently complete their duties on time and at a high-quality level.

With the nature of teamwork and team structures changing — smaller, cross-functional teams, remote-first culture, flat hierarchies — it’s even more important for employees to be autonomous, reliable, and dependable.

A strong work ethic is the top skill companies are looking for in new hires in 2025.

ADP

10. Sales skills 

Sales skills, like persuasion, negotiation, and relationship building, aren’t something only a sales team needs. Whether you work in HR or project management, you constantly ‘sell’ your agenda and influence others. 

By learning how to build better arguments, present concepts, overcome objections, and mediate conflicts, you’ll always remain an indispensable asset (and someone who can comfortably justify their value for the company). 

11. Teamwork

Working together well as a team means smooth work handovers, fast issue resolution, more effective decision-making, and better team outputs. As workflows become more complex and organizations more distributed, employers seek out better team players. The demand for this went up by 49.98% over the last year. 

Because people skills are going to come more to the center of individual career growth, and people-to-people collaboration is going to come into the center more for company growth.

LinkedIn VP Aneesh Raman

Technical skills

The demand for tech talent will outstrip the supply until at least 2026. Companies continue to have difficulties with hiring for cybersecurity, technical support, cloud computing, AI and ML, and big data analytics.

Green jobs in the renewable energy sector are also growing twice as fast as the available worker supply. Only 1 in 8 workers globally have one or more green skills employers need today and in the future. 

Based on the industry predictions, the following technical skills will remain in high demand in the long term.

12. Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is hands-down the hottest skill on the market as companies continue to invest in new machine learning analytics models, industrial robotics solutions, and generative AI assistants. 

Postings for AI jobs are growing 3.5x faster than for all jobs. For every AI job posting in 2012, there are now seven job postings in 2024. 

PwC

Countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the US, and the UK, among a dozen others, have already added AI skills to their occupations shortage lists. 

What’s more interesting, though, is that skills sought by employers are changing at a 25% higher rate in roles most exposed to AI. No, it doesn’t mean everyone should learn ML and DL basics. However, more workers will need to get comfortable with critically reviewing algorithmic data or interacting with various ‘copilot’ apps. 

13. Digital literacy

Digital literacy is the capability to confidently use different modern technologies in your day-to-day work. For example, use digital workplace applications, know how to configure and when to use a VPN tool, or how to do online research in the era of fake news and deepfakes. 

92% of job posts already include requirements for digital skills alongside more traditional competencies. But not all workers have them.  

As part of a UK Consumer Digital Index 2024 study, Lloyds Bank measured how different employee groups perform on 20 essential digital work tasks, such as setting privacy settings, accessing a payslip online, or using digital productivity apps. 

While 82% of participants had some of the essential digital skills for work, only 48% could complete all 20 tasks. Interestingly, 63% of 55+ can’t do all 20 tasks, but so do 48% of 18- to 24-year-olds. One in five tech workers didn’t complete all tasks — and so did 43% of people with a Master’s or PhD degree. 

Those who lack digital literacy will be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to competing for jobs and business opportunities by 2030, whatever career path they decide to follow.

Bernard Marr

14. Software development

Software development is a broad set of competencies for creating, designing, deploying, and supporting software systems. It is yet another occupation where talent demand keeps skyrocketing, to the point that some 62% of leaders believe they’ll never have enough tech staff to deliver on all planned initiatives. 

BairesDev found the most in-demand skills for developers in 2025  will be core technical knowledge of React, .NET, Python, Node, and Java — mostly used in full-stack development.

However, the fastest growing skills in demand also include Flutter (+302%) for mobile app development, Terraform (+222%) for data infrastructure management, and Angular (+206%) for front-end web app development. 

15. SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a common programming language for database management. As corporate data reserves grow and more companies invest in data analytics, this technical skill is highly sought after and well paid! The median base pay for SQL developers in the US is $116,881 per year, and that’s without any other employment benefits and perks. 

16. Finance

Business model transformations and new product development require substantial investments. Yet, corporate profits are down in many industries due to inflation, reduced sales volumes, and thinner profit margins. 

Who can help with those problems? People with strong financial skills. The Institute of Financial Operations and Leadership named financial analysis, automation expertise, and fraud prevention among the most in-demand skills for 2025. 

17. Python

Python continues to be one of the most popular programming languages for software development. It’s also the ‘star’ in big data analytics and machine learning projects. So naturally, the demand for Python chops is high. It was the ‘most desired’ programming language in 2024, according to StackOverflow.   

18. Java

Java is another popular programming language for web applications and Android app development. It consistently ranks among the top five most popular coding languages, along with Python and the C family of languages on the TIOBE Index.

Although Kotlin is gaining popularity among Android developers, Java skills will still be vital for working on Android projects in 2025. Basic and advanced Java programming skills will remain indispensable for any enterprise environment. 

19. Data analysis

Data analysis indicates your ability to collect, interpret, and draw decisions from data. In business today and in the future, data analysis and data management skills are essential for getting key business insight from a vast pool of data.

Data analytics skills have consistently dominated the market, with a 52% increase between 2019 and 2024, accounting for 8% of global job postings in 2024. Not just for prolific data scientists but also for a variety of roles in finance, marketing, technology, and operations, as well as good data analytics skills. 

44% of companies need more people with data analysis skills. 40% of junior employees want to sharpen it over the next year. 

Workforce Skills Gap Trends 2024

20. Web design

Web design will remain an important skill in 2025 and beyond, as any successful business needs to have a digital presence.  The field, however, is rapidly evolving. Web designers are now expected to have a wider skill set covering UX, 3D motion design, and augmented reality. Voice interface optimization and AI chatbot integration are also something web designers are expected to know. 

21. JavaScript

JavaScript (JS) is the language of front-end development. Along with its two siblings, HTML and CSS, JavaScript forms the core of standard web technology. It’s one of the few programming languages that works with all popular browsers. It’s also one of the few that can be used for front-end, back-end, and full-stack development, plus server-side programming. Because of its versatility, JS remains an in-demand skill. 

22. Cloud computing skills

Cloud computing basically means a system where all computing — from storage, software, networking, and intelligence — happens in the cloud. For businesses, cloud computing is a good infrastructure choice because it’s scalable, flexible, and cost-effective. 

As cloud adoption continues, companies keep searching for experienced cloud engineers, architects, and administrators. The most in-demand cloud computing skills include knowledge of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform ecosystems, API knowledge, database management, DevOps, CI/CD, network management, cloud security, and storage optimization. 

98% of companies consider attracting cloud engineering talent as a top priority for their organizations in the coming year. 

The Cloud Skills Report 

23. UX/UI design

UX design is all about creating seamless user experiences by understanding exactly what users want and designing interfaces that fulfill those needs. UI design, on the other hand, focuses on creating interfaces with an aesthetically appealing visual design. The two are connected at the hip. You can’t succeed with a functional product lacking visual appeal or a beautiful one with a complex learning curve. 

It’s not just hip startups that recognize this. The UK government is on a hiring spree and plans to hire 2,500 tech and digital design roles by June 2025. Banks like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley also established new dedicated UX divisions to lead digital banking experience transformations. And more UX/UI jobs are emerging in sectors like healthcare, insurance, and education. 

24. Operations

Operations management is the process of planning, controlling, and supervising processes and delivery. The goal of operations management is to increase corporate productivity — and that’s what most businesses are after.

68% of businesses say improving operational efficiencies is their main priority for growth. 

To achieve it, they’ll need people with good analytical thinking, great project management skills, and niche technical expertise. In the logistics sector, ‘skills and people shortages’ are the main blockers to digital transformations. The healthcare industry has a similar problem. 

Professionals with a working knowledge of process improvement techniques, change management, workflow automation, and data analysis will remain in high demand in the labor market. 

25. QA testing

Quality assurance (QA) is a critical component of any software development cycle. QA engineers identify bugs, security flaws, and interface inconsistencies in software, ensuring their product quality remains high.

Cybercrime remains on the rise, and AI poses new data security risks. In response, companies are double-down on hiring QA staff. Between 2022 and 2023, the demand for software quality assurance analysts and testers in the US is expected to increase by 20%.

New skills on the horizon for 2025

Some brand-new skill sets have also emerged in response to the market changes, and they are rapidly gaining demand among employers.  

⚙️ Prompt engineering

Prompt engineering is one of the hottest new AI jobs that doesn’t require strong technical chops. Prompt engineers design and fine-tune generative AI model commands to ensure the algorithms provide relevant, safe, and meaningful user outputs. 

Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are powerful but not all mighty. They’re prone to hallucinations — nonsensical, erroneous, or no-existing outputs. The algorithms have also been known to produce biased results on topics ranging from politics to ableism. That’s problematic as most people don’t fact-check the provided information. It’s the job of prompt engineers to meticulously test Gen AI algorithms and create guidelines for using them responsibly. 

The top skills for prompt engineers include strong verbal and written communication, basic knowledge of natural language processing (NLP) methods, analytical thinking, attention to detail, and a great deal of patience. But the gig pays well. The average prompt engineer salary is $182,781 per year in the US. 

⚠️ AI risk management

AI has a transformative impact on many workplace processes, aiding workers in everything from content generation and data analytics to financial fraud monitoring and autonomous manufacturing. But AI systems also come with inherent risks. 59% of IT leaders identify AI as a potential threat as it increases cybersecurity, data privacy, intellectual property infringement, and environmental risks. 

Regulators also recognize the existential risks poorly designed AI systems pose for society, ranging from major financial losses to pervasive misinformation. Europe has developed an AI Act designed to reign in AI risks through compliance requirements for operators. The US lawmakers introduced over 700 bills to regulate its usage. 

To stay compliant, organizations now seek experienced AI risk managers who can help ensure AI system security, explainability, and transparency.

Common duties include risk and impact assessments of adopting or integrating various AI solutions, risk mitigation plan development, ensuring compliance with responsible AI standards and applicable regulations, and cross-domain work with different business units on proper adherence to these. 

🖊️ Consultative selling

Consultative selling puts relationship building at the center of the sales process. Instead of giving the traditional pitch of “great product features,” “low price,” or “good value for money,” consultative selling focuses on learning about the customer’s needs first. 

Instead of pushing for a solution, consultative sellers listen to the problem and educate the prospect about different options (not just from their brand). The goal is to provide customers with just enough information to make an informed decision, which enables trust and loyalty in the long term.

To succeed in collaborative selling, you’ll need strong active listening skills, high emotional intelligence, and good customer relationship management skills. 

Salespeople don’t typically like the hardcore pitch tactics we’ve been taught. They’ve got to do it, or at least they think they have to until they discover options like this. Sales should be about having real conversations, not forcing a product down someone’s throat.

Matt Easton,  Sales Coach and Founder of Easton University

🧑‍💻 Virtual collaboration

Remote work is the present and the future (because most talents won’t be shoehorned back to the cubicle). With that, virtual collaboration will remain a must-have skill. But it will evolve in new ways.

Almost everyone already knows how to use video conferencing tools and digital workplace apps for async and real-time collaboration. But far fewer people have the skill sets to build a strong virtual rapport and effective team processes without resorting to meeting madness, or helicopter management. 

Digital workplaces now require more people who know how to balance async and real-time communication, independent and collaborative digital work, high process efficiency, and the necessary quality gates. 

Great remote managers recognize that presenteeism doesn’t equal productivity (and vice versa). They manage results and outcomes rather than employees’ logged desk time or activities. They continuously build. They cultivate a team understanding of how different priorities work together to produce the intended product on time and efficiently.

You have to trust your employees in a remote team. Letting go of your own control issues might be the biggest challenge in leading a remote team, especially if you started out with a more ‘traditional team.’

Annika Helendi, Toggl Plan

🌳 Sustainability

Sustainability means ensuring our decisions today won’t compromise future generations’ ability to live fulfilling lives in safe, green environments. The global transition to more sustainable business practices — regenerative agriculture, renewable energy usage, and electric transportation — requires heaps of new skills.

In-demand green job skills include:

• Technical skills required to adopt or implement new sustainability technologies, processes, and products to reduce energy, materials, and water consumption. 

• Soft skills linked to sustainable thinking, acting, and influencing others to adopt better behaviors and practices. 

Green talents are in demand in every sector, from the construction and utility industries to the technology, information, and media industries. The share of jobs requiring green skills increased by 60% as AI gained further traction and companies added data center capacities. 

LinkedIn identified some of the hottest green skills on the global market right now:

Supply chain decarbonization	Sustainable management
Environmental due diligence	Environmental protection
Sustainable building and retrofitting	Water & wastewater design
Renewable energy transition	Climate change mitigation

Job seekers with these green skills or titles see a 54.6% higher hiring rate than the workforce overall. In the US, this rises to 80.3% higher, with Ireland 79.8% higher, according to the company. 

By 2030, one in five jobs will lack the green talent to fill it. By 2050, this gap will balloon to one in two jobs.

LinkedIn

How to hire top talent with today’s most in-demand skills

With skills testing, of course! 😏

Skills testing puts the focus on candidates’ actual capabilities and through demonstration of their skills, highlighting the top talent in your recruiting funnel.

While Toggl Hire is a full-cycle hiring platform, our skills assessments are our standout candidate assessment feature. Create a customized skills test by job title in a few clicks and automate the (otherwise laborious) hunt for those with in-demand skills. Our testing engine contains more than 18,000 questions created by subject matter experts!

Try Toggl Hire now so your new hires will be ready to tackle the world of work today and be prepared for what’s ahead in 2025 and beyond. You can sign up for free, so there’s no reason not to test it out.

These days, top talent gets hired fast — or at least they expect to (and they should!). This means that, in 2025, to attract and retain top candidates (and get them on board before your competitors can), you’ll need to optimize your hiring processes to make them quick and effortless for both the hiring team and candidates.

There are several ways to save time and increase hiring efficiency, but in the year ahead, candidate assessment tools are slated to be a popular way to source, assess, and hire the best talent while helping your HR team improve operational efficiency (honestly, assessment tests are already a top way to source great talent while improving other recruiting metrics…but that’s beside the point).

To ensure you don’t get left behind as your competitors embrace hiring technology the right way, we’ve compiled a list of the very best candidate assessment tools in the market, complete with all the information you need about their pricing, top features, and best use cases.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Candidate assessment tools help hiring teams assess various types of skills, including technical, job-related, and soft skills.

• Using these tools in your hiring process has many benefits, but primarily, they help hiring teams save time and money on screening and provide a better candidate experience.

• When choosing your candidate assessment tool, consider various important factors, such as what skills you want to test for, the integrations you need, the number and type of templates, and more.

• Toggl Hire is one of the best candidate assessment tools for skills testing. The full-cycle hiring tool offers robust candidate assessment features, including 200+ types of tests from our skills test library, plus other helpful tools like a candidate pipeline, homework assignments, and more.

What are candidate assessment tools?

Candidate assessment tools are hiring tools designed to help recruiters assess the soft and hard skills of job applicants. These tools help HR professionals screen candidates and their skills early on in the hiring process. That way, they only spend time on the most qualified candidates at the later stages, such as interviews and take-home tasks.

Some use cases include:

• Reducing a large pool of applicants from hundreds or thousands of candidates to a handful of the very best ones that meet your standards

• Using soft skills tests to find out which of the top-performing candidates have the most well-rounded skill set

• Using standardized tests to ensure there’s no hiring bias

• Testing a set of skills using a pre-built assessment test from a library for skills your hiring team is unfamiliar with or might not have the internal expertise to create a skills test for

• Reducing the time to hire and improving the candidate experience by shortening the application time to minutes instead of hours at a time

• Reducing the reliance on cover letters and resumes as hiring tools (or replacing them entirely…because 36% of people openly admit to lying on their resumes) in favor of what’s more important—the skills needed to get the job done!

As you can see, any company with a role to fill can benefit from using a candidate assessment tool. But these aren’t the only benefits of implementing talent assessment software in the early stages of your hiring pipeline.

7 benefits of using candidate assessment tools

Traditional hiring processes are clunky, obsolete, and take too long — and that’s true for both the candidates and the businesses looking to hire them. Employee skill testing is an efficient way to streamline the hiring process, improve your key HR metrics, and keep the candidate experience stellar.

Some pre-employment assessment tools excel at helping with specific points of the hiring process or with certain pain points, so jot down which of these benefits is the most important for you so you can compare the tools more effectively later when we walk you through each one individually.

1. Efficient candidate screening

On average, a job opening receives 118 applications. It’s time-consuming to go through every application in detail, and that’s assuming you only get 118 applicants. Toggl teams typically receive thousands of applicants per job posting, for example.

Pre-employment assessment tools allow you to automate the initial candidate evaluation and reduce internal headaches or time sucks. You choose how high to set the threshold for your applicants, and instead of submitting a resume, candidates complete a test, which means you only have to spend time on the best applicants who score above your threshold (we usually recommend 80%!).

It also reduces the manual task of sifting through applications. Using a pre-employment assessment test as the first step of the hiring process saves immense time for your hiring team and allows you to dedicate it to the most promising candidates later in the process.

2. Objective, data-driven hiring

Hiring managers are people, after all, and people are prone to mistakes. They want to hire the best candidates, but a lot of time, unconscious biases come into play.

Your hiring team can unknowingly favor candidates with a certain background, race, age, ethnicity, or even hobby. Assessment tests nip this problem in the bud, allowing you to see the candidates’ test results first before seeing their names, faces, ages, or previous employment history.

This allows for better, more objective decision-making and helps you hire based on skills rather than gut feeling.

3. Enhanced predictive analytics

The traditional hiring process has a major flaw—you can’t predict someone’s job performance based on their resume, cover letter, or interview. While pre-employment assessment tools aren’t foolproof either, you can assess someone’s ability to complete certain on-the-job tasks by testing their skills.

For example, a cognitive ability test can reveal a candidate’s problem-solving skills. A technical test assessing certain coding skills would also provide insight into a potential on-the-job performance.

4. Improved hire quality

Some people are great at crafting compelling resumes, and others are great interviewers. When it comes down to it, you don’t want to hire either of those — you want a great performer.

Pre employment assessment tools let you test a candidate’s soft skills, verbal ability, physical ability, you name it. They allow you to hire better people and save money in the short and long run, which is a pretty big deal when you consider that hiring the wrong person can cost you as much as $17,000.

5. Consistent evaluation criteria

Whether using physical ability tests, cognitive ability tests, emotional intelligence tests, or something else, job assessments ensure that each applicant is treated fairly regardless of their background or job experience.

Using these tools ensures you’ll have a fairly standardized process in place to ensure that every candidate has the same chance of getting the job.

6. Time and cost savings

Remember when we said the average job opening attracts 118 applicants?

Calculate the internal cost of reviewing over 100 applications. Consider the hours and days required for your HR team to dedicate time to each application. This is the most time-consuming part of the recruitment process, as many candidates don’t even have the basic skills necessary for the role.

Pre-employment tests automate and optimize the bulk of the candidate screening. With Toggl Hire, for example, you can choose from a library of 200+ pre-made tests to assess the candidate’s skills. To weed out unqualified candidates, set a pass threshold as high or low as you want.

Doing so allows you to save considerable time and money, which you can devote to detailed profile reviews, interviews, etc., for only the best candidates.

7. Improved candidate experience

83% of candidates say a negative candidate experience could change their minds about a role or company, so it’s crucial that candidates find the application process as effortless as possible (and if you can showcase your company culture in the process, it’s a win-win situation!).

Skills assessment tests improve the candidate experience by streamlining the entire process. A standard employment test takes about 15 minutes for the candidate and allows them to show off their hard-earned skills, as opposed to asking them to spend hours editing their resumes and writing cover letters (yuck).

Moreover, traditional hiring rewards people who are great at preparing resumes rather than those who are skilled at their job. Assessment tests give everyone a chance to show what they’re capable of rather than how skilled they are at writing assignments or editing CVs in Canva.

Types of online assessment tools

Online assessment tools offer various features and tests for numerous skills — coding skills, learning ability, numerical reasoning, job performance, personality, and much more. Depending on your needs, you should choose one that offers the most relevant pre-employment assessments for your business.

Cognitive ability tests

Cognitive ability tests assess a candidate’s cognitive skills, including logic and reasoning, problem-solving, critical thinking, abstract thinking, communication, and more. No matter the role you’re hiring for, testing for cognitive skills in addition to technical ones is a smart idea, as cognitive skills are crucial in any department and at any level.

Job knowledge tests

Job knowledge assessments test if the applicant has the practical skills to do the job, testing for more technical skills tests, such as coding tests, QA skills tests, SEO skills tests, social media manager skills tests, and others. These tests are extremely practical and can be predictors of job performance.

Skills assessment tests

Skills assessment tests refer to any type of test you offer candidates that test skills — soft, hard, technical, etc. For example, JavaScript coding tests can show you how well a candidate can understand and write code, and you can combine that test with a soft skills assessment to test leadership and management abilities if hiring for a Senior Software Developer role.

Emotional intelligence tests

Hard skills are important, but proper hiring decisions require a thorough assessment of a candidate’s soft skills, too, and emotional intelligence tests measure how well a candidate can recognize emotions in others as well as manage their own. If you’re hiring for a customer-facing role or one that requires heavy collaboration, testing for emotional intelligence is crucial.

The 16 best candidate assessment tools

Ready to use candidate assessment tools? We’re so glad we’ve convinced you! Figuring out what you need from a tool is the first step to choosing the right one. Once you have a general idea of what you’re looking for, it’s helpful to compare features, pricing, and more — which is exactly what we’ve done for you below.

1. Toggl Hire

While Toggl Hire is a full-cycle recruitment platform, which means it helps teams hire from the job description to offer, it’s also one of the best skills-based hiring tools because it comes with hundreds of pre-built skills assessment templates for different jobs.

However, it stands out as a top choice because it also helps you make hiring decisions more quickly and efficiently and saves time and money for your business by combining hiring tests, video interviews, homework tasks, interview scorecards, and a candidate pipeline all in one place.

Pricing: There are no hidden costs or fine print—you pay the same price every month, and if you enter a hiring freeze, you can freeze Toggl Hire. A free plan is available, and paid plans start at just $199 per month (when billed annually).

Sounds like exactly what you’ve been looking for? Get started today for free!

2. Codility

Hiring for technical roles? Create assessments specifically for technical developer roles with Codility. This talent assessment tool supports over 40 different coding languages and has a bank of questions created and vetted by expert programmers.

However, due to the complex nature of the coding tests, they often take longer for candidates to complete (anywhere from 30 to 120 minutes). This might be seen as a drawback for some, especially if your goal is to improve the candidate experience by streamlining the hiring process.

Pricing: This is one of Codility’s major drawbacks, as the pricing isn’t very transparent. You have to contact the support team to find out how much it costs. Online reviews note that it starts at $5,000 per month, making it one of the pricier options on this list.

Check out this page to compare Toggl Hire with Codility.

3. Vervoe

Vervoe offers features similar to Toggl Hire, like personality templates, video interviews, candidate scorecards, ATS integration, and a public API useful for integrating assessment tests natively into existing web pages or other platforms.

However, Vervoe lacks certain modern HR features. For example, there’s no visual hiring pipeline or automated screening features, and you can’t create a vetted candidate pool. Also, there’s currently no free plan.

Pricing: Plans start at $19 per month (when billed annually), making it one of the more affordable tools on this list.

For more info on how Vervoe compares to Toggl Hire, check out this page.

4. TestGorilla

With TestGorilla, you can create your own custom tests or choose from a library of questions for different roles and work-related tasks. You can also invite candidates to take tests straight from your existing ATS through email or by sharing a direct link.

Like Toggl Hire, TestGorilla also provides candidates with real-time feedback and internal teams with candidate analytics. However, TestGorilla does not have job templates or a visual hiring pipeline.

Pricing: A free plan allows you to create up to five free tests. Paid plans start as low as $75/month when billed annually.

For a detailed comparison of TestGorilla vs Toggl Hire, view this helpful comparison.

5. HackerRank

If you want to fill developer roles, HackerRank is one of the obvious choices to go for, as it includes over 35 programming languages, a public-facing API, and plenty of ATS integrations. Plus, the tests are fairly easy to create.

Unfortunately, HackerRank does not support iOS and Android skills tests, which is odd for an app that tests development skills. If you’re specifically looking for these technical skills tests, you’ll have to use another platform.

Pricing: HackerRank is pretty pricey at $100/month for one user and ten tests. However, even their most basic plan comes with leaked-question detection and plagiarism detection.

Read more about HackerRank features versus Toggl Hire for testing technical skills here.

6. iMocha

This AI-powered tool has over 200 different taxonomies, 1,500+ job profiles, and over 2,500 different hard and soft skills you can test for. It also boasts a comprehensive suite of tools for talent management and talent acquisition.

The biggest drawback of using iMocha for candidate assessment is that you can’t see the full hiring funnel, and the user experience isn’t as seamless as other tools on this list.

Pricing: Like a true enterprise-level tool, you have to contact sales to get a quote. There is no free plan, but there is a free trial.

We covered everything you need to know about iMocha vs. Toggl Hire here.

7. TestDome

Built to assess programming skills, TestDome offers more than 150 different types of tests and allows you to create custom tests easily.

Cool, useful features include advanced anti-cheating measures, such as webcam proctoring, copy/paste protection, double IP detection, and more (whether this is a positive checkmark for this tool or something that could potentially scare candidates off is up to you to determine).

Pricing: You pay per candidate who applies for a job, with pricing starting at $7 per candidate.

8. Adaface

From coding to psychometrics and personality tests, Adaface covers a wide range of use cases. In total, there are 500+ different skills you can test for, meaning it has one of the most robust skills test libraries of all the candidate assessment tools on this list.

With anti-cheating measures, such as questions that are not “Googleable” and webcam proctoring, Adaface is ideal for ensuring you hire great performers, not cheaters. However, it lacks a user-friendly and optimized backend that can help manage the entire candidate pipeline.

Pricing: Plans start at $180 per year, which allows you to assess 15 candidates. This can get really expensive, really fast, if you hire large volumes of candidates.

9. Glider AI

If you have a small team or want to free yourself from busy work, you can let AI take care of the bulk of the work with Glider AI, a hiring tool that uses AI chatbots to interact with candidates, ask them questions, have phone screening interviews, and much more.

Pricing: Unfortunately, pricing is not publicly available on the Glider website. Reviews from Capterra note that a free trial and a free plan are available, with paid plans starting at $299/month.

10. Harver

Harver helps hiring teams create a full-funnel hiring process — from testing to interviewing, reference checks, and everything in between. One of the coolest things about this platform is that it’s available in 29 languages. Harver claims that 31 psychologists evaluate the skills tests before they go live.

Pricing: You can book a demo to learn about Harver’s pricing, but online sources state that you can expect a cost of up to $5,000/month.

11. Bryq

Bryq states that they can help you improve your quality of hire by 81%, reduce your time to hire by 51%, and get you a 119% boost in DEI. The process is unique in that you start with your own employee performance or existing job roles and, using the AI builder, create assessments in minutes.

To help find the best talent, Bryq uses a chatbot-style assessment that is easy for the candidate and feels more like a conversation. However, this means there are no soft skills tests (such as overt integrity tests), just job-related tests specific to a role.

Pricing: You have to get a demo to learn how much Bryq costs.

12. Canditech

Use Canditech to test everything from soft and hard skills to job-related skills for roles both technical and non-technical. Unlike many other tools on this list, Canditech promises an all-in-one screening platform to help you go from hundreds of applicants to making an offer quickly.

Pricing: Perhaps the biggest drawback is that many of the best features are locked in higher pricing plans. The basic package starts at $90/month for one assessment, but if you want an ATS integration, it’ll set you back $200/month.

13. HR Avatar

Grab one of the 400+ available tests in HR Avatar to assess candidates’ job-related hard and soft skills. With this tool, you can create not only custom tests but also custom video interview scripts.

Once you’re done shortlisting, you can perform reference checks and video interviews, all within the same software. While those features are great, users complain the platform is hard to use and buggy at times.

Pricing: Plans start at $50 for just one candidate, making this a very expensive choice for teams hiring at scale.

14. Pymetrics

If you have the technical part of talent assessment sorted, Pymetrics can help you assess soft skills. This AI-powered app uses complex soft skills tests to determine if a candidate is the right fit for you — aka, whether they’ll vibe with the company culture and play well with your existing employees.

Pricing: Public pricing isn’t available, and the company has a one-star rating on Capterra for “value for money.”

15. ThriveMap

Categorized as a “pre-hiring tool,” ThriveMap helps businesses fight employee attrition. It’s designed specifically to help you build realistic job previews and create a “day-in-the-life” experience for your applicants.

While helpful for various aspects of candidate assessment and pre-employment screening, if you’re looking for personality tests, cognitive ability tests, or anything similar, ThriveMap isn’t the best choice.

Pricing: Public pricing isn’t available, but the company’s pricing page says its plans are “tailored to your hiring requirements and objectives.”

16. Test Invite

Create personality tests, language tests, aptitude tests, and more with Test Invite. What’s cool about this platform is that you can create your own bank of questions to personalize your skills assessment tests for your roles and business goals.

Aside from basic skills testing tools, Test Invite offers pretty basic features and doesn’t offer many types of templates to choose from. Their anti-cheating measures include webcam recording, screen recording, browser lock, and more. While that may sound attractive, it could scare more candidates off than attract them.

Pricing: Plans start at $37.50 per month.

What to look for when choosing a candidate assessment tool

With this list of pre-employment assessment tools in front of you, you might be confused as to which is best. After all, they all offer pre-employment assessment capabilities, right? True, yeah. But here are some features any great assessment tool should have.

Extensive skills test library

You shouldn’t have to create your own pre-employment tests from scratch. Great hiring tools come with a library of different hard skills, soft skills, and personality tests custom-built for various roles that you can grab right off the shelf and adapt to your needs.

Time-saving automation

What’s the point of choosing a new hiring tool if you can’t connect it to the rest of your recruitment technology stack? Any truly great tool should come with an ATS integration, recruiting CRM integration, video interview tools, and more.

Anti-cheating measures

As you can see, many tools on this list have anti-cheating measures, and they’re becoming increasingly important in the digital business world. Companies that want the best candidates should use tools with built-in anti-cheating measures so applicants can’t copy and paste answers just to boost their scores.

Anti-AI measures

AI is helpful for most modern-day jobs, but ideally, candidates should show their own knowledge and ability and not that of ChatGPT. Great assessment tools have built-in features that can recognize if the content is AI-generated.

Reporting capabilities

Once the assessments roll in, your hiring team should be able to generate a report with the top-performing candidates and their results. At a glance, reports allow you to see overall performance and how the majority of applicants performed.

How to incorporate talent assessment tools into the hiring process

Pre-employment testing is usually just one part of the recruitment process. Once you’ve chosen the right tool for the job, you need to ensure it works with the rest of your tool stack. Here’s how to do just that.

Application screening

Go from 100 to 10 candidates by using talent assessment tools. Set your test score threshold and automatically push top-scoring candidates through to the next round.

Video interviews

Talk to candidates before they reach the interview stage to make better hiring decisions. With pre-recorded video interviews, you can see what the candidate’s communication style and skills are like without having to schedule a separate interview or call.

Final selection

Use pre-employment tests as guidelines to help with your hiring decisions. If you’re considering more than one candidate, consider their soft skills or personality test results before making the final call.

Start making data-driven hiring decisions

Candidate assessment tools are one of the quickest ways to improve hiring for everyone, from the candidates and your hiring team to your boss (who will definitely care about whether you made a good hire and how that impacts the business’s bottom line).

Improve the candidate experience, make better hiring decisions, and move your hiring process to the 21st century by choosing the right tool — Toggl Hire. We might be a little biased, but using our candidate assessment features, your hiring decisions won’t be.

Start using Toggl Hire today completely free and take advantage of our custom-built assessment templates.

What good is a journey without a destination? Sure, you might get to see a few things and go for a ride, but ultimately, the destination is the purpose.

This is one of the key principles in Stephen R. Covey’s influential book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It relates to his second habit, “Begin with the End in Mind.” The premise is that with a clear goal and purpose, you can define and tackle actions that will help you reach that goal. In other words, you stop wandering aimlessly and get a clear sense of direction.

Today, we’ll explain what “begin with the end in mind” means in practical terms and how you can live this motto, too.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a book by Stephen R. Covey where he outlines how to become more efficient in your personal and professional life.
• To begin with the end in mind means to envision a clear goal before starting so you can find out which steps to take to reach your destination.
• To effectively begin with the end in mind, first understand the end result, write a personal mission statement, and use SMART goals.
• The remaining six habits tie into the second one by forcing you to consider the small steps that build your path to the overarching end goal.

First…what are The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, published in 2004, is a popular book by Stephen R. Covey. For the past 20+ years, it’s been a popular resource for anyone who wants to solve problems in their own life, whether professional or personal.

1. Be proactive. Take responsibility for your actions instead of blaming external circumstances. You’re in charge of your own life and shape it by making conscious choices. The idea is to act first before being acted upon.
2. Begin with the end in mind. Define a clear end goal to work toward so you live purposefully and prioritize actions that make a difference.
3. Put first things first. Prioritize tasks based on importance instead of urgency. Carefully choose those tasks that align with your long-term goals.
4. Think win-win. In relationships, look for situations where every party involved can benefit somehow. This fosters collaboration, trust, and shared success.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Lead with empathy, igniting your active listening skills and thinking carefully before you respond.
6. Synergize. As a team, you can achieve more than an individual.
7. Sharpen the saw. Invest in becoming a better version of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Practice these habits day-to-day, as it’s the only way to stay resilient and continue growing.

What does it mean to begin with the end in mind?

The second habit is arguably the most important for those who seek to reach their goals more quickly and easily. Once you envision a clear goal you want to achieve, you can create blueprints for specific actions necessary to get there.

For example, your end goal is to save $10,000 in 2025. To achieve it, you need to:

• Create an annual and monthly budget
• Determine how much you want to save and stick to it
• Set aside a certain portion of your monthly income
• Ask for a raise at your current job
• Find side gigs to earn X income per month

Covey’s second habit can be applied in professional and personal life and in a variety of situations, from something as life-altering as changing a career path to smaller things like choosing a new pair of sneakers.

This habit is powerful because it brings intentionality to decision-making. Making choices can be death by a thousand paper cuts. How often have you decided not to go anywhere because you don’t know what to wear?

Instead of wasting time making the right decision, the end goal dictates your choices. Distractions are minimal, and you can work faster since you have a clear vision of the outcome and you’re not bothered by making smaller decisions and milestones.

How to begin with the end in mind

Intentionality is excellent in theory, but many people struggle to apply it in real life. Below, we outlined some easy steps you can start with right now.

Understand the end result

Which of these two goals sounds easier to achieve?

1. Get fitter next year.
2. Lose 10kg by June 1. Be able to run five kilometers without significant difficulty. Have clean bloodwork by December 1.

The second goal is measurable, tangible, and easier to visualize.

Wanting “success” is one thing, but defining what that success means for you is crucial for effective goal-setting and crushing that goal. You’ll work toward the goal deliberately instead of shooting in the dark and hoping you hit something.

Write a personal mission statement

A personal mission statement is a short declaration of your purpose, values, and guiding principles. According to Covey, you can do this in just a few short steps.

• Reflect on your life’s purpose. Ask yourself questions such as “What do I want to accomplish in life (personally and professionally)? What values are most important to me? How do I want to be remembered by family, friends, colleagues, and my community?”
• Visualize your ideal life. Covey suggests imagining your own funeral or a significant event, such as a retirement party. Ask yourself what you would want others to think about, your biggest contributions, your roles in their lives (parent, leader, friend), and what legacy you want to leave.
• Define the roles you want to take on in life. For example, parent, partner, leader, mentor, and others. For each role, consider the principles you want to uphold and the goals to track.
• Identify your core values and principles. List the principles you want to live by, such as treating others with kindness. And notions such as compassion, integrity, growth, or creativity that resonate with you.
• Draft your mission statement. Combine all the items above into a cohesive and clear statement.

Use SMART goals

SMART goals can be applied everywhere. From crushing your KPIs at work to situations in the real world, such as paying off a car loan. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, which are the elements of every effective goal.

Here is what it looks like in practice:

• Specific: Save money for a downpayment for a house this year.
• Measurable: I need $50,000.
• Achievable: I can save an additional $500 monthly on regular expenses and pick up a side job or two to make another $500.
• Relevant: It supports my decision to become a homeowner by the age of 40 and pay off the property by retirement.
• Time-bound: Achieve by December 31, 2025.

When your goals are SMART, your vision becomes clearer, and you’re better aligned with the second habit. The same goes for whatever your goals are.

What about the other six habits of highly effective people?

All seven habits of highly effective people work together to help you become the best version of yourself.

• Be proactive sets the foundations for maximizing efficiency by encouraging you to take responsibility and control your choices instead of blaming others.
• Put first things first focuses on the end goal so you can ignore short-term pleasures. For example, avoiding distractions such as doomscrolling on social media to help you achieve the bigger goal and do proper deep work.
• Think win-win forces you to collaborate with people who align with your values and purpose. It emphasizes collaboration and trust, which are all necessary for habit two to work well.
• Seek first to understand is all about communication and understanding others. You must connect with others and gain support for your goals to begin with the end in mind.
• Synergize amplifies habit two by using teamwork and collaboration. When you combine diverse perspectives and talents, you can create new, better solutions as you work toward your goal.
• Sharpen the saw gives you the resilience, clarity, and energy to pursue your end goal continuously. When you take good care of yourself, you ensure you’re aligned with the purpose from habit two.

How Covey’s habits apply to project management

Like real life, Covey’s seven habits work equally well in project management. The second habit means starting with a specific and clear goal in mind so everyone on the team knows what success looks like.

For example, if you aim to launch a new feature that solves a pain point for a subset of your target audience, you can break it down into deliverables and milestones. Everyone on your team knows what success entails, which steps to achieve it, what the target audience expects, and, ideally, who takes on which part of the workload.

Other habits, such as “Think Win-Win,” tie in nicely with project management. For example, each team member can think about the best coworker or department to collaborate with to achieve said goal. In our case, product management collaborates with customer success to translate customers’ needs into story points to develop the new feature.

Franklin Covey’s advice on time management

When you begin with the end in mind, you envision the goal the moment you start, helping you carve out the steps to success.

Another key part of Covey’s framework is time, as described in Covey’s time management matrix. To master your time, you need to prioritize important but not urgent tasks and focus on your long-term goals. This minimizes distractions and ensures that whenever you work towards your goal, time is spent intentionally and meaningfully.

In other words, molding yourself to Covey’s second habit means nothing without efficiently managing your time. To crush your personal and professional goals and truly begin with the end in mind, start with the second habit to build a strong foundation.

And when you need help managing your time, sign up for a free Toggl Track account.

The numbers aren’t in for 2024 yet, but 2023 was a record-setting year. 1,914 CEOs left their positions, marking a 55% increase from the previous year.

But what would you do if your CEO resigned tomorrow? How would that impact your team’s strategy? Although you’d replace them eventually, the interim might be confusing, demotivating, and blisteringly unproductive.

Succession planning is how teams avoid this blurry interim. It allows organizations to maintain operational success during transition periods, as key employees leave and new leaders step up internally.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Succession planning is a long-term strategy designed to prepare promising internal talent to fill key positions when senior leaders leave an organization.
• It is a highly collaborative operation coordinated by HR and senior leadership.
• Benefits of proper succession planning include business continuity, employee retention, organizational stability, and boosted morale.
• Build a great succession planning process by identifying key roles, candidates for succession, creating talent development plans, and monitoring program success over time.
• Toggl Hire can help you build a strong succession plan by hiring top-quality talent from the get-go.

What is succession planning?

Succession planning is the process of preparing people to take over critical roles in your organization so your business doesn’t lose momentum in the case of a planned or unplanned departure.

You know when your phone asks you to back up your data? It wants to ensure you don’t lose your important photos and files if your device crashes.

Businesses also “back up” important roles in the company by preparing people to eventually fill them. That’s succession planning in action. It keeps companies resilient and adaptable and avoids the vulnerabilities that arise from a lack of leadership or power vacuum (you remember Game of Thrones, right?)

Is HR in charge of succession planning?

HR works in collaboration with leadership to outline and execute a succession plan. HR builds the scaffolding, providing the necessary structure and tools. Leadership drives the vision and execution.

HR’s responsibilities may include:

• Identifying candidates for succession
• Building and implementing talent plans
• Measuring progress and providing regular feedback
• Instilling a culture of career development for all employees

Leadership’s responsibilities may include:

• Determining the strategic direction and future needs of the organization
• Identifying the organization’s critical positions and the skills required to succeed in those roles
• Priming employees to commit to their personal and professional development

The benefits of effective succession planning

49% of businesses consider succession planning a top priority. With all this talk we’ve been hearing of a talent shortage recently, it makes sense to retain top talent wherever you can, and an effective succession plan is a key part of that.

Here are the specific benefits you can expect when you commit to this process.

Ensure business continuity

If your marketing assistant quits, chances are you can replace them pretty quickly and easily. Even if you don’t, it’s probably not going to affect your bottom line immensely. But your Director of Marketing is a different story. Leaving key vacancies open could lead to downtime, inefficient operations, lost opportunities, internal turmoil, confusion, and instability.

Grow and retain high-potential talent

Growth opportunities are one of the most important factors in an employee’s decision to stay with a business. This is even more pronounced in Gen Z workers, who value progression 36% more than other generations.

If you want to retain your high-potential employees, offering talent development programs could be the way to go. They help employees build skills and confidence through mentorship, training, and growth opportunities. They also help managers separate the wheat from the chaff, those who are intrinsically motivated and those who aren’t.

Improve employee engagement and retention

Showcasing long-term opportunities can build trust and motivation among your employees. The second-most common reason for quitting a job (behind pay)? Lack of advancement, development, or career opportunities.

Organizations have picked up on this. With 90% of companies concerned about employee retention, a 2024 LinkedIn report found learning opportunities to be the best retention strategy for talent. Encourage a culture of career reflection and projection among your employees. This will help you understand their aspirations and better position you to support them along their career path.

Facilitate knowledge transfer

When you lose someone in your business, you lose the invisible frameworks they created in their heads: the speed with which they can find what they need, the creative solutions they crafted to access different dashboards, and the efficiencies that come with working with the same tool stack day in and day out.

No matter how skilled the next person is, there will be a ramp-up period where they get accustomed to the set-up of the Drive folder or the naming system in Hubspot.

While this kind of knowledge might just be the cost of a role transition, other kinds of knowledge transfer can be systematized. Mentoring relationships or training plans can reduce skills gaps during transitions by systematically documenting knowledge sharing and creating repeatable and scalable plans that ensure employees are equipped with the necessary skill sets to succeed in new roles.

Achieving organizational stability

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Being proactive about your succession planning creates a more resilient company — one that doesn’t stumble in the face of crisis or change.

Stability protects operations and also creates a culture of confidence and adaptability. As a result, companies are better positioned to innovate and lead in their industry. After all, how you do one thing is how you do everything. So, companies proactive about succession planning are likely also proactive about jumping on new opportunities as they arise.

The risks of avoiding succession planning

Neglecting succession planning can lead to all sorts of undesirable outcomes:

• Delayed decision-making: The loss of a leader in key positions can create a leadership vacuum, where it becomes unclear who’s calling the shots. This can delay important decision-making, and result in operational inefficiencies.
• Loss of top talent: Turbulent times can tank employee morale, leading even your best performers to leave, or at least consider it.
• Increase in recruitment costs: A hasty recruitment campaign to replace the lost leader can take a lot longer than replacing them internally with a strong succession plan. This increases recruitment costs, time to hire, and can even impact quality of hire if decisions are made rashly.
• Uncertainty and confusion: Without a clear succession plan, confusion and fear can easily spread among employees. This can cause further conflict, miscommunication, and power struggles.

Let’s take the example of Blackberry. Thorsten Heins stepped down as CEO in 2013 after six years at the company. He passed the baton to John Chen, a veteran Silicon Valley executive. However, a messy succession plan resulted in the termination of 4,500 employees and a net loss of nearly $1 billion.

Don’t be Blackberry. Plan accordingly.

How to build a great succession planning process

Getting started with succession planning can feel overwhelming, which is why we’ve broken it down into a step-by-step process for you. Remember to tailor your succession planning strategy to your business’s needs and developmental goals.

Step 1: Identify critical roles

Not all roles are suitable for succession planning. Focus on leadership positions or roles requiring specialized skills. You’ll need to outline the core competencies of these roles — both hard and soft skills.

It can be useful to standardize the criteria you use to identify these roles, such as operational impact, strategic influence, or urgency to fill.

Step 2: Assess current talent

Next, you’ll want to analyze your current talent pool to identify high-potential employees who could be molded into future senior leaders. Several tools are available here, including skills gap analysis, employee evaluations, or 360-degree feedback from performance reviews.

Step 3: Pinpoint high-potential employees

Not all high-potential employees are made the same, but here are some common-denominator traits to look for in internal talent:

• Consistently high performing
• High emotional intelligence and soft skills, indicating leadership potential
• Adaptability in the face of new challenges
• Drive and ambition — consistently seeking out learning opportunities, mentorship, and growth
• Cultural fit — deeply aligned with the company’s vision, values, and mission

You can also use something like a 9-box grid to map out traits and performance.

Draw up a successor profile that includes their strengths, weaknesses, skills, experience, and career goals. This will serve as a baseline for step 4.

Step 4: Develop personalized growth plans

By understanding where your potential successors are now, you’ll effectively chart a path to where you need them to be. Outline an individual development plan to support their growth.

This is the “action plan” of the succession planning process and should clearly specify development activities and milestones designed to bridge any skills gaps identified during the assessment phase.

These activities may include training programs, mentorship, or job rotations, but they should always be tailored to the employee’s needs.

Step 5: Transfer knowledge effectively

By that, we mean systematize everything. Succession planning is such a resource-heavy activity that it doesn’t make sense to repeat actions you can automate. Build in some standard documentation practices and mentoring curricula to keep institutional knowledge flowing smoothly to future leaders. Ideally, they should cover knowledge transfer of both hard and soft skills.

Step 6: Align with corporate strategy

Succession planning should directly reflect the company’s vision for long-term success. When selecting and developing future leadership, keep future market or industry demands in mind. For example, you might equip the next generation with in-depth generative AI training or cultural sensitivity workshops to navigate an increasingly global and remote workforce.

Step 7: Monitor and measure progress

Check in regularly on your succession plan’s performance. Set up some KPIs — like tracking promotions, leadership readiness, number of successors per key roles, and retention rates.

For example, this could look like:

• Enhance succession readiness: Within six months, identify at least three qualified successors for each critical role, creating a solid talent pipeline.
• Reduce time-to-fill: Decrease the average time-to-fill by 20% over the next year for key roles.
• Improve employee engagement scores: Boost employee engagement by 15% in the next annual survey.

Step 8: Reassess and adapt regularly

Make iterative improvements a natural part of your performance management strategy. This will help you account for industry changes and company growth. Staying flexible is the key to remaining relevant to team members, development opportunities, and leadership skills.

Step 9: Get buy-in from leadership

Succession planning without buy-in from senior stakeholders will fall flat. They need to be engaged in the process, offering input and support to maintain the plan once it has launched.

Get leadership involved early on. Hook them by speaking their language — reduced risks, stronger leadership teams, and how streamlining this process will hit their strategic goals. Ask for their input during key stages, like development planning and successor selection, to get their skin in the game.

Step 10: Invest in the right tools

Delegate as much heavy lifting as you can to succession planning tools. Career path templates, performance management tools, or talent development software can take a load of manual, repetitive tasks off your plate. They save time, identify potential leaders, track progress, and provide development opportunities while offering better team insights.

Tips for getting succession planning right (and mistakes to avoid)

There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all succession planning. But there are some best practices you should follow.

Pair succession planning with talent management

Merging succession planning with other talent management initiatives like leadership development can create a cohesive employee experience.

For example, this might look like an ambitious marketing manager who has participated in various leadership development programs over the years, such as communication skills, assertiveness training, and mentorship from the Global VP of Marketing.

When a more senior role opens up, this marketing manager is named as a potential candidate for succession. Preparing them for the role won’t be such a jump since they’ve been “studying” it for years already.

Use a succession planning template

As a human resources leader, a succession plan is a continuous process, so create a template for it as you iterate on it over months or years. This will save you time while standardizing the succession process and ensuring no details are overlooked.

Think long-term

Don’t just project the next 1-3 years — think 5-10 years ahead. Like a soccer club that replaces outgoing players with their own trainees, invest in employee development, and stay in the loop about any emerging technologies. This prepares your team, ensuring they’re ready to take the field when opportunities arise.

Measure the right succession planning metrics

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Tracking metrics like retention rates, engagement scores, and promotion readiness can identify strengths and weaknesses in your succession plan. Average employee tenure, voluntary turnover rate, and Employee Net Promoter scores are a good place to start.

Hire top talent for successful workforce planning

A good succession plan starts at the hiring stage. Hire people who add strategic, long-term value to your company. Solid external recruiting efforts will make succession planning easier and smoother. After all, the best leadership pipelines include a balance of external hires and internal promotions.

Toggl Hire helps you identify high-potential candidates who align with long-term objectives. How? Our talent assessment features, including skills tests, video interviews, and rapid candidate screening, mean you don’t have to sacrifice quality of hire for speed ever again.

Follow us on LinkedIn to learn more about these types of strategies!

Asana is one of the world’s most popular project management tools, complete with flying unicorns and other celebration creatures that whizz across the screen as you blitz through your to-do list.

More than 150,000 organizations worldwide use Asana to manage their workload, improve efficiency and profitability, and delight customers. And what better way to influence all of those things than tracking time?

Asana added a built-in time tracker to its software in 2022, allowing users to add time entries for tasks and projects. A few years on, the dust has settled, and we’re asking — is it any good? Or….should you use external time trackers for Asana tasks instead? Our quick guide helps you decide for yourself.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Asana is a project management platform with a native time tracking app and integrations with third-party time tracking platforms.
• The native Asana time tracking features are limited and only allow manual time entry, which can cause issues with accuracy and reporting. They are also only available in the Advanced plan at $24.99 per user/mo.
• A large selection of third-party time tracking apps sync with Asana, such as Toggl Track, Everhour, Hubstaff, Clockify, and Harvest. Some are free, some are paid, and all offer extended functionality compared to the native Asana app.
• Toggl Track is the best way to track time in Asana because of its ease of use, detailed reporting, customizable workflows, two-way data sync, and affordable pricing plans.

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Disclaimer: This is our app. With over 5 million users across 120 countries and 1,500 reviews on G2 alone, we believe we’re one of the best time tracking apps out there. We hope you do, too!

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Understanding Asana’s native time tracking features

To activate time tracking in Asana, head to a new project in your dashboard and click “Customize.” You can then add a custom field for the project. You want to choose two options:

• Estimated time
• Actual time

These fields will now appear on each task and subtask within that project.

In the “Estimated time” field, you enter how much time you think a task will take in hours and minutes. In the “Actual time” field, you manually enter how much time a task took.

Users can retroactively fill in how much time they worked on a task. But this causes several problems.

First, there is a lot of guesstimation, and the users typically don’t add the precise time they spent working on something. When you bill clients at $200/hour, a few minutes daily can make a significant difference every month.

Second, adopting this feature can be very slow because this time tracking method isn’t very intuitive. It can be difficult to get employees to track their time this way.

Because of these issues, the reports you produce will rarely be accurate. While it may fit the bill for basic internal time tracking, it won’t meet the standards of many clients and companies requiring more detailed, customized reports.

Perhaps the biggest issue is these time tracking features are only available in the Advanced Asana plan, which costs $24.99 per user/mo, when billed annually.

Advantages and limitations of Asana’s native timer

Asana’s native timer may be good enough for users who require basic time-tracking capabilities. Here are some of its primary advantages and disadvantages.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
• Ease of use • Seamless integration with other Asana features • Cost-effectiveness (if you are already on the Advanced plan)	• Potential issues with entering time manually • The lack of advanced reports (especially for service providers, as one reviewer states) • No customization options

In short, Asana is a project management app with a time tracking add-on rather than a standalone time tracking app. As such, the native integration covers the basics well, but don’t expect advanced features.

The best time tracking apps to integrate with Asana

While Asana is an exceptional project management app with some native time tracking features, it wasn’t purposely built for time tracking. For advanced users, the native function for Asana projects may lack features for advanced time tracking.

The great news is that due to Asana’s popularity, there are many integrations with dedicated time tracking platforms. Here are some of the best Asana integrations for time tracking you can try in 2025, complete with our personal review of each.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track offers two ways to integrate with Asana. The native integration is available to free users of both apps and allows you to track time for tasks and projects in Asana. To import data from Asana to Toggl Track, you’ll need a paid Toggl Track plan.

Some of the key features of this integration include:

• Automatic data synchronization
• Detailed, fully customizable reporting
• Idle detection and Pomodoro timer
• Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge
• Embedded timer

Everhour

Everhour has a robust integration with Asana that synchronizes information between the two apps. After quick installation, you’ll see Everhour controls embedded in the Asana interface.

Some of the key features for this integration include:

• Regular synchronization of data from and to Asana
• Custom reports with fields of your own choice
• Project budgeting
• One-click timesheets for all employees

Hubstaff

This time tracker comes with a free 14-day trial, during which you can check out the Asana integration for free. It comes with a large feature set, including but not limited to:

• 20+ different report types
• Setting project budgets and hourly limits
• Detailed overviews: apps most used, time spent on projects, and many other customizable reports
• Optional screenshots

Clockify

Clockify offers a generous free plan to explore its Asana integration. However, since Clockify’s sister company has a project management app, its integration is not as robust as some other competitors on this list. Features include:

• Native time tracking in Asana’s interface
• Browser, mobile, and desktop app support (you’ll start timers in one place and stop them someplace else)
• Time reports (but only in the web version of the app)

Harvest

Similarly to Clockify, the Asana integration for Harvest exists, but it’s not the most advanced. Some of your capabilities include:

• Tracking time directly from Asana with a Harvest button
• Importing projects and people from Asana to Harvest

Choosing the best time tracking solution for your needs

Not sure which time tracking platform to integrate with Asana? Here’s a step-by-step guide on what to keep in mind before purchasing.

The team size

If you want to track time in Asana with third-party integration, you’re purchasing a completely new tool. You should determine how many employees will track their time and what kind of pricing plan you fit into.

The project complexity

Depending on what you use your Asana account for, you’ll have different time tracking needs. For example, if you work in an in-house team, you may need a simple start-stop timer and straightforward time reports.

On the other hand, if you run an agency or work in a more complex environment, you may need timesheets, real-time insights on tasks and projects, additional invoicing tools, and more. Research the feature set of the time tracking app, and, ideally, try the free trial before committing.

Your reporting needs

Depending on who reads your time tracking reports, they’ll need different levels of detail. For example, a simple breakdown of time entries may be enough for a manager who wants a high-level overview of ongoing tasks.

On the other hand, an enterprise or agency client needs time tracking with more granularity, such as tasks and subtasks, a breakdown of billable hours, the type of work done, and more.

The browser extension options

If you work on many tasks daily, jumping back and forth between windows and apps can, ironically, be time-consuming. This is why most good time tracking platforms come with browser extensions. You can start and stop the timer in the browser and choose what type of task you’re tracking time for.

For example, Toggl Track has a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. The installation takes just a few minutes, and you can start using both apps in sync (we’ll even walk you through how to do just that below!).

Practical tips for time tracking in Asana

If you already use Asana and want to make your workflows even better with time tracking, we have some practical advice for everyone, from beginners to pros.

Set up time tracking properly in the native app

When using the native Asana time tracking app, click on “Customize” in the top right corner of a task and choose “Time tracking.” This lets you add “Estimated time” and “Actual time” as a custom field for each task.

Monitor your progress

Regularly compare the estimated and actual times for your tasks. This lets you see if your predictions are off and allows you to make more accurate predictions in the future. As a result, you become better at quoting potential clients, and you avoid scope creep.

Provide training before starting

Your team members may be experts at project and task management in Asana, but they could be new to tracking time.

First, explain the value of time tracking. Most importantly, explain that you’re doing it to increase efficiency and productivity and not to spy and micromanage.

Then walk the team through the integration. Cover how it works, where they can find the reports, who else reads them, and how the learnings will be used for task and work management.

Stay consistent with time tracking

Time tracking only works if it becomes a second-nature habit for your team. Encourage your team to track their time for all types of tasks, from the moment they turn on their devices until they log off.

This lets you find patterns, distinguish between billable and non-billable hours, bill clients more accurately, and much more. If someone on your team forgets to track their time, adding hours manually later on is fairly easy, whether with the native Asana app or integration.

Toggl Track 🤝 Asana

Toggl Track’s integration with Asana is completely free, and you can try it out with a free account on both platforms. It comes with a host of other benefits compared to the native Asana time tracking app.

It’s easy to use, and the reporting capabilities are much more advanced. Toggl Track isn’t just a great fit for Asana, either. It also supports other project management apps such as Trello, Todoist, and Jira, as well as 100+ other online apps.

The bottom line? Asana and Toggl Track are great apps on their own, but combined, they can increase your productivity, efficiency, and profitability.

Sign up for a free Toggl Track account today to see the two apps in action. If you need help setting up the Asana and Toggl Track integration, just follow the instructions below!

Tracking time in Asana with the Toggl Track web app

This is the first of two ways to track time in Asana with Toggl Track. It shouldn’t take more than 60 seconds to get up and running!

1. Create a free Toggl Track account

Head over to Toggl Track and sign up for your free account.

2. Go to the integrations page

Log in to your account and go to the Integrations page in the side menu.

3. Enable the Asana integration

Scroll down to the list of native integrations and click ‘Get started’ next to Asana.

Click the ‘Enable’ button.

4. Log in to your Asana account

Once you’ve clicked enable, you will be asked to log in to your Asana account.

Click ‘Allow’ once you’ve signed in.

Head back to Toggl Track and click on the “Sync Now” button to manually sync users, projects, and tasks to keep your data in Toggl Track up to date. This will push all of your Asana projects and tasks into Toggl Track.

5. Start tracking with Asana

You can then quickly start tracking time on any task within a project right inside Toggl Track.

Tracking time in Asana with the Toggl Track Chrome extension

Toggl Track’s free browser extensions embed a Toggl Track timer into the interface of more than 100 apps, allowing you to track time within the app itself.

With additional features like a pomodoro timer and idle detection, it’s the ultimate tool for maximizing productivity and streamlining time tracking into your workflow without needing to jump between tools. Here’s how you can start tracking time in Asana with it.

Note: This is the exact step-by-step guide for our Firefox add-on.

1. Install the Toggl Track chrome extension

Head to the Chrome web store and add the Toggl Track Chrome extension to your browser. Note that you may be asked to log in to your Toggl Track account.

2. Enable the Asana time tracking integration

Click on the Chrome extension in your browser and then click on the settings icon.

Navigate to the ‘Integrations’ page, check the box next to ‘Asana – app.asana.com,’ and allow access.

3. Start tracking time in Asana

Head over to your Asana dashboard and hit refresh. You should now notice a small Toggl Track icon next to your tasks in Asana.

Click the icon, and a Toggl Track pop-up will appear. Your task name will become the time entry description in Toggl Track, and the project will automatically be filled. The example below shows that ‘SEO Campaign’ is the project.

This will start the timer in Toggl Track straight away. Want to stop the timer for any given task? You have two options.

The first is to click the Toggl Track icon in your dashboard. This will stop the timer instantly for that task.

Or, hit the stop button within the Toggl Track Chrome extension.

It’s as simple as that! Remember, if you don’t have an account already, it’s free to get started with both Toggl Track and Asana. If you have other questions about time tracking integrations or how Toggl Track integrates with other software, check out the Toggl Community.

Time tracking gets a bad rap — and honestly, it’s easy to see why.

When misused or poorly implemented, it can feel like micromanagement at its worst, creating frustration and distrust among employees. No wonder so many people cringe at the thought of tracking their time.

But here’s the thing…time tracking itself isn’t the villain. When done right, it’s a powerful tool for fostering productivity, fairness, and balance in the workplace. The secret lies in avoiding the common pitfalls that can turn it into a nightmare.

Understanding where it goes wrong and how to address those issues can bring clarity, efficiency, and fairness to your workplace. Here’s how to do just that.

Why is time tracking bad in some cases?

We might ruffle some feathers with this, but it’s honestly only bad when you use it as a tool to spy on employees. Toggl takes a pretty strong anti-surveillance stance, and several problems can arise from improper implementation.

Simply put, the way certain businesses capture and use time data is what’s problematic. Some are downright outdated and silly. For example, paper timesheets and manual time tracking on an Excel spreadsheet are tedious and error-prone. They can turn time data collection into a thankless chore.

There are many reasons why time tracking goes bad, like data misuse, micromanagement, lacking support, and technical issues. Let’s take a look at some of the top cases in more detail. 👇

1. Micromanagement and overemphasis on productivity

Time tracking is a great tool for seeing how your employees spend their time during the workday. However, when people managers use time data and employee surveillance features to monitor their employees excessively, creativity is stifled.

It also fosters distrust and a lack of autonomy, leading to increased stress and reduced morale. Furthermore, monitoring employee activity isn’t a good gauge of productivity, as appearing busy is not the same as being productive.

Instead, focus on results and output and track time to understand how long tasks and projects take to complete. This will give you valuable data to improve your project management processes.

Inflexibility

Strict time tracking rules make it difficult for employees to have agency over their time management. They are forced to stick to certain work hours, which is especially restrictive for those in roles that require creative thinking and problem-solving.

These roles also suffer when employee surveillance features that monitor computer activity are utilized. Employees may appear inactive while working through a problem in their heads or on paper. 

Allow employees to work flexible hours to avoid inflexibility killing productivity and morale. This enables employees to manage their time and get work done when they’re most productive. It also benefits working parents, team members with health conditions, and student employees.

Stress and burnout

Employees who are constantly monitored report worse mental health, higher levels of tension and stress, and more cases of the workplace negatively impacting or harming their mental health.

Rigid time tracking also leads to employees padding their time entries by falsifying the data or remaining at their desks, faking busyness after completing tasks. This negates any benefit of gathering time data as it is inaccurate. Plus, the employees could be spending this time on other things.

Regularly check in with your employees about workloads and stress levels and offer mental health support and resources. Create a safe space for employees to reach out if they are struggling.

Promote a healthy work-life balance and discourage working overtime. Employees shouldn’t feel they must conform to hustle culture to be seen as good employees.

Overemphasis on quantity over quality

When managers focus solely on the amount of time spent on work instead of the quality, they encourage bad, inefficient work habits that contribute to reduced productivity.

Encouraging a results-oriented work environment by setting clear quality benchmarks and key performance indicators allows employees to take their time and ensure the highest quality of work.

Implementing this strategy alongside reasonable time tracking metrics lets you balance quality and quantity. Ensure you regularly review and adjust your metrics to align with goals.

2. Privacy, trust, and legal concerns

Time tracking tools with activity monitoring and employee surveillance features invade personal privacy as they can capture personal data by monitoring non-work activities. 

They also foster a feeling of distrust between employees and management, contributing to a hostile work environment. At worst, employee monitoring tools can lead to legal issues when sensitive data is captured.

Here are some more details about these issues and how to avoid them.

Lack of trust

Excessively tracking and monitoring your employees damages trust and employee morale and creates a toxic work culture. This eventually contributes to increased employee turnover and difficulty retaining talent.

Instead, opt for a non-invasive employee time tracking solution like Toggl Track and involve employees in the decision-making process when creating time tracking policies.

Be transparent and regularly communicate about time tracking, the benefits, and best practices to build trust and get everyone on board.

Misuse of data

The benefits of time tracking are severely diminished if your management team doesn’t know what to do with the data, misinterprets it, or uses it for the wrong purposes.

Data misinterpretation or misuse can result in unfair performance evaluations, incorrect conclusions, and biased decisions, so ensure your managers are trained in ethical data usage and interpretation 

Regularly auditing time tracking practices and data usage and implementing checks and balances helps ensure fairness and accuracy across the board.

Legal and compliance issues

Some methods of employee monitoring and data collection are illegal in certain jurisdictions or require strict disclosures and prior consent. Implementing a time tracking system can be a minefield, especially with globally distributed remote teams.

To stay on the right side of labor law and regulations, consult with a legal expert to ensure all time tracking software, practices, and policies are compliant.

3. Inappropriate application and one-size-fits-all approach

Failing to consider the unique needs and workflows of the different teams and roles that make up your organization and using a standardized time tracking method can result in employee dissatisfaction and inaccurate time data. Here are a few key issues to avoid.

Lack of customization

Time tracking systems without customization features are non-inclusive and may not meet the specific needs of different roles, projects, and individuals. This can hinder time tracking adoption and lead to inaccurate data and frustration on both sides.

Opt instead for customizable time tracking software. Work with your staff to tailor the system to their requirements. Continually review and improve the system to ensure it fits various projects and tasks.

Failure to align with company culture

A time tracking tool that doesn’t align with company culture and values can result in resistance and a lack of employee engagement.

Bring employees into the discussion around time tracking and ask them to help develop and refine time tracking practices. This will help promote a positive view of time tracking as a tool for growth and improvement, not micromanagement and control.

Technical issues

A poorly implemented time tracking system that doesn’t properly integrate with the existing tools in a tech stack can be prone to errors and glitches that cause frustration and inefficiency. When this goes unresolved, it slows productivity down.

Ensure the time tracking software you choose is reliable and user-friendly. Do your research and look at reviews from real customers to give you a better idea of how the tool works and if it’s a good fit for your business.

Train and update your staff regularly on the time tracking system, and have a dedicated support team to tackle any technical issues that arise promptly.

4. Lack of training and support

As with any new tool or system, employees may struggle with time tracking if they’re not adequately trained. This can result in misuse or underuse of the system and even complete failure to track work time.

Misunderstanding of purpose

Employees may be less likely to use it correctly if they don’t understand the benefits and purpose of tracking time. Improper use of time tracking tools skews the data and results in inefficiencies.

To ensure your employees record accurate time entries, communicate the reasons and benefits clearly. Provide examples of time tracking benefits for the employee and company, like increased profitability, improved work-life balance, and better management of future projects.

Resistance to change

Any kind of change in business can be met with resistance if not properly managed, which makes proper implementation of new systems like time tracking tools much harder.

To avoid this becoming a bigger issue, ensure you have a thoroughly thought-out change-management strategy to ease the transition. Involve employees in the process and address their concerns openly as they arise.

This is another opportunity to reinforce the benefits of effective time tracking and mention any success stories other similar companies or teams have had in implementing time tracking.

Lack of ongoing support

Offering one-time training is not enough. Companies that fail to provide continuous support and resources may find their staff struggling to track their time effectively.

Creating a feedback loop helps ensure continuous improvement based on user experience, and establishing a dedicated support team helps address issues quickly so they don’t fester. 

So…is time tracking good or bad?

Time tracking is a great process to implement as long as it’s implemented correctly. It has many benefits for employers and employees, so it’s worth taking the time to research and ensure you use it properly.

Benefits of time tracking

• Increased employee productivity: Time tracking provides visibility into how work time is spent, identifies areas of inefficiency, and spots problem workflows that can be improved. 
• Accurate project estimates: Managers can more accurately estimate time for future projects when they can access time data from past projects, removing much of the guesswork. 
• Better resource management and allocation: With a clear overview of how time and skills are distributed across tasks and projects, resource allocation can be optimized to ensure team members aren’t over- or under-used.
• Improved billing and client management: Tracking billable hours can help justify costs by providing a transparent record of the time spent on client work.
• Reduced bottlenecks and time sinks: Time tracking makes it easy to spot tasks that take too much time so they can be addressed.

Tracking time with Toggl Track is good!

At the end of the day, whether or not time tracking is good comes down to the way it’s used. It’s important to choose and implement a time tracking tool that works for your business properly to avoid problems such as technical issues, misunderstandings, compliance queries, and inflexibility.

Toggl Track is a non-invasive employee time tracking tool that is user-friendly and easy to onboard. Sign up for Toggl Track for free today and start tracking employee time correctly.

Imagine standing at the start line of a marathon without fully understanding what you’ve committed to or what is required to complete the race.

You didn’t know you were required to train the distance, invest in a strong pair of running shoes, or pack energy gels to fuel your body and keep going. Perhaps it’s even a surprise that a marathon is 26.2 miles long!

Basically…you haven’t completed the prep work required to succeed in this challenge, and honestly, you might not make it to the finish line. Sounds stressful, right?

While business projects aren’t usually as physical as the average marathon, they rely on the same “requirements gathering” process to set companies up for success.

This guide will teach you how to collect requirements for a project, including when and who is involved. By following these steps, you’ll control project costs, stay on schedule, and deliver a successful project you and your team are happy with.

What is requirements gathering in project management?

Project management requirements gathering is the process of understanding every requirement involved in completing your project successfully. These “requirements” translate as all the tasks or resources you need to deliver the project on time, within budget and scope, and that meets (or ideally, exceeds) expectations.

While that probably sounds like a lot, requirements usually fall into two buckets:

• Business requirements: This is essentially the overall goal of your project
• Technical requirements: Everything involved in accomplishing the goal above

💡 Example: A marketing project’s business requirements may be to “increase leads by 20%.” The technical requirements include completing tasks to deliver items such as social ads and lead magnets to target customers with special offers.

Why is gathering project requirements so important?

Gathering project requirements is one of the most critical processes in a project’s lifecycle. 35% of failed projects cite inaccurate requirements gathering as the primary cause of failure. Don’t be part of this statistic.

Project progress requirements will help you to:

• Understand the scope of work
• Identify and assess all project risks
• Accurately estimate the cost of the project
• Create a project timeline everyone is happy with
• Effectively allocate and prioritize project resources 
• Not obliterate the project budget on irrelevant “requirements.” 

To stay organized as you grow and juggle projects, you must build a process that collects, translates, and shares requirements with the team to get it right every time.

The three main phases of requirements gathering

Requirements gathering happens in three broad phases.

Requirements elicitation

Requirements elicitation happens first. This initial phase gathers information to understand what stakeholders need, both during and from the project outcome. This step requires strong and open communication and proper investigation to check every requirement you “think” you need actually aligns with your business objectives.

Requirements documentation

The next step is to document the requirements to make them formal. You’re effectively putting a stake in the ground and announcing, “Hey, these are our non-negotiables.”

Documentation typically includes detailed descriptions of your business and technical requirements, but above all else, they must be accessible. After all, what’s the point of writing your requirements down if no one understands what they mean?

Requirements confirmation

In the final phase, key stakeholders will review, validate, and approve the requirements you’ve gathered. They’ll check that the requirements accurately reflect the stakeholders’ needs, are achievable within project constraints, and align with the organization’s overarching goals.

Be warned…there may be some discrepancies at this stage. Some stakeholders could disagree with others about the importance of certain requirements. Overcome this by using a recipe of negotiation, prioritization, and feasibility assessments to finalize your list of requirements.

How to gather requirements for a project

You can break each of the phases above into actionable steps. It’s worth pointing out that all projects differ, so there is no “best” way to gather them. But the list of steps below is a fantastic starting point.

Step 1. Decide when to gather project requirements 

Typically, you’ll gather the requirements right at the beginning during the project planning phase, allowing you to include them in your project brief and kick-off meeting. Deciding how much time to set aside for this is like asking how long a piece of string is. The size and complexity of the project and the availability of stakeholders will influence how straightforward this is.

Step 2. Assign roles to collect project requirements

The person or team responsible for gathering requirements will vary depending on your business and team size:

• Freelancer? That’s on you
• A small business? Potentially the founder or CEO
• Growing company? An Agile team project lead, account manager, or business analyst
• The best-case scenario? Get a project lead and domain expert involved. Just remember, the domain expert/s will and should change depending on the type and complexity of the project.

Personalities and strengths play into finding the right person. For example, if a development team’s technical expert isn’t comfortable with stakeholder interviews, have them draft questions while someone else leads the discussion.

Step 3. Interview project stakeholders

Once you’ve identified key stakeholders, meet with them to get an idea of what they hope to get from the project. Understanding what you need to achieve is critical, as this will be the deciding factor behind what deliverables you create.

Step 4. Gather and document your findings

Also known as requirements management, you’ll use a project requirements template at this stage to take the info from above and shape it into something that makes sense for you and your team (click on the link above to make a copy of ours!).

Depending on the project’s complexity, you might have to speak with multiple stakeholders to fully understand the project scope of work — each may have different requirements.

But remember that not all project requirements are necessary for success. Ask yourself: Is this requirement essential to achieving the business goal?

This is where you assess if the project requirements are:

• Inconsistent or duplicated
• Not feasible based on resources and logic

These two points are significant factors that can frustrate your team, waste their time, and cause delays.

Remember to identify and assess project risks as part of this process. Get your team together for a brainstorming session to figure out how to reduce those risks to ensure you stick to the project timeline and stay within budget.

Step 5. Break down the deliverables into smaller chunks

Once you understand the project goals and objectives better, you can start to determine what effort needs to go into the project to deliver it successfully.

Use a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to break the project into manageable phases and tasks. 

A WBS is a hierarchical outline of the tasks and workflows required to complete a project. The WBS “breaks down” the structure of a project into manageable deliverables or phases.

It helps streamline, visualize, and manage projects more efficiently. It also serves as a framework for detailed cost estimation and control and an overall project schedule guide.

You can download our free WBS template here (just make a copy to customize it). It will help you understand what resources are needed for the project, as well as create an initial project timeline and project budget.

Step 6. Create your baseline budget and timeline

Once you fully understand the scope of work, you’ll need to create your baseline project budget and timeline.

You can do this by allocating costs to each task within your WBS. Or, if you’re using Toggl Track, you can access past project data within the Project Dashboard to pull together a quick baseline estimate. Task-level functionality is also available within the same dashboard.

Step 7. Get approval from project stakeholders

Meet with key stakeholders to present your baseline estimates. Get their feedback, ask more questions, clarify requirements, and get approval to start.

It’s all part of the process. Good project requirements gathering may mean a lot of back and forth. But you’ll remedy the expensive and infuriating process of reworking project deliverables long after the deadline because “that wasn’t quite what we wanted!”.

Step 8. Create your statement of work

Once you understand everything, it’s time to create and sign a statement of work, including all the information you’ve collected in the previous steps.

Your SoW acts as your safety net if the project gets somewhat out of control. It should outline project tasks, deliverables, timelines, and costs, including anything out of scope.

Requirements gathering techniques

Let’s circle back to that part where you magically find out everything you need to know about your stakeholders’ requirements. Here are some tried and tested techniques you can use to extract this essential information without feeling like you’re pulling teeth:

Questionnaires

Questionnaires are convenient if you need to gather the requirements for your entire project asynchronously. You’ll simply create your list of questions, submit them, and wait for the answers to roll in. They’re particularly useful if you need to ask the same questions to a wide range of stakeholders.

Broad questions like “What are the requirements?” are too vague. Instead, ask questions about what they want and hope to accomplish. Then translate the desires, goals, and objectives into deliverables, a timeline, and a budget you and your team members can work with.

How does this work? The goal is to ask the kinds of questions that describe the requirements regarding business needs — as they will provide more actionable info for your project team. For example:

• “What problem are we trying to solve?” (and resist adding “and how do we solve it?”—that isn’t their job)
• “Can you describe [current solution] for me?”
• “What are the pain points/issues with the current process?”
• “What would an ideal experience for [project topic] look like?”

User stories

Use case scenarios are a useful technique to prep for the requirements confirmation stage. Based on the information you know, either collected through questionnaires, focus groups, or any other technique, you’ll flesh out a description of how you expect your team members to execute a project.

You’ll include plenty of detail, such as role responsibilities, user needs, and the steps they’ll take to reach your project goal. Then you’ll present your user story to stakeholders and ask them to validate it.

Prototypes

Prototypes have a similar goal to use cases. This technique requires you to create a prototype to show what the deliverable could look like for end-users. You’ll present your prototype to stakeholders for validation, allowing you to tinker with the requirements to ensure they meet your project objectives.

Mind mapping

Mind mapping is great for visual learners or for documenting requirements when your projects are more complex than the traditional list of resources or “jobs to be done.”

It’s a type of visual brainstorming — you’ll place your business requirement or project goal in the center of your mind map, then offshoot it with bubbles depicting each of your technical requirements. Keep branching out with different levels and sub-levels of bubbles until you have a visual roadmap that accurately depicts your requirements.

3 common challenges of gathering project requirements

“Essential but not easy” would be a good way to sum up the practice of essential requirements gathering. Here are three common challenges you may encounter as you conduct this process.

Preventing scope creep

Projects that aren’t planned out to the letter have a habit of spiraling, going off on tangents, and draining your resources. Avoid getting into a situation where your project demands more and more requirements post-kick-off by having a solid, pre-approved statement of work. This allows you to manage requirements by maintaining control and focus. It also provides enough leverage to renegotiate your project agreement if scope creep does occur.

Documenting the requirements

We’ve talked about the importance of getting your project needs and requirements written down so they’re set in stone. But how? It’ll be no surprise that we’re not a fan of the old-fashioned paper and pen method. Honestly, spreadsheets can be pretty cumbersome, too, particularly as your projects and business scale.

In most cases, project management software is a strong option, particularly as many have a free version. As you prioritize different software requirements, look for a platform that offers:

• Customizable requirements gathering templates
• Real-time traceability
• A positive user experience

Anticipating change

Often, a project’s technical requirements won’t be static, and you’ll need to anticipate change throughout the process. To prevent future change requests from derailing your budget or timeline, include these three things in your initial SoW:

• A clear definition of what falls within the project scope
• An explanation of how changes will be addressed (e.g., additional costs)
• An agreement that stakeholders accept any changes in terms before they’re acted upon

Gathering project requirements is a skill to hone

Collecting different types of requirements, documenting them, and weaving them into your project plan is crucial to its success. It keeps the project scope in line, satisfies stakeholders, and allows you to stay comfortably within budget and deadline.

Sure, the collect requirements process in project management may feel a little daunting at first — but it’s a skill you can hone using the methodology above.

Need extra tips? Check out our blogs on project cost estimating and project time estimation.

Markets today are unpredictable. Technological advancements, supply chain disruptions, and shifts in economic and consumer behavior compel businesses to stay agile.

To win in the future, 62% of CEOs admit they must rewrite their business playbook rather than play to existing strengths. Yet, organizational change never comes easily, especially when you lack a clear action plan. 

Organizational development (OD) provides science-based methodologies and interventions for steering your company in a new direction through cultural, business process, and performance management transformations.

OD helps different units align on key business objectives, promotes effective change management, and ultimately improves innovation capability and long-term resilience. To flip the operating script in 2025, here’s what you need to know about effective organizational development.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Organizational development boosts company performance and drives change management through targeted interventions grounded in social and behavioral science.
• The purpose of OD is to transition organizations from where they are now to where they want to be through incremental changes in operating, cultural, people management, and technology practices.
• The main steps in the organization development process include problem identification, root cause(s) diagnosis, data collection, strategic planning, intervention implementation, and outcome assessments.
• Many popular organizational development frameworks help with different OD elements — McKinsey 7S, Kurt Lewin’s Three-Step Model, Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, and others. 
• Similarly, there’s a host of OD interventions for improving different organizational elements, from talent planning and acquisition to succession planning, cross-team collaboration, and overall management processes. 
• Human resource teams play a key role in ongoing organization development through proactive facilitation in change management, employee communication, and strategic planning. 

What is organizational development?

One of the first definitions of organizational development (OD) comes from Richard Beckhard, an American pioneer in organizational research: 

Organizational development is an effort (1) planned, (2) organization-wide, and (3) managed from the top to (4) increase organization effectiveness and health through (5) planned interventions in the organization’s “processes,” using behavioral-science knowledge.

What now? In simpler terms, organizational development is a systematic, science-backed process for driving continuous improvement in business performance through changes in organizational culture, processes, and talent management.

Modern OD combines social sciences, human resources management, agile business management, and strategic communication principles with newer data collection and analysis techniques.

OD helps leaders assess baseline organizational performance, determine necessary transformational change, and establish better processes for achieving desired outcomes such as: 

• Alignment between leadership vision and employee execution
• Higher workforce productivity and employee engagement 
• Better organizational effectiveness and cross-team collaboration 
• Continuous employee development and training 
• Faster, less disruptive change management 
• Long-term business resilience and sustainability 

Goals of organizational development

The core objective of organizational development is improving business health. By analyzing what’s going wrong (and why), OD practitioners deliver timely advice for staying innovative, optimizing profit margins, and being in sync with market trends. 

Without such “check-ups,” a company risks untimely demise. Take Kodak, which once dominated the photography market. Its leadership was blinded by its success with film cameras and ignored the rise of digital technology, despite a Kodak engineer inventing the digital camera prototype in 1975.

Still, Kodak’s management refused to adapt to consumer preferences. They believed a 70% profit margin on film photography would keep them afloat through the “fad” of digital photography (which it didn’t). The company started its change process too late, and the market momentum was lost to competitors. In 2012, Kodak, once a several billion-dollar company, filed for bankruptcy. 

To avoid similar scenarios, smarter leaders pursue incremental OD improvements for continuous course correction in business performance. Sample goals of OD interventions may include:

• Business model transformations to increase organizational competitiveness, better leverage unique resources, and progressively serve the links with legacy assets and practices. 

• Business process optimization to eliminate redundancies, improve information flows, and automate manual steps for faster work execution and streamlined decision-making. 

• Better change management capabilities to successfully implement organizational restructuring, adopt new technologies, and break false synergies between the old and the new practices. 

• Higher workforce performance to align employees with the new company vision, reduce disengagement, improve workplace wellness, and provide more professional growth opportunities. 

• Cultural transformations to create a more flexible and inclusive work environment, encourage innovative thinking, continuous learning, and cross-functional collaboration among different business units. 

• Leadership development to improve emotional intelligence, communication, and management skills among current leaders and nurture new talents as part of wider workforce planning efforts. 

Understanding the organizational development process

The goal of organizational development is to change the way your company operates, one targeted intervention at a time. 

Because every company starts at a unique position, there’s no right (or wrong) approach to organizational development. Rather, several frameworks help with the overall process structure, problem diagnosis, and change implementation. 

Traditionally, the OD process is guided by the Action Research Model, proposed by Kurt Lewin and later visualized by John Elliot.

Action Research Model provides a staged method for problem identification and progressive resolution. It’s a great starting point for structuring your ideas and customizing each step to your business needs. From there, you can use extra strategies to address common change barriers like cultural resistance, lack of leadership support, or missing capabilities. 

Here’s how the OD process will look from start to finish. 

Identify the problem

Running a business is hardly smooth sailing. There are always factors demanding your attention, from economic shifts and geopolitical tensions to changes in consumer preferences and low employee performance. 

But everything can’t be an immediate priority. You have to choose your battles and focus on one problem at a time. For most companies, it can be one of the following blockers: 

• Misaligned priorities: Almost half of businesses report a mismatch between their business strategy and technology investments, which leads to overspending and poor return on investment. 

• Skills mismatch: Most HR leaders report workforce demand is growing faster than workers’ skills, driven by technology. People lack competencies for assigned tasks and require up-skilling or re-skilling training.

• Organizational inertia: Change comes slowly. Over two-thirds of leaders say their companies must leverage technologies that change faster than employees can adapt.

• Lack of innovation: New ideas take time to incubate and become reality, but time is short. 82% of CEOs believe their competitor will be out of business in 10 years unless they change their current business model. 

• Capacity issues: Companies often lack visibility into available resources. Subsequently, 57% of leaders admit they may be operating below capacity due to a lack of tools to measure underperformance or overstaffing.

• Bloated organizational structures with too many C-suite ‘cooks’ and a lack of individual contributors breed sluggishness. 40% of leaders believe a complex structure causes inefficiency in their company, and a similar number cite unclear roles and responsibilities.

Diagnose the issue

Your core problem is usually triggered by a combination of factors. For example, if your profitability has declined, several factors may be at play:

• External factors like reduced consumer spending, supply chain issues, regulatory changes, or market saturation. 

• Revenue factors, including declining sales volumes, loss of key clients, or price undercutting from new competitors. 

• Financial factors like ineffective resource allocation, subpar pricing strategy, or poor capital investment decisions. 

• Product factors like declining quality, higher manufacturing costs, or lack of innovative features to fulfill new market needs. 

• Workforce factors like labor shortages, skills gaps, low employee productivity, or ongoing management issues. 

To discover all the root causes, analyze your company’s fabric — the combination of people, processes, and technologies powering your business. For that, OD professionals may use the following methods:  

• McKinsey 7S framework analyzes corporate effectiveness through seven key elements: strategy, structure, systems, skills, staff, style, and shared values. 

• The Burke-Litwin model maps the cause-and-effect relationships between various organizational and external market factors to guide new strategies. 

• Nadler-Tushman’s congruence model evaluates how well the company’s components (tasks, people, structure, and culture) align to achieve optimal performance.

Gather data and feedback

Data holds the answers to your problem. Use employee surveys and questionnaires to collect evidence from your workforce, stakeholders, or customers. Pair these with interviews and focus groups for qualitative insights.

Similarly, use niche methods for specific problems. If you struggle with talent planning, consider a skills mapping session and talent gap analysis. If organizational efficiency is your biggest hurdle, a productivity audit or Six Sigma process mapping can help.

Other effective data-gathering methods include:

• Observations of workplace dynamics, workflows, and customer interactions to uncover process or behavioral issues. 

• Employee performance reviews to gain clarity into workforce productivity, engagement, absenteeism, and turnover levels. 

• Benchmarking — data-driven comparison of standard industry KPIs against industry averages. 

• Policy and document reviews to deliver insights into standard operating procedures and identify bottlenecks and possible redundancies. 

• External feedback from clients, vendors, or other external stakeholders to gain their perspective on potential mishaps. 

Develop a strategic plan

A good organizational development plan includes a step-by-step solution for the diagnosed issue(s). If your goal is to improve workforce planning to reduce skills gaps, optimize hiring costs, and improve succession planning, the sub-steps may include:

• Conduct a 9 Box Grid analysis to determine employee performance and potential

• Create individualized employee development plans for under-skilled employees

• Launch a professional development program for mid-management for better career progression 

• Optimize recruitment and selection process with a focus on employer brand building and cost-effective talent acquisition strategies

• Adopt skills-based hiring principles to improve the quality of new hires, eliminate skills mismatches, and increase employee retention 

Each step should include a list of sub-tasks and key milestones. When possible, add specific progress measures, like tracking the percentage of workers who received and completed new training.

Obviously, bigger changes require more drastic measures. When Ynon Kreiz joined Mattel in 2018, the toy company had witnessed several years of declining sales. Kreiz decided to try something new and transition the company from being a toy manufacturer to becoming an IP company managing franchises. 

Kreiz brought in Greta Gerwig to help Mattel’s brand reconnect with fans and gave her full creative autonomy. What came to be is an iconic Barbie movie, which brought the company a record-setting $155mn box office, a 9.3% increase in doll sales, and extra profits from new brand merch like “Kenough” swag. 

But that’s just the pinnacle of Mattel’s transformation. Under the hood, the company has also been transforming its supply chain strategy for greater effectiveness and lower cost. The company changed its production planning algorithms, carving out an extra 30% in productivity and resizing its capacity. Mattel also removed some 40% of poor-performing toys to further optimize work schedules and improve productivity. 

Throughout the transformations, the company kept an open line of communication with its people, explaining the scope and impacts of the changes. “When the company cares about its people, the people will care about the company. It’s simple”, shared Roberto Isaias, Mattel CSCO. “You must ensure you’re being fair, checking decisions thoroughly, and engaging your team in the best possible way.”

Implement the plan

OD initiatives often face resistance because they challenge the status quo. People prefer routines and dislike forced change, especially when it has become constant.

In 2022, the average employee experienced 10 planned enterprise changes — such as a restructuring to achieve efficiencies, a culture transformation to unlock new ways of working, or the replacement of a legacy tech system — up from two in 2016.

Gartner

When pushed too hard, employees’ reactions to change can range from subtle annoyance to downright sabotage. In response to RTO mandates, about half of Amazon employees are looking for a new job. Similarly, a bunch of key OpenAI employees (including co-founder John Schulman) left the company in 2024 because they felt it was moving in the wrong direction. 

To preserve employee satisfaction and engagement through the transformations, leaders need to:

• Clearly communicate the foundational information about the change: What is happening? Why? What better future is ahead? What support is everyone getting? By candidly discussing the issues, you can reduce the risk and misunderstanding.

• Clarify the key priorities: Change often causes confusion and chaos. Aim to reduce both with structured information and clear tasks, indicating the main milestones at every stage. Give people a new ‘scheme’ they can progressively settle in to thwart their worries about too many shifts happening around them.   

• Give your people a say: During transformations, employees may feel at the mercy of the leadership. Get their buy-in by giving them a degree of control. For example, allow teams to choose the timing for the transition to the new software or the ability to suggest certain changes to the new process. Doing so reduces the sense of fear and discomfort, leading to higher engagement. 

• Provide consistent support: Help workers cope with change by listening to their concerns and acknowledging their worries. Rather than labeling hesitation as resistance, understand that they’re going through a mindset shift. Provide mentoring, training, and other resources to help your people feel heard and supported. 

Assess the outcome of interventions

After implementing every action step, take the time to assess the impacts. Use different groups of metrics to track OD success. For example:

	Workforce	Organizational	Business Goals
Metrics	• Employee satisfaction rates  • Employee engagement levels • Productivity growth  • Skills gap reduction • Competency scores	• Increased output and/or performance • Percentage of automated processes  • Change adoption and resistance levels  • Improvements in resource allocation and budgeting	• Customer satisfaction scores • Profit margin growth  • Sales volume increases  • Production volume increases  • Service delivery speeds

Your goal is to understand how different measures have impacted your bigger goals. Some OD initiatives can be quantified through financial impacts (e.g., cost savings in production). Others can be measured through “softer” measures like higher succession pipeline strength or lower employee turnover. 

By knowing which interventions generated desired results, you can effectively scale these new changes across the organization to shape up your entire business.  

Examples of common OD interventions

You have no shortage of effective measures for improving different aspects of your organization. Depending on what you want to fix, you can try:

Human process interventions 

• Team building workshops to improve communication, collaboration, and interpersonal dynamics across different units. 

• Individual personal improvement plans that provide timeline-based goals for addressing recurring performance issues and professional shortcomings.

• Communication training to coach staff in cultural sensitivity, negotiation, conflict resolution, feedback-giving, and other areas of internal and external comms. 

Human resource management interventions

• Employee development and certification programs to train employees in new skills and acquire extra competencies. 

• Succession planning frameworks to establish transparent progression criteria,  draw clear career paths, and promote better internal mobility. 

• Incentive programs to improve employee retention and engagement with new performance bonuses, profit-sharing schemes, or stock options. 

Organizational interventions

• Role redesign to broaden or narrow the scope of responsibilities to ensure better capacity planning and workforce productivity. 

• Process reengineering to remove repetition, overlaps, and duplication in workflows for greater efficiencies. 

• Cultural changes to evolve corporate values, behavioral norms, and interpersonal practices for a healthier work environment. 

Technology-led interventions 

• Data analytics adoption for new use cases and functions to enable faster problem-solving and data-guided decisions. 

• Virtual collaboration solutions to better support hybrid and remote work, streamline knowledge exchange, and address information asymmetry. 

• Robotic process automation for streamlining repetitive, manual tasks, improving accuracy rates, and execution speed. 

The role of human resources in change management

HR teams support the workforce during the transition by providing knowledge, tools, and resources for coping with change. Additionally, they convey key concerns to the leadership, minimizing disruptions and cultural resistance.

In other words, HR teams act as conduits, transferring directives and feedback between employees and leadership while adding their unique perspectives. 

HR involvement in change management often includes:

• Initial assessments of employee readiness for change via surveys and focus groups 
• Development and distribution of communication plans to concerned employees 
• Resource coordination and alignment to support change management 
• Strategic support with creating new training, development, and re-skilling programs
• Direct involvement in implementing or optimizing business processes 
• Monitoring of legal and regulatory compliance throughout the process 

We invest a lot in people managers as frontline change agents. We know good managers make change feel personal and manageable for each employee, so we prioritize providing them with the information and resources they need to navigate their people through change that has a huge impact.

Teuila Hanson, Chief People Officer at LinkedIn

Build better businesses with Toggl 

Toggl helps (un)official OD consultants make better sense of the company’s dynamics. 

With Toggl Track, you can: 

• Combine time and task insights into one detailed pane of productivity analytics.
• Learn where your teams lose hours to process inefficiencies, redundancies, and red tape 
• Improve resource allocation and business profitability with accurate task, project, and billing estimates

In turn, Toggl Hire supports HR teams, who can: 

• Use better tools for talent planning
• Attract candidates with proven competencies
• Detect skills mismatches and gaps to plan ahead
• Grow talent pools 

Get reliable data to diagnose your business problems and administer the right OD interventions. Book a free Toggl Hire demo to talk to our experienced hiring team and see our tools in action.

Ever feel like you’re going 100 miles per hour, but the to-do list keeps growing, and there’s no time left for a breather or quality family moments? You’re not the first to be overwhelmed (and certainly not the last), but with better time management, you can find that elusive work-life balance.

And, no. We’re not trying to get you to track your time just to see where your minutes go. The goal should be less about trying to cram more into your day and more about understanding where your time goes so that you can make intentional choices as needed. 

Categorizing your time entries gives you a bird’s-eye view of your life. From up there, everything looks a lot clearer. You can see where you’re burning too much fuel and where you need to kick it into high gear. So, let’s look at 13 time tracking categories that’ll help you shift your life into smooth, comfortable cruise control.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Categorizing your time entries can help you spot trends, optimize your workflow, and reduce stress, all while achieving a better work-life balance.
• Work-related categories like billable vs. non-billable tasks, meetings, project work, administrative duties, and deep work can streamline your professional life.
• On the flip side, life-related categories like family time, exercise and health, leisure and hobbies, household chores, and personal development keep your personal life in check.
• Use software (like Toggl Track) to get accurate, real-time data and make informed decisions that enhance your productivity.

What’s the point of categorizing your time entries?

Well, assuming you’re tracking your time already to even have time entries to categorize, sorting your activities into distinct categories allows you to start to see patterns emerge. For example, you might see where you’re spending too much time, where you could be more efficient, and where you might be neglecting important aspects of your life. 

Taking a structured approach like this can boost your productivity by allowing you to zero in on those high-priority tasks while minimizing time-wasters. This improves your focus and reduces stress. It can also help you balance your work and personal life better. Say goodbye to constant catch-up and hello to feeling well-rested! 

Work-related time tracking categories

Work-related categories enable you and your employees to track time and compartmentalize your professional tasks, making it easier to track where your time goes when you’re on the clock. When you can track and visualize how your hours are allocated, you can identify improvement areas. By recognizing when you’re spending hours in meetings that could have easily been emails, you can reclaim that time and restructure your schedule to enhance your professional productivity.

Billable vs. non-billable

Let’s get a few definitions straight. Billable work refers to tasks you can directly charge clients for, such as project consultations, design work, or coding sessions. Non-billable work, on the other hand, includes activities like internal meetings, training, and administrative tasks that don’t generate direct revenue.

Employee time tracking of billable and non-billable work is important for accurate client billing (especially hourly rates). It can help you charge clients correctly while optimizing your team’s time or resources. Understanding this distinction gives you clear insights into which activities drive profitability and which may need streamlining. Maybe non-billable tasks take up most of your day, signaling you need to rework these processes. 

Meetings

Meetings might be billable or non-billable, depending on their purpose (for example, is this a strategy session with your client that can be invoiced or an internal training meeting?). By accurately logging and categorizing these meetings, you can guarantee your clients are billed fairly and your non-billable time is managed efficiently. 

For example, if you notice your weekly team stand-ups are always running over, you can make adjustments, like sticking to the agenda or limiting the duration. Tracking this data can also reveal whether certain meetings are necessary at all. If a particular meeting could be replaced with a quick email or chat, you can make those changes to free up more time for high-impact tasks.

This means better time management, clearer communication, and a more focused approach to meeting your business goals!

Project work

You should log the hours spent on your project’s tasks to get a clear picture of where your team’s time is being invested and whether it aligns with your specific project goals. 

Setting realistic time goals for each task is key. Start by breaking down larger projects into manageable phases and creating a time tracking category for each phase. This helps monitor progress, and you can also rest easy knowing that no part of the project is overlooked. 

If you’re an agency working on a marketing campaign, you might have sub-categories that look like “Research,” “Content Creation,” “Design,” or “Review.” By tracking time with ultra-specific categories, you can identify bottlenecks and address them proactively. 

Administrative tasks

If you don’t track administrative tasks, you might wonder where your workday went. Admin work can easily pile up and take away time from high-impact tasks. Log all the time spent on busy work like scheduling, paperwork, or emailing to identify any inefficiencies in your workflow. 

Emails taking up half your day? Try using email filters or setting up automated responses. And don’t be afraid to invest in a project management tool or two (we promise it’s not cheating) to alleviate some of this admin work.

Deep work

Deep work refers to periods of intense, undistracted focus on cognitively demanding tasks — essential for producing the high-quality results your work demands. Tracking these sessions helps you understand how much time you truly dedicate to deep work. It also identifies patterns that enhance (or hinder) your concentration.

Minimize distractions by turning off your notifications, finding a quiet space where you can concentrate, and letting ‌colleagues know this is your “do-not-disturb” time. Dedicate around 90-minute intervals to these tasks, and give yourself some much-needed downtime when you finish.

Client communication

If you want to improve your service delivery and client satisfaction, you should definitely track the time spent on client interactions. This is especially important for professionals like freelancers, lawyers, or agency workers who often juggle multiple clients and projects. 

Logging these interactions gives you a solid understanding of how much time is devoted to billable versus non-billable tasks, improving the accuracy of your invoicing. And this helps you optimize your schedule, making sure you’re maximizing productivity and profitability.

Learning, training, and development

Spending work hours on training and learning is a great way to grow professionally and enhance your skills. But it’s still time that needs to be tracked, whether you’re taking courses, attending webinars, or engaging with other educational resources. 

By logging these hours, you can picture how much time you’re investing in your development, which is essential for staying competitive in your field. It gives you measurable proof of your commitment to self-improvement and can even boost your motivation by making your progress visible and tangible.

Life-related time tracking categories

While it might seem unusual to track time for personal activities, doing so can be a game-changer. If you spend some time categorizing your time into areas like family, leisure, or chores, you get a clearer picture of how well you’re actually balancing your life. 

This info can prevent burnout and adjust your routine so you’re not neglecting areas that bring you joy and keep you healthy. If you notice you’re spending too much time on work and not enough on hobbies, it’s time to carve out more time for self-care.

Not sure how to do that? Here’s an example from one Reddit user who uses Toggl Track to visualize the time they’re spending on categories like health, learning, relaxation, and social.

Family time

Relationships are important, and tracking the time you spend with family can be incredibly rewarding. Let’s face it — our lives are hectic, and it’s easy to let work and other commitments overshadow the moments that really matter. Set aside specific time slots reserved just for family activities like dinner or walks in the park to make sure those relationships are a priority. 

Exercise and health

Whether it’s meal prep, meditation, or a workout, set aside dedicated time for these activities in your life. By keeping a log, you can stay motivated by seeing your progress. A healthy mind and body make you feel more energized and resilient to tackle all the other important areas of your life.

Leisure and hobbies

Tracking your leisure activities and hobbies is just as important as tracking your work and responsibilities. These moments of relaxation and personal interest are crucial for maintaining a balanced lifestyle. Set aside specific time for hobbies like reading, painting, or playing music to enhance your creativity and reduce the risk of burnout. Here’s where you can also allocate a set amount of time for some social media scrolling!

Household chores

Chores can pile up, but if you track the time spent on them, you can better manage these domestic duties. Keeping a log shows you how much time each task takes, which helps when you’re planning and prioritizing, especially between family members.

Personal development

Just like you might track work-related learning and training, you should also track personal growth activities. This might be reading, learning new skills, or attending workshops. These activities enrich your life and open doors to new opportunities. So, make a commitment to yourself and start tracking your personal development to stay on track and achieve your goals.

Best practices for creating and using time tracking categories

Stick with whatever works best for you when it comes to creating and using tracking categories. But if you’re having trouble getting started, here are our top time tracking best practices:

• Keep it simple: Don’t confuse yourself (or others) with complicated category names — use straightforward language to ensure everyone understands what each category is for. 
• Be consistent: You have to track your time consistently if you want your insights to mean anything valuable, so make sure all your team members use the same categories.
• Regularly review and adjust: Check in regularly to ensure your categories are still relevant as your business evolves or your personal life changes — it’s okay to add, remove, or modify!
• Limit the number of categories: Too many categories can be overwhelming (and confusing), so stick to a manageable number that covers all the necessary areas without being overly complex.
• Integrate with other tools: Sync your time tracking categories with time blocking or time tracking apps to make sure your entries are accurate.
• Align with goals: Create categories that reflect your business operations or personal ambitions—like “admin tasks” or “exercise.”

Tips for maximizing the effectiveness of time tracking data

Small activities add up and can go unnoticed if you don’t track them. Be sure to track every activity relevant to your goals and objectives and categorize them properly. This way, when you go to analyze your data, you’ll be able to identify trends or patterns accurately.

Which tasks consume the most time? Which clients are most profitable? You can answer these questions by looking at your time tracking data to improve your decision-making and efficiency. These insights will identify the high-value tasks to prioritize, as well as the low-value ones you may want to automate or delegate.

Do you need time tracking software for this?

Time tracking software may not be a “need” when it comes to organizing time tracking categories, but it can make organizing your time much easier. Think of it like this: You need a basic watch to tell time, but you want a smartwatch to track your steps, heart rate, or calories burned. 

Manual time categorization can result in human error and just takes a whole lot more time. A time tracker like Toggl Track is your smartwatch. It delivers accurate, real-time data paired with advanced metrics and reporting capabilities. The result? More informed decision-making and more time spent being productive.

Toggl Track offers multiple ways to organize time tracking categories, including by Client and Project. Within a project, you can add time entries for tasks (think of these as sub-projects).

Another option is to use tags, which are great for categorizing time in both your work and personal life. Start by creating time entries for the activities you want to track. Each entry should include details such as the start time, duration, and, optionally, a stop time and description. While creating or editing a time entry, add one or more tags to categorize and locate specific time entries within your workspace. (These tags are your time tracking categories.) 

Remember to apply consistent tags across similar activities to simplify grouping and analysis later. You can also use these tags in reports to filter and group time entries, allowing you to analyze time spent on different activities based on the tags applied. 

Start creating time tracking categories in Toggl Track

Whether you’re tracking working time or personal time, Toggl Track makes it easy to visualize your work-life balance. With a user-friendly interface, you can easily set up tags to group and analyze your activities. Did someone say efficient time management?

Try Toggl Track for free and find out exactly what we mean!

How good is your memory? Good enough to remember every hour, half-hour, or five-minute chunk you spent working for a particular client in the past month? Nope, us neither. But luckily, billable hours trackers exist to accurately log every second you spend on client work.

The right tool will help you invoice accurately, manage your time better, increase profitability, and improve trust with clients. You’ll never have to worry about overbilling or underbilling again.

But which is the best billable hours tracker software in the market? This guide breaks down the key features of nine popular tools, including their pricing, integrations, and pros and cons.

What is the best billable hours tracker?

Here’s a list of our top tools that teams and individuals can use to track billable hours.

• Toggl Track: Best for companies of any size or type that need a simple yet powerful solution for tracking billable time, billing clients accurately, and generating insightful time reports.
• Timely: Best for teams looking for a non-invasive time tracking software that reduces admin tasks and accurately records billable time.
• ClickTime: Best for teams requiring project time tracking software to monitor billable time spent on projects and understanding productivity and performance. 
• Harvest: Best for teams and freelancers who need powerful billable time tracking software to bill clients accurately, streamline invoicing, and get paid faster.
• TimeCamp: Best for teams who want an automatic billable time tracker that monitors employee activity with surveillance features. 
• Hubstaff: Best for remote teams who want to monitor employee work activity and improve time management and productivity.
• MyHours: Best for teams looking for simple project timekeeping and billing software.
• Everhour: Best for teams who seek an all-in-one time management and shift scheduling tool to track billable hours, profitability, and productivity. 
• actiTIME: Best for teams needing a simple invoicing and time tracking tool.

1. Toggl Track

Price: The free plan is available for up to five users. Premium pricing starts at $9/month with a 30-day free trial.

Toggl Track is an easy-to-use, powerful time tracking, reporting, and billing software that helps companies of any size or type bill clients accurately and get real-time insights on billable and non-billable work. 

Toggl Track comes with a generous free plan for startups and small teams that includes unlimited time tracking via web app, mobile app, and desktop apps and 100+ custom-built integrations with popular tools, enabling a seamless dataflow of information. At the other end of the scale, Toggl Track also supports enterprise companies in meeting strategic goals.

What we like

Toggl Track accurately captures billable and non-billable hours using web, mobile, desktop, and browser extensions. Toggl Track generates invoices from tracked time and detailed billable time reports that you can easily share with clients for transparency. You can also fully customize your reports.

Yugo M., a small business founder, shares his positive experience of Toggl Track:

“Switching to Toggl Track has been one of the best decisions for our team. From the moment we started using it, the platform’s intuitive and user-friendly interface stood out, making it incredibly easy to track time and manage projects. The detailed, customizable reports provide invaluable insights into our productivity and project progress, helping us identify areas for improvement and celebrate our successes.”

For enterprise customers, Toggl Track is a trusty sidekick that supports companies with a range of enterprise-grade customizations. For example, you can create bulk actions to reduce admin work and speed up your onboarding and internal operations. Similarly, custom reports deliver access to data that will protect your business and take it to the next level.

Toggl Track has a strict anti-surveillance policy. We strongly believe that companies are way too comfortable trying to control their employees, and we’re passionate about presenting an alternative that promises to skyrocket productivity without any weird spying tactics.

What’s missing

Creepy screen recordings, webcams, keystroke logging, or GPS trackers are not part of Toggl Track and never will be. If employee surveillance is part of your plans, you’ll need a different tool.

Top features

• Billable and non-billable time tracking: Easily track paid and non-paid hours online and offline on multiple platforms for accurate invoicing and billing. 
• Billing rates: Set billable rates for the entire organization or at project, client, team member, or task level to create accurate invoices and streamline payroll. You can also edit and manage historical billable rates in Toggl Track. 
• Invoice management: Create PDF invoices based on your tracked time and customize them with your company logo and custom fields. 
• Multi-platform tracking: Track time via the mobile (iOS and Android) and desktop app, on the web, or from other tools you use to ensure you record every billable activity.
• Detailed reports: Generate reports on project profitability, team capacity and workloads, and get forecasting profitability insights. 
• Reliability and security: We offer a 99.99% guarantee of uptime and GDPR compliance, ensuring your data is available and protected.
• Exceptional customer support: Toggl’s team are available 24/7 with a typical response time of 4 hours. Larger companies work with a dedicated customer success manager.
• Custom dashboards: Forget cookie cutters. Toggl Track provides custom charts so you can track the data that makes the most sense to your business.

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best For
Free	$0	Solo users who need a time tracker with an intuitive interface
Starter	$9 per user per month	Teams with basic time tracking needs
Premium	$18 per user per month	Teams who need online and offline functionality for tracking time and profitability
Enterprise	Custom pricing	Enterprise teams

2. Timely

Price: Starts at $9/month.

Timely is an AI-powered billable hour tracker that tracks billable hourly rates automatically and improves time management by eliminating manual time tracking. 

What we like

With AI-based time tracking, teams no longer spend their time tracking time, nor do they forget to. Instead, Timely simply tracks time automatically in the background, freeing teams up to spend time on value-adding work.

Crucially, though, Timely is a noninvasive tool that keeps all tracked activity private. Like Toggl, Timely also takes user privacy seriously, giving users the power to share or retain their tracked “Memories” without a hint of surveillance or spyware.

What’s missing

Several users also report problems with task or project categorization. One computer software user explains, “For some websites or programs, it chucks your usage into one big block. My specific gripe is with Salesforce. I am usually working multiple cases or accounts, and it struggles to chop them up into their own block.”

Similarly, Simon, a small business CEO, reports, “Timely does have access to a lot of data that it can use to create a timesheet, but it doesn’t really understand what you do. The concept fools you into believing that you have more accuracy and consistency; that you get to leave the “driving” to Timely, and all you need to do is give it some guidelines from time to time.”

Simo adds, “We saw, in a systematic (larger) way, that our timesheets became, in fact, less accurate. Some people in our organization started slacking on writing the timesheets because they felt they had all the historical data in Timely and could do it whenever, even months later. What we observed is that when using Timely, you end up leaving it up to an AI model that doesn’t really know what you did to create your timesheets. At some level, it becomes random.”

Top features

• Automatic billable time tracking: Timely tracks every billable minute automatically so you can focus on more profitable tasks.
• AI timesheets: Timely uses AI to draft accurate timesheets, remove manual errors, and bill clients correctly. 
• Team member billable rates: Set individual rates for each team member and easily update them.
• Reports dashboard: Access your billable time reports or create custom reports in a single view. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Starter	$9 per user per month	Freelancers and small teams
Premium	$16 per user per month	Midsize teams
Unlimited	$22 per user per month	Midsize and large teams
Unlimited+	Contact for more pricing	Large teams

Visit the pricing page for more information.

3. ClickTime

Price: Starts at $13/month.

ClickTime is a project time tracking software that tracks billable and non-billable time, overtime, productivity, and utilization. It also has resource management and project planning features, and it tracks expenses and time off. 

What we like

ClickTime comes with 70+ prebuilt reports on billable time, budgets, resource capacity, expenses, overtime, and employee performance. It’s an incredibly intuitive software to snap into your workflows; as Camillo A., a program officer, describes, “As an employee and a manager, the system is very intuitive and easy to manage. I like how there are separate tabs for reviewing employee entries and managing your personal time. I like the actual functionality of how you add hours through a grid.”

What’s missing

ClickTime doesn’t have a free plan, although slight discounts are available for non-profit organizations. It also doesn’t come with invoice generation or project budget forecasting features. Some users also report problems with the platform being slow to use.

Top features

• Accurate time tracking: Although ClickTime doesn’t track time automatically, it lets you clock in and out on Android and iPhone apps. You can also add time entries manually. 
• Billable rates: Keep your invoices and payroll accurate by setting billable rates for team members, projects, or tasks. 
• Automated timesheets: ClickTime generates accurate timesheets based on time entries and lets you customize them. 
• Detailed reports: Get reports showing profitable projects and explore forecasting insights. Visualize your team’s projects and schedules with team capacity and workload reports. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Starter	$13 per user per month	Freelancers and small teams
Team	$17 per user per month	Midsize teams
Premier	$28 per user per month	Midsize and large teams
Enterprise	Contact for more pricing	Enterprise teams

Visit the pricing page for more information.

4. Harvest

Price: Harvest offers a free plan for basic time tracking.

Harvest is a billable hour tracker that teams and individuals can use to track time, create and send client invoices, and receive payments without leaving the app. 

What we like

Harvest’s end-to-end workflow streamlines the entire billing workflow. It tracks billable hours, generates invoices based on tracked time, and securely collects client payments through Stripe and PayPal integrations. 

Daniel C., a brand consultant, explains how Harvest’s simplicity is one of its strengths: “Harvest is simply a time tracker for projects. It’s simple and easy to use. It integrates where I need it to. It doesn’t try to be more than a time tracker. It just stays in its lane, does so with excellence, and doesn’t cause problems.”

What’s missing

Harvest doesn’t track time automatically and could benefit from more functionality in the tools’s reporting feature, as described by a small business user: “It would be nice if they offered more robust reports. The reports offered are basic.”

Top features

• Billable and non-billable time tracking: Accurately track paid hours to avoid losing money and record non-paid activities to understand profitability. 
• Billing rates: Set billable rates for tasks and team members to generate accurate invoices and simplify payroll. 
• Invoicing: Convert time and expenses into easy-to-share client invoices. 
• Online payments: Receive secure payments through Stripe and Paypal Standard. If you send recurring invoices, Harvest lets you set up recurring payments through Stripe.

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Free	$0	Freelancers who need to track their time for client billing
Pro	$11 per seat/month	Teams and startups who need to understand where their time goes and monitor profitability
Premium	$14 per seat/month	Teams with advanced reporting and administrative needs

Visit the pricing page for more information.

5. TimeCamp

Price: Starts at $2.99/month.

TimeCamp is a billable hour tracker with employee monitoring features that tracks billable time, attendance, employee activity, and project profitability.

What we like

TimeCamp exists to show people (solo users as well as enterprise companies) how productive they are. Along with tracking time, it delivers insights on efficiency so you can understand how every dollar of your resources is working for you.

Talking of money, TimeCamp is an affordable time tracking, attendance, and billing tool, starting at $2.99 per user per month. Be aware that the Starter plan doesn’t offer billable tracking features. 

What’s missing

The downside of this automated tracker is that it can feel invasive to employees. TimeCamp takes screenshots and tracks all the apps and websites employees visit during work hours. Unsurprisingly, one user calls out that the platform feels like “it’s micromanaging.”

Top features

• Keyword-based time tracking: TimeCamp tracks time automatically on desktop apps based on relevant keywords. 
• Historical billing rates: Available only in Premium and Ultimate plans, this feature lets you manage historical billable rates for more accurate billing and reporting. 
• Invoices and expenses: Keep track of project expenses and generate invoices based on timesheets to bill clients accurately. 
• Financial reporting: See billable and unbillable time, revenue, and costreports and track project profitability and client billability. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Starter	$2.99 per user per month	Teams with more complex time-tracking needs
Premium	$4.99 per user per month	Large teams that need advanced time-tracking features
Ultimate	$7.99 per user per month	Multiple teams
Enterprise	$11.99 per user per month	Enterprise teams

Visit the pricing page for more information.

6. Hubstaff

Price: Starts at $7/month.

Hubstaff is a time tracking and workforce management app that tracks and monitors activity for global teams that work remotely. It has workforce management, productivity analysis, and payroll features. 

What we like

Hubstaff makes it easy to track billable time and understand employee productivity trends. It generates time and activity reports with work hours tracked, payroll, apps, and URL activity.

Managing time off and tracking attendance is also easy with Hubstaff, which offers a GPS tracker that automatically clocks employees in and out of specific work locations. Business owner Manideepa P. describes, “This app also sends notifications to remind the user about break time, idle time, etc., so it’s super easy to use, and I would recommend it to others as well.”

What’s missing

You can’t generate project profitability or custom reports in Hubstaff, and timesheet approvals are only available in higher-priced plans. 

As employees come and go, it’s not necessarily easy to offboard a user and revoke access to their account without losing crucial time tracking details about a specific project. One small business user describes, “You can’t disable an ex-colleague’s account while retaining their data without paying for a license.”

Top features

• Billable & non-billable hours: Use the timer to track billable and non-billable hours or manually add time entries. 
• Billable rates: Set up account, project, and team member billing rates. Send accurate client invoices, create realistic estimates, and pay team members correctly for their work.  
• Time and activity reports: See your team’s tracked time, activity, and how much time they spend on each task. 
• Overtime tracker: Set billable hours limits in Hubstaff and get notifications when employees work overtime. 
• Productivity analytics: Hubstaff generates timesheets, screenshots, and activity metrics to help you understand and improve your team’s productivity. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Starter	$4.99 per user per month	Small businesses who need a basic time-tracking solution
Grow	$7.50 per user per month	Teams who need to monitor remote employee time
Team	$10 per user per month	Teams who need advanced time-tracking, team management, and time management features
Enterprise	Contact Hubstaff for prices, starting at $25 per user per month	Enterprise companies

Visit the pricing page for more information.

7. MyHours

Price: MyHours offers a free plan for up to five users.

MyHours is aimed at companies that want to automate their timesheet processes and gain insights into how they spend time and budgets. It’s a cinch for anyone who’s already familiar with using spreadsheets for time logs.

What we like

MyHours offers insights into billable project time with detailed reports that can easily be shared with clients for transparency, proof of work, and accurate invoicing. Timesheet reminders are automatic, and XLS exports are pre-scheduled for convenience.

Users report how easy it is to see the information they need. For example, Lauren R., a senior interior designer, says, “As a boutique interior design studio, we have a range of different-scale projects that we need to keep track of. What I like about MyHours is the ease of entering information, categorising tasks, and running reports so that we can have a clear view of how projects are tracking.”

What’s missing

MyHours doesn’t have custom reporting and timesheet approval features, and it’s mostly suitable for project teams. 

Additionally, the simplicity of its pricing approach can be offputting for some users. Daniel H., a small business complains there are only two plans available: free and Pro. “The paid version has some handy features I would like but it also has billing and invoicing which I dont require. I’d love to see an intermediate tier with more timesheet features but no billing / invoicing.”

Top features

• Automatic time tracking: MyHours’s timesheet chatbot uses natural language processing to automatically fill your timesheet. 
• Billable rates: Set billable rates for projects, tasks, and team members to accurately calculate billable costs for your invoices. 
• Weekly timesheets: MyHours can use the AI chatbot to create weekly timesheets or generate them automatically from your time tracked. 
• Project profitability and forecasting reports: See how profitable your projects are daily, weekly, and monthly. These reports also show the most and least profitable projects and clients. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Free	$0 per user	Solo users and teams who need access to billable rates and detailed reports
Pro	$8 per user per month	Freelancers and teams who need access to labor costs and invoicing features

Visit the pricing page for more information.

8. Everhour

Price: Starts at $10/month.

Everhour is an all-in-one timesheet, shift scheduling, and time management software that streamlines billable time tracking, budgeting, client invoicing, and payroll management. You can integrate Everhour with your existing project management tool or use it as a standalone tool. 

What we like

Everhour offers flexible billing solutions (non-billable, time and materials, or fixed fee) and lets you create client profiles and monitor budgets. You can set capital or recurring budgets, receive alerts for budget limits, track labor costs, and customize task rates. These features give you better financial oversight to improve profitability.

Many users report the platform’s ease of use. Small business owner Joel S. said, “Everhour integrates perfectly into Asana, where we manage all of our work, and Xero, where we bill all of our clients and pay our contractors. No more using outside time tracking tools, copying and pasting task titles into the outside tool, and wondering which time entries apply to which tasks.”

What’s missing

If you need to review past projects, Everhour lacks historical billable rates, which can make it difficult to grab the data you need. Additionally, the tracking may be temperamental depending on the task you’re completing.

For this reason, here’s why web designer Timothy B., prefers Toggl Track to Everhour. “With Everhour you need to stay on the page of the project you’re working on or make sure you remember to stop the timer if you’re doing something else. This can be problematic; sometimes you might be doing something like using a CRM that is updating plugins or something for the job, but it won’t track that time on that page. So you need to make sure your time is correct in the end. Toggl Track is another tool that seems to do the page swapping better while tracking the time.”

Top features

• Billable and non-billable tasks: Tracking paid and non-paid time accurately helps you bill clients correctly and analyze profitability. 
• Billing rates: Create project-level billing rates and streamline invoicing and payroll processes. 
• Timesheets: Everhour automatically creates timesheets based on time tracked and lets managers approve or reject them.  
• Reporting: Generate team capacity and workload reports to realistically schedule your team’s work. Create custom reports and dashboards with filters, columns, and specific time data you want to see.

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Free	$0	Solo users who need an intuitive and user-friendly time tracker
Team	$10 per user per month	Teams who need time and project tracking, task management, and project-scheduling features

Visit the pricing page for more information. 

9. actiTIME

Price: actiTime offers a free plan with limited functionality.

actiTime is a time tracking and billing software that helps teams track billable hours and create and manage timesheets and invoices. 

What we like

actiTime is a simple time billing solution that lets you set billable, overtime, and leave time rates to facilitate employee payroll and client billing. With actiTime’s time and financial reports that show billable time, project costs, and profitability, you can analyze how cost-efficient your business is. 

Here’s how Scott S., a small business president, describes why this reporting functionality has been a game-changer for his company: “It has incredible features, including task management, time monitoring, and data analysis. With it, I can manage my projects, crew, and clients without any trouble. I can easily keep track of my work and deadlines because of the reports section’s incredible detail.”

What’s missing

actiTime doesn’t have automatic time tracking, historical billable rates, or custom reporting features. It also offers a simple interface which may be comforting for those who don’t like the bells and whistles of more complex tools. However, others would prefer an update.

Jeanine M., a data analyst, remarks, “This tool works well and I don’t have problems using it at the moment, until now it offers multiple benefits that I haven’t seen in other applications. If one detail I would take into account is that you can consider improving the interface of this program.”

Top features

• Timesheets: You can create timesheets manually or let actiTime generate them automatically based on your tracked hours. Managers can approve and reject employees’ timesheet data in actiTime. 
• Billing rates: Set task-level billable rates in actiTime, and it calculates your earnings based on your time tracked. 
• Billing and cost analysis: Choose from billing summary, invoice export, cost of work, and profit/loss reports to understand business profitability. 
• Automated invoicing: actiTime takes your billable hours data and turns it into ready-to-share invoices. 

Pricing

Plan	Cost	Best for
Free	$0 per user (1-3 users)	Solo users who need limited functionality
Premium	$6 per user (1-40 users)	Small teams who need time tracking and invoicing features
Premium	$5 per user (41-200 users)	Larger teams who need time tracking and invoicing
Custom	Fixed cost pricing	Accurate pricing is available from the vendor for teams of 200+ users

Visit the pricing page for more information. 

Best tool for tracking billable hours: Quick comparison

Whew. We just threw a lot at you. If you just need a quick TL;DR, here’s an overview of the current best tools for tracking billable hours.

Tool	G2	Best for	Cheapest Paid Plan
Toggl Track	4.6	Best billable time tracking software	From $9/user/month
Timely	4.8	Best AI-based automatic time tracking	From $9/user/month
ClickTime	4.6	Best project time tracking software	From $13/user/month
Harvest	4.3	Best billable time tracking software with payments	From $11/user/month
TimeCamp	4.7	Most affordable time billing software	From $2.99/user/month
Hubstaff	4.5	Best for employee monitoring and surveillance software	From $7/user/month
MyHours	4.6	Simple project time reporting software	From $8/user/month
Everhour	4.7	Best billable timesheet tracking software	From $10/user/month
actiTIME	4.5	Best for simple time tracking and invoicing	From $6/user/month

How do I choose the best billable hours software?

It really comes down to what you and your team need. Different teams in different industries need unique features, and sometimes. the smallest feature can make or break a decision to choose one tool over another.

To choose the best billable hours software, focus on these aspects:

• Features: What other features do you need besides billable time tracking? Does the tool have these features?
• Ease of use: Is the tool user-friendly to ensure your team will enjoy using it?
• Accurate time tracking: Can it accurately track both billable and non-billable hours for invoicing?
• Detailed reporting features: Does the tool deliver clear insights on billable and non-billable work? Can you easily share detailed billing reports with clients for transparency?
• Data security: How secure is your client data with this tool?
• Cost: Is the tool budget-friendly? If you’re on a limited budget, a tool with a generous free plan can be a good option. 

Try a billable hours tracker for free

If you’re not sure which tool to choose yet, we recommend simply trying some of the tools on this list before committing to a purchase. It’s a big decision, especially if you manage a larger team, and the last thing you want to do is implement a clunky system without everything you really need.

You can try Toggl Track for free, for example, and see how it seamlessly tracks billable time, generates reports on billable and non-billable hours, and improves your productivity and profitability.  

Or, schedule a free demo of Toggl Track to get a personalized walkthrough of exactly how it can fit into your existing workflows to help you track billable times to increase revenue.

No matter how well you plan your agile software development projects, it can feel like every release goes down to the wire. Perfecting your time management skills will overcome this panic, and time tracking tools are a great way to get started.

If you’re one of the whopping 23% of software teams using Jira, you may not know the platform recently added time tracking to its list of features. Sounds like a good addition, doesn’t it? But, as time tracking experts, we’d urge you to extend Jira’s functionality by pairing it with a dedicated time tracking app instead.

This article explores how to track time in Jira and the pros and cons of its native tracking feature. As a comparison, we’ll also look at the best Jira time-tracking plugins to take your time tracking to the next level!

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• Jira is one of the best and most used project management tools in the world and now includes manual time tracking for Issues, Epics, Tasks, and Sub-Tasks.
• But, despite Jira’s brilliance, it’s a fairly limited time tracking tool. Time entries are incredibly manual, leading to inaccuracy, inefficiency, and user frustration.
• To help, we recommend integrating Jira with one of these tracking tools:
  • Toggl Track: Best for beautiful UI that integrates an easy-to-use start/stop timer directly into Jira’s interface.
  • Memtime: Automatic desktop tracking that mimics your Jira structure and provides a two-way sync.
  • Everhour: Project-based time tracking, great for billable hours, expense management, and time-based reporting.
  • Timely: AI-backed time tracking that pulls Jira activity into its Memory timeline, but doesn’t sync back into Jira itself.

How to track time in Jira

Getting started with time tracking in Jira is pretty straightforward, requiring little manual configuration, permission changes, or custom fields. Get started with the following steps:

1. Turn on the correct time tracking settings

Time tracking is turned on by default in Jira Cloud, but you might need to enable the time tracking fields for each issue type within your Jira projects.

To do this, simply:

1. Go to your current project

2. From the left-hand menu, select “Project settings” and then “Issue types.”

3. Depending on your team workflows, you may use any combination of issue types, such as Epics, Tasks, Sub-Tasks, or Bugs. For each one, you want to track, click into it and add the ‘Time Tracking’ field to your configuration.

4. Repeat these steps for all your projects to enable team members to track their time across the board.

2. Estimate each issue to create a time tracking baseline

Before you begin to log time, you need to add time estimates to each piece of work. This gives you a baseline to track against and measures the accuracy of your development estimates.

This is super easy to do:

1. Create your next issue type, e.g. Epic, Task, Sub-Task, etc.
2. As you fill out the key information, use the ‘Original Estimate’ field to capture how long you believe that item will take. The field uses a weeks/days/hours/months format, so make the estimate as large or small as you need.
3. Once completed, the ‘Time Tracking’ field will now have a baseline to work against, giving you everything you need to start tracking your time.

3. Record work time as your project progresses

As the team’s work progresses, you can record your time directly in the Jira issue, capturing the actual time spent on each task versus the estimate. By default, this is a manual process where developers record their time as they work on issues.

Here’s how it works:

1. From the specific Jira Issue, find the Time Tracking field
2. Once selected, a pop-up will appear showing the original estimate alongside two boxes to input ‘Time Spent’ and Time Remaining.’
3. In the Time Spent box, input the amount of time you’ve worked on the Issue so far. Again, this field works on a weeks/days/hours/months format. At this point, additional boxes for Date Started and a Work Description will also appear so that you can record more information.
4. If applicable, you can also update the Time Remaining field with an updated estimate of how long you believe is left on the task. This keeps an updated view of the effort required. However, this doesn’t update the Original Estimate field, maintaining the baseline for you to report against.
5. Once your time is logged, you can see all the details under the Work Log section of the Issue whenever you need.

4. Oversee capacity planning and resource management with Jira project reports

As development teams track their time, managers need to report on work hours to manage team capacity, velocity, and resource demand. You can do this directly from the Jira dashboard, creating a simple timesheet report in just three clicks.

Do the following to gain these insights:

1. From your project, select Reports.
2. On the project sidebar, scroll down to ‘Forecast & Management’ and select the ‘Time Tracking Report’.
3. Set the parameters and select ‘Next’ to get a view of your time tracking performance. Here, you’ll see how your time spent and time remaining compare to your original estimate, with a view of whether you’re on track or forecasting an overrun.

What users love about Jira’s native time tracking features

As one of the world’s most popular project management tools, many users love Jira’s ability to keep all their information in one place. When it comes to time tracking functionalities, here’s what Jira users love:

• Integrated time tracking. Users love that Jira helps them manage their time with the ability to compare actual work vs. estimates.
• Customization. While Jira has many pre-built templates, it’s a very customizable solution, with the ability to re-arrange Jira fields, report on different time metrics, and keep track of hours in real-time.
• Ease of use. Once you’re on board with Jira software, it’s super easy to use with a wide range of issue features covering everything from Tasks, Sub-Tasks, Bug, and Epics.
• Plugins. Popular plugins, such as Tempo, provide add-ons for timesheets and resource planning, invoicing, and billable hours rates.

Are Jira time tracking reports and timesheets accurate? Common Jira issues that users face

Like many things in life, Jira’s time tracking isn’t perfect. While it has the ability for basic time tracking, it falls short in several areas, including:

• Collection method. Both Jira’s native tracking and add-ons like Tempo require teams to manually input their time records. This creates inaccuracy, leaving your time tracking open to errors and discrepancies.
• Basic reporting. While Jira has some good out-of-the-box reports, they aren’t powerful and sometimes fail to provide the depth of information needed for expert time management.
• Little automation. Once time logs are captured, there’s little automation between time records, invoicing, and billing, making the process of getting paid a little clunky in Jira.

To overcome these issues, many Jira users pair the tool with expert time tracking plugins, such as Toggl Track, to seamlessly capture time records before automatically syncing them with Jira issues. This means developers don’t have to manually save down their time cards while also improving accuracy and efficiency.

Sounds good, right? Read on to hear more about how these expert time tracking plugins work!

Best Jira plugins for accurate time tracking

While Jira and Confluence are great for project management, they weren’t built for time tracking and lack the key features you need to take your time management to the next level.

Luckily, Jira’s great connectivity means you can sync it with a range of other apps via plugins. This helps you automate and improve your time tracking without giving up the project management software you love.

We’ve tested all four of these time tracking tools, with their Jira plugins all available (and highly rated) on the Atlassian Marketplace. Let’s dive into each in turn to decide which is best for you.

Toggl Track

Toggl Track combines automatic time tracking, detailed reporting, and a beautiful UI to make it a great all-rounder for time tracking. Its versatility across desktop, browser, and mobile makes it easy to track wherever you are, with handy integrations to other platforms, including Jira, Trello, and QuickBooks. It also automates billing and invoice creation for freelancers and client-facing development teams to help you and your team get paid.

🌟 Toggl Track’s standout features

• Multi-platform time tracking from desktop, phone, or the web, plus Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions to track time from any web app.
• Tracking reminders, alerts, and required fields reduces admin work and automate your end-to-end billing workflow.
• Detail reports and insights into your time management, enabling you to make data-driven business decisions.
• GDPR compliance with high-grade data security features such as admin rights and audit checking.

🔄 How Toggl Track integrates with JIRA

Toggl Track’s browser extension enables you to quickly start and stop timers from any web application, including Jira. Simply install the browser application, turn on the Jira integration in Toggl Track’s settings, and start tracking with timers directly inside a Jira Issue — it’s as simple as that!

💰 Toggl Track Pricing

Alongside a free plan for up to five users, Toggl Track offers three additional tiers:

• Starter: For $9 per user/mo, Starter is built for small teams to work at a fast pace without a lot of overhead
• Premium: For $18 per user/mo, Premium gives you powerful tools to keep growing teams aligned and agile
• Enterprise: If you need a tailored solution for your large or complex organization, Toggl Track also offers custom pricing for unlimited users.

Memtime

Memtime’s automatic, in-the-background time-tracking takes the admin away from time management. Once installed, the Memtime desktop app tracks your work, storing it by application, project, or client to help you bill for your time, report on your progress, and keep the team focused on the things that matter.

🌟 Memtime’s standout features

• Automatic time tracking for Windows, Mac, and Linux users that doesn’t require you to start/stop timers.
• Integrations with a range of other software tools, including Toggl Track and Jira.
• Generate custom timesheets and reports to analyze your productivity, logged hours, and team efficiency.
• Memtime takes a strong approach to privacy and anti-data sharing, with all data stored locally and not shared with others.

🔄 How Memtime integrates with JIRA

During your Memtime setup, select Jira Cloud from the range of integrations. Once configured, Memtime copies across your Jira project structure, making it easy to assign your time to the right tasks. Then, Memtime syncs it back to Jira, so you have everything you need in the right place.

💰 Memtime Pricing

After a free trial, Memtime costs:

• Basic: From $10 per user/mo, you get Memtime’s automatic time tracking and reporting.
• Connect: Add in integrations and project management sync for $15 per user/mo.
• Premium: For $20 per user/mo, you get priority support and SSO login.

Everhour

Everhour’s project management focus makes it a great pairing for Jira, with everything you need to accurately track project time, budget, expenses, and invoices. With several web and mobile tracking options, it’s easy to keep tabs on your team’s time regardless of when and where they work.

🌟 Everhour’s standout features

• Simple time tracking across browsers, mobile devices, and inside commonly used apps via the browser.
• Lots of great integrations, including Asana, ClickUp, monday.com, and, of course, Jira.
• Enable teams to quote accurately with detailed financial management features for expenses, budgeting, and invoicing.
• Monitor real-time project and team progress to manage capacity, resource planning, and workloads.

🔄 How Everhour integrates with JIRA

Once online with Everhour, simply install the Jira plugin from the Atlassian marketplace to get started. From there, you can start/stop timers or log hours manually directly from the Everhour panel in Jira. You can also mark projects as billable or non-billable and run detailed time tracking reports to keep your projects on plan and within budget.

💰 Pricing

Everhour has a simple, two-tiered pricing structure:

• Free: Up to five seats for basic time tracking, projects, and tasks
• Team: For $8.50 per user/mo, get additional integrations, budgeting, and expense management features (minimum five seats required)

Timely

Timely’s automatic approach to time tracking unlocks business insights without the admin overhead of manual timesheets. Timely tracks activities as ‘memories’ before converting them into billable rates, resource forecasts, and actionable insights. It also has a range of integrations and the ability to generate professional, client-ready invoices.

🌟 Timely’s standout features

• AI-backed tracking creates timesheets automatically without manual intervention.
• ‘Memories’ sync into timesheets, projects, and team-managed workspaces to create a complete time management picture.
• ISO27001 compliance and AWS data centers ensure Timely is fast and secure.
• Lots of native developer and project management integrations, including Asana, Jira, and GitHub.

🔄 How Timely integrates with JIRA

From the Timely admin dashboard, link your Jira account and then install the Timely plugin from the Atlassian marketplace. From there, Timely will track your work creating, updating, and deleting Issues and Projects, syncing the time spent back into your Memories timeline. Note: it doesn’t sync the time back to Jira, though!

💰 Pricing

After a free trial, Timely’s pricing model looks like this:

• Starter: From $9 per user/mo for time tracking, AI assistance, and in-app support.
• Premium: From $16 per user/mo for broader team management, budgeting, and costs.
• Unlimited: From $22 per user/mo for all the Premium features, with additional time types, currencies, and integrations.

Why it’s ultimately worth integrating a time tracking app with Jira

Jira is one of the world’s best and most used project management tools. But its power lies in its ability to organize software teams, not track time. If you’re looking to get a handle on your team’s time management, Jira only has manual time tracking features that lack accuracy, automatic, and reliability.

That’s why syncing Jira with a dedicated time tracking tool is your best bet, helping you to manage your team’s productivity, improve your billing, and effectively manage your project’s budget. Without a dedicated tool, you’ll be stuck with inaccuracy and guesswork on every project you run!

Toggl Track 🤝 Jira

In our opinion, if you want seamless Jira time tracking, integrating Toggl Track is the best way to go. Not only is Toggl Track a cost-effective, beautifully designed time tracking tool, but it seamlessly integrates into Jira with a quick and easy start/stop timer that keeps development teams on track.

If you like the sound of that, why not try Toggl Track for free and see for yourself how we make time tracking in Jira a walk in the park? No credit card required!

“Talent teams are living in the craziest hiring market of all time.” If these words from our wonderful Head of People got you nodding in agreement with a side of “don’t I know it,” you’re probably thinking about your game plan for 2025.

What it means to work in HR has changed drastically over the last two decades. Managing the increased scope of work, technological boom, and changing demographic needs can make running an HR team feel like juggling in Cirque du Soleil.

As we steamroll into 2025 (seriously, can time stop flying?), this evolution shows no signs of slowing down. It’s no longer enough to react to issues as they arise — HR leaders need to anticipate future needs and proactively create systems that empower the organization and its people to thrive.

So, how can you set your team members up for success in 2025? There are 11 HR functions to have on your radar.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• The scope of HR has evolved from back-office ops to a leading role in the strong heartbeat of a thriving company.
• Technology, globalization, remote work, and demographics are key drivers of this shift, which isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
• HR teams must leverage AI and other software to free time to spend on more strategic tasks. A big part of the game is anticipating needs and acting before they become bottlenecks.
• Company culture and employee engagement are key to retaining top talent.
• We’re in a hyper-competitive market, and reviewing and upgrading your compensation, training, and professional development packages will capture candidate attention.
• Tackling all 11 pillars might be unrealistic for some businesses. Prioritize and master the core HR functions your organization would benefit most from.

The evolving role of human resources

Traditionally, the HR department was more of a behind-the-scenes operation. It handled administrative tasks such as payroll, benefits administration, and compliance — the unglamorous but necessary stuff that kept the ship sailing.

In recent years, HR has burst out of the back office and blossomed into one of the core departments of any company, even gaining a place in the C-suite as a strategic partner that drives business growth. There are a few reasons for this shift in HR function:

• Technological advancements: The advent of HR software and AI has automated routine tasks, freeing up HR professionals’ time and energy to focus on more strategic initiatives. 
• Remote work: Increasing globalization and access to technology has expanded workforces across borders. With this comes a new set of opportunities and challenges, such as managing cultural differences and navigating complex labor laws.
• Changing demographics: Gen Z now makes up over a quarter of the workforce, and their expectations and values are different from any generation before them. Plus, the rise of the gig economy, paired with an aging workforce, requires HR to rethink traditional approaches to employment

Today, one of the main functions of HR is fostering organizational culture and driving employee engagement. In addition to the traditional “admin-y” HR responsibilities, leaders are also in charge of creating inclusive workplaces, supporting mental health care initiatives, and promoting diversity. Together, these initiatives all contribute to fostering a motivated and productive team.

But modern times bring modern challenges. Adapting to remote and hybrid work, maintaining company culture and productivity, caring for employee wellbeing, and ensuring equity and inclusion in the workplace require a flexible, forward-thinking, and innovative HR team that can meet evolving organizational needs.

11 key functions of human resources to focus on (and improve)

If you want to remain competitive in 2025 — attract top talent, retain top performers, and create a workplace where everyone feels valued and supported across the whole employee life cycle — read on. These HR functions are gonna be an (even more) vital part of your toolbox.

1. Human resource planning

In 2025, HR will go beyond a reactive recruitment process, moving instead to a proactive approach to building out your personnel pipeline. Workforce analytics and predictive modeling will forecast the organization’s needs before they become a bottleneck. 

It will be HR’s task to anticipate these needs and always be one step ahead of the game, keeping eyes and ears out for potential additions to the company. Staying ahead of these curves gives organizations an unfair advantage when it comes to talent management and succession planning. If you’re the first to realize what you need, you’re most likely to get it before the pickings are slim.

2. Recruitment and selection

There’s no denying it. Hiring top talent drives organizational success. In 2025, AI-powered applicant tracking systems and skills-based hiring will be key parts of recruiters’ tech stacks. This builds on the momentum from 2024, with 73% of recruitment professionals saying hiring based on skills was a top priority.

Diversity and seamless candidate experiences are also important parts of HR’s remit. Diverse hiring strategies foster innovation, creative problem-solving, and profitability, while a great candidate experience showcases fairness and transparency, which in turn attracts top talent.

3. Company culture

Company culture has two faces. On the one hand, it drives internal engagement and job satisfaction. On the other, it fuels external brand perception and public reputation. By building a culture of trust, transparency, and shared values, you can attract the right kind of people instead of ending up with a bunch of square pegs for your round holes.

If you want to strengthen company culture, try one of these strategies:

• Gather employee feedback regularly and act on it
• Promote open communication across all levels of the organization
• Recognize employee achievements publicly, give constructive criticism privately
• Align leadership actions with company values

4. Employee engagement

We know engaged employees are happier, healthier, and more productive, creative, and loyal than their unengaged counterparts. But reaching this point can seem an impossible challenge. Gallup’s research points to managers as the secret sauce. Its study of 83,000 business units across 25 years concluded:

“Great managers, who are closest to their employees, are the key to inspiring extraordinary performance.”

Your line managers are gold. Keep them in regular communication with their teams, and remember that communication is a two-way street — employees need to feel heard, too. A culture of praise, trust, and meaningful work goes a long way. 

5. Performance management

Employee performance management is also shifting from a yearly appraisal to an ongoing function. This ties in with what we talked about earlier — the future of HR is flexible and adaptable. Why wait until the scheduled annual review to address shortcomings, set new goals, or let people know they’re killing it?

Instead, try setting clear goals with regular milestones and check-ins. You should also incorporate real-time feedback, and lean into being a support pillar for your employees and team. Help them develop the skills they want in alignment with your business objectives.

6. Employee development

Employees want to grow — one demographic in particular above all others.

“Gen Z really values learning and career development opportunities. If you’re not investing in their growth, you’re not going to be able to hold onto them. They will prioritize their own career paths over any long-term commitment to an organization,” says Nicky Vallelly of Google Deepmind.

When it comes to employee value propositions, Gen Z is 36% more likely than other generations to prioritize advancement opportunities and 34% more likely to prioritize skill development opportunities. 

Try introducing personalized training programs, microlearning, or e-learning platforms like Coursera, Masterclass, and LinkedIn Learning. Hard skills are important but don’t overlook the power of future-proofing your employees with knowledge relevant to upcoming trends like AI and sustainability.

7. Function evaluation

Function evaluation is a bit meta. It’s all about assessing HR’s effectiveness as a department—how well is it contributing to overall business goals?

Start by looking under the hood. Metrics like overall company turnover rates, average time to hire, and employee satisfaction can point you in the direction of areas that might need more TLC.

8. Compensation and benefits

For millennials, compensation is the #1 most important employee value proposition. They also value it more than any other generation (it makes sense; they were entering the workforce during the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression). 

Millennials make up 75% of the global workforce, so it’s super important you pay them well if you want them to stick around. This includes other elements of your employee benefits packages, including bonuses and incentives, too. Get this wrong and poor pay is the top reason employees will quit their jobs, according to SHRM.

9. Review company policies

I know, I also shudder at the words “company policy.” But honestly, they’ve gotten a bad rap. Company policies are a saving grace, especially in remote or hybrid work environments. 

They provide fair and transparent clarity around what is and isn’t allowed. That said, they still need to be kept up-to-date, inclusive, and reflect evolving workplace needs. Policies should be accessible to all employees, and their location (whether digital or physical) should be actively communicated.

10. Employee well-being

Mental health is a key part of your 2025 employee wellbeing strategy. 92% of workers prioritize organizations that support mental health, and 95% value respect for work-life boundaries. Implementing mental health support programs and stress management workshops can significantly improve workplace morale.

11. Health and safety

Health and safety might be easily overlooked, but it’s fundamental. Not only do employers have a legal duty of care under regulations like the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), which mandates safe working conditions, but investing in workplace safety leads to returns of 24% to 114%.

In an era defined by pandemics, climate change, and chronic lifestyle diseases, this is equally important in digital-first roles (e.g., health insurance benefits) as in manual jobs. In both cases, businesses benefit from creating dynamic plans that consider work security and emergency preparedness. 

Tips for getting human resource management right in 2025

Start improving your approach to human resource management (HRM) today by following these tips and best practices.

Prioritize continuous learning

Tune into industry webinars, earn certifications, and follow thought leaders to stay up-to-date on best practices. Adopting a growth mindset and leaning into curiosity can set the right tone for an innovative, adaptable, and winning team.

Turn your team into your unfair advantage

Introduce policies to encourage creative ideas, create cross-functional teams to solve specific problems, or apply design-thinking approaches to HR challenges. Seeing an issue from many angles usually leads to unexpected solutions. 

Get agile

Applying the philosophy of rapid iteration to your human resources department can help teams adapt to changing trends like remote work, gig hiring, or shifting employee expectations. Building fast feedback loops into your process lets your team make quicker decisions.

More decisions = more employee data = more learning = everything gets smoother and better, faster.

Leverage data for decision-making

Data validates HR strategies and results by analyzing metrics such as attrition rates, engagement scores, and training ROI. It’s important to have clean, accessible data, as future initiatives will be built on these numbers. Investing in strong analytical tools is a good idea.

Focus on strategic impact

ABC. Always be checking…in with how every HR decision or initiative aligns with the organization’s strategic goals. Whether it’s in hiring, employee engagement, or policy creation, your actions should support business scalability and growth. Schedule regular planning sessions to align HR priorities with leadership’s vision.

The bottom line? The future of HR management will require a balance of tech-savvy innovation, human empathy, and strategic foresight. The more proactive and intentional HR professionals are in crafting solutions, the more likely they are to drive meaningful outcomes for their organizations.

Support HR professionals with the right tools

Modern HR challenges require modern solutions. With the ever-expanding scope of work that falls under those two letters (“HR”), responsibilities are growing in number and complexity, from managing hybrid workforces to fostering employee well-being.

Selecting the right weapons for battle has never been more important. They’ll help you drive efficiency, accuracy, and strategic impact…and keep your lunch break.

Your recruitment tech stack probably looks a ‘lil something like this:

• Reliable ATS for hiring efficiency
• Skills test tool to screen candidates fast
• Performance management systems to see how everyone’s doing in one place
• Employee engagement tools to keep up the good vibes in-house
• Background check and/or onboarding software to screen and welcome your new recruits

Maybe you’ve dabbled in emerging tech, for example, using AI for predictive insights or VR for training. In any case, you’ve probably also integrated these systems to centralize operations and keep them running as smoothly as butter.

Tools and apps amplify HR’s impact, but they can’t replace the strategic thinking, creativity, and empathy needed to support employees and the business over the long term.

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