Hi all,
First time posting--my apologies for any poor etiquette that results!
This message is aimed primarily at those who manage a group of consultants, especially a group of student consultants, but anyone with any thoughts on the issue is more than welcome to reply.
At present, at UGA's Statistical Consulting Center (which operates on a fee-based system where clients pay per hour of consulting work beyond an initial consultation--see
http://www.stat.uga.edu/consulting/consulting-fees for more information), we have had our graduate consultants record their hours through a paper-based system. That is, they write down the time they spend on a consulting project, preferably but not necessarily as they work, and at the end of the project they turn in the sheet. This can lead to problems, as it is sometimes difficult to remember to record hours (ask me how I know!), and it is hard to make a habit of it. Encouraging accurate reporting is especially important to our clients because we do charge for our time.
I would like to move to a computer-based system for students to record their hours. Ideally, on each occasion on which a student works on a project, that student would be able to log in to the system, select from a list of his or her specific projects, record his or her hours (when and how many), classify those hours into one of several pre-chosen categories, make any additional notes about how that time was spent, and save the information. I would then ideally be able to summarize this information as I choose, by project, by consultant, etc., and/or be able to produce a spreadsheet I could then import into another program to work with.
My question for the group is, what software have you encountered that could help with this type of project management? What software has proven useful, and what has not? Note that I am not looking for "time tracking" software, where the user basically runs a timer while he or she is working (this is what my current resources have turned up).
I am definitely open to schemes that would accomplish the same end goal, even if they do not match my "ideal" as I have described above. At present, I do have a master sheet as a Google spreadsheet where I record time spent as well as other aspects of each project, and the consultants can view it, but it would not be practical to allow every consultant to be able to edit the sheet. I am hoping for something more foolproof, but also unified.
I appreciate any assistance anyone is able to offer. Thank you!
Kim
-------------------------------------------
Kimberly Love-Myers
Associate Director, UGA SCC
-------------------------------------------