01: What is User Activity Monitoring Software?

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Similar to employee monitoring tools, activity tracking software is used by organizations that want to improve their team’s performance on many different levels. The software lets managers track the daily activities of their employees, giving them information about how they spend their working hours.

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It also helps you reveal overall and individual productivity in your organization, while also providing you with actionable information about how to improve it. Additionally, you can see user  activities in real time and historically, enabling  you to accurately track the  progress of each of your teams in concrete terms.

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A PC activity monitor like Insightful lets you track your employees in an efficient way, while making sure their privacy isn’t compromised. Primarily, it saves time and  shows you how your company’s resources are used, but also helps you prevent potentially harmful activities like insider threats and data breaches.

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02: How Does Activity Tracking Software Work?

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An effective activity tracker is made out of two parts:

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1. An application that is installed on your employees’ computers, known as an “agent”; and

2. A dashboard that managers and administrators can access via browser.

The agent on your workers’ computers collects the data and sends it to the dashboard, where you can review it on individual, team or organizational level. The software can also be used to create data-rich reports based on the precise information and insights you’re interested in.

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To help you best understand how activity monitor software works, let’s now focus on the key features it has.

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[fs-toc-omit]Apps and Websites Usage

This feature allows you to see which apps and websites your employees are using throughout their work day, as well as how much time they’re spending on each of them.

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[fs-toc-omit]Screenshots

Employee screen monitoring software with screenshots provides a snapshot of what your employees are working on at any moment.

Based on your preferences, this feature can be turned on or off and customized to scheduled time intervals for when screenshots will be taken. Some software also allows you to turn off screenshots for specific apps and websites.

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[fs-toc-omit]Activities Tracking

With this feature, you can see how much time they’ve spent actively working on their computers, as opposed to idle and manual time entries. Tracked activity is comprehensively displayed via computer activity logs for everyone on your team.

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[fs-toc-omit]Productivity Tracking

Based on labels (productive, unproductive and neutral) that you assign to each app and website, employee computer monitoring software will automatically calculate the productivity levels of your employees and teams.

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[fs-toc-omit]Reports

Autogenerated, data-rich reports include employees’ attendance, productivity information, and information about time spent on projects and tasks. Reports can be instantly downloaded, or you can create a schedule to have them automatically emailed to you on a regular basis.

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03: How to Monitor Computer Activity?

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There are several types of tools you can use to monitor employees’ computer activity. Besides user activity monitoring software, you may also turn to employee monitoring software, or time & attendance tracking software.

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There are also software options that are more focused on security, like insider threat prevention or data loss prevention tools.

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All of these tools track employee computer activity in a different way. Their features, while similar in some ways, track different activities and will give you disparate reports. This is why you should consider what data you need most to improve your business before you decide on one type of software.

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04: The Benefits of User Activity Monitoring

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[fs-toc-omit]What Employee Activity Monitoring Software Can do For Your Team

The benefits of user activity monitoring software are numerous. And they compound over time. That is, the longer you use the software the greater the impact it has on your team’s performance. Let’s take a look at the competitive advantages companies gain when using user activity software.

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[fs-toc-omit]A More Productive Workforce

Whichever type of employee activity and productivity tracking software you choose, you’ll be able to use it to increase productivity in your organization. It does this by helping you find and remove bottlenecks in your projects and processes. Additionally, it can help minimize distractions, leaving your employees more focused than ever before.

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[fs-toc-omit]Save Time and Resources

While, like any software, implementing user activities monitoring software involves an investment, it will soon pay for itself by saving you time and resources.

By discovering and eliminating workflow bottlenecks, your workforce will become more efficient, saving you hours of valuable time. Further, companies lose a lot of money due to “time theft” and employees spending time on private matters during working hours. Computer activity tracker minimizes this wasted time, easing the heavy financial costs it causes companies.

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[fs-toc-omit]What Employee Activity Monitoring Software Can do For Your Team

It’s not uncommon for some employees to initially be skeptical or displeased by the idea of having their activities tracked during working hours. However, by explaining the benefits to them, any skepticism can be countered to get their buy in. So, let’s go over the key benefits employee activity monitoring software brings to your employees.

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[fs-toc-omit]An Optimized Workload

Daily activity log software typically has in-built project management functionality, or can be easily integrated into your existing systems.

Each time you start a new project you can clearly see how busy your team is, no matter how large or distributed they are. This level of oversight allows you to better assign employees to projects based on workload, without having to interrupt their current work.

Employees appreciate this feature as it helps them stay busy, but not overworked.

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[fs-toc-omit]Recognition and Rewards

It’s no secret people enjoy being recognized for their work, development, and contributions to company success. Once you grasp  how to monitor employees’ computer activity, you’re able to recognise all the exceptional work for your employees.

If you don’t have a rewards system within your organization, you should definitely consider creating one and rewarding those employees who’ve made the most progress, based on results or over a certain time period.

When you use software to monitor PC activity you can easily discover standout workers who deserve bigger bonuses or incentives; or those who need additional training in order to become better at what they do.

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[fs-toc-omit]A More Transparent Workplace

All employees appreciate transparency. They want to know exactly how the company is doing, where it’s headed, and how it will get there. They also need to know how what they’re doing contributes to the company’s overall success.

Employees’ activity monitoring tools enable you to share collected data in an easy way. Not only does this breed transparency and trust, it keeps everyone informed about company progress.

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05: The (Minor) Disadvantages of User Activity Monitoring Software

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There’s no denying that business activity monitoring software brings many benefits to employees and employers alike. However, there are still some drawbacks you should pay attention to.

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[fs-toc-omit]Trust and Privacy Issues

It’s not a secret that if you monitor computer activity there is the potential to cause stress and burnout among your employees. This is due to the perceived trust and privacy issues that can occur when you use monitor PC activity software.

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If you introduce monitoring software without explaining to your team why you’re doing it, which data you’ll collect, and who will see it, you’re leaving a lot to their imagination.

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Unfortunately, the first instinct is to think “Our boss doesn’t trust us.” You need to tackle this issue from the get-go by taking the time to explain, as well as answer any questions, your employees might have about computer activity logging. In short, clear communication is vital.

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Your workers may also worry about their privacy, which is why you need to limit monitoring only to the apps and websites used for business, and only use it during working hours.

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[fs-toc-omit]Micromanagement

How to monitor employee computer without micromanaging them? Quite easily actually. Don’t nitpick on every single thing they do, and stop looking at individual data for every minute of every day. Instead, look at aggregated data on a weekly basis, and if you notice that someone’s productivity is spiraling down, only then dig into their individual data and have an open conversation about it.

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Be careful not to micromanage. If you go around alerting people each time they open up the news instead of work emails, you’ll likely create an unhappy and stressed workforce.

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06:Legal Issues to Consider

Activity monitoring software, especially those that track internet activity, is accompanied by important legal and ethical considerations. Therefore, to ensure that you’re implementing and using the software by the book, we strongly recommend that you consult legal experts in your country of operation.

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Depending on the country, the law typically requires you to notify employees about any monitoring practices you’re using. In some parts of the world, you’re even required to get their written consent and notify them at least two weeks in advance, as well as other stringent requirements.

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Additionally, you must not forget about GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and other legislations that cover data protection and privacy.

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In some cases, you should consult with employee or labour law experts, in other cases your better choice might be data protection professionals.

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07:Choosing the Best Activity Monitor

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There’s an abundance of solutions that  can help you to monitor users’ internet activity, or more broadly monitor their computer activities. So, it’s no wonder that choosing the best activity monitor can feel like an overwhelming task.

To help simplify your task, here are our favorite tips to help you select a solution that will be the best for you.

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[fs-toc-omit]Define Your Goals

Everything starts with a goal. Think about why you want to use this type of solution and what it will help you achieve in the short- and long-term. For example, do you need software to monitor remote employees?

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Any of the following goals are good, but take your time to tailor them to your needs

• Adding additional security to your company’s data
• Improving the productivity and efficiency of your employees
• Optimizing projects and expenses

[fs-toc-omit]Test the Software

With your goals clearly in mind, it will be easier to create a shortlist of solutions that fit your needs. And once you have that, you can start testing.

Check for lags, bugs or any shortcomings the internet activity tracker has during your testing process. No solution will be perfect, but you shouldn’t overlook any red flags. Test the software’s speed, storage space, and take note of the type of data it can collect.

Use the full duration of free trials that providers offer, pay attention to the ease of use, and include your employees in the process to get their input.

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[fs-toc-omit]Think About Resources

It’s easy to find the cheapest solution and call it a day. But the fact that it’s the cheapest doesn’t mean that it’s going to be simple to use or install. Not to mention its effectiveness.

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When selecting a solution, think about the complexity of the solution on the user’s side. Are  your employees having trouble navigating the agent? Do managers complain about the time and effort it takes to navigate the dashboard?

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Usability is a critical part of your choice. You may need to pay a bit more for a smooth, user-optimized solution, but considering the time it will save you it’s a justified expense.

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08:Wrapping Up

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Having read this handy guide, you’re now a lot more in the know about user activity monitoring software than you were a few minutes ago. But, safe to say, there’s still a lot to get your head around. Good thing for you, we’re experts in the space!

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If you really want to learn more about how to monitor employees’ computer use and how to monitor online activity, sign up for a free trial and we’ll guide you through the entire process, answering any questions along the way.