Startup culture has long dominated the tech industry due in part to the way that it makes people feel. Innovators like to look at themselves as rebels and act like they’re rebelling against the prevailing corporate culture that dominates larger organizations. As startups begin to grow, however, this iconoclastic thread can quickly become more of a drawback than an asset. Managers eventually need to rein people in, which quickly leads to culture shock.
Steve Jobs famously motivated his team by comparing them to pirates, and this kind of rebellious ideology lives on in countless startup firms today. Individuals who learn to be a boss without sacrificing the unique society their companies have cultivated. Sophisticated employee tracking software can help by taking the burden off of the human resources department.
Giving Employees Just Enough Leeway
Some of the earliest adventure games were actually developed decades ago by people at startup companies who were supposed to be working on some other project. Though some people might have perceived this as simply fooling around, programmers who took the time to author these games greatly enriched the software community as a whole. Famous titles like Zork would never have gotten to market otherwise, so managers these days are often reluctant to put too many restrictions on their crews for fear of stifling innovation.
Self-motivated people have a tendency to work smarter instead of harder, so they’ll end up with more time for side hustles after they finish the initial project they were assigned to. Others might have a more difficult time getting motivated, but it can be difficult to distinguish between the two. Tracking applications will keep tabs on the ability of different people to meet goals. By using a web-based solution, individual programmers and engineers can actually track their own performance and may be able to motivate themselves without the need for any external coercion.
HR department heads who are particularly concerned about accusations of workplace surveillance can use an employee tracker that offers an open dashboard everyone can share. This gives them the freedom to set goals and ensure that deadlines are being met without having to resort to the kind of tough tactics that make people want to avoid big businesses. Employees with concerns can even use this as a space to voice them, which could help to ease the transition from maverick startup to growing company.
Building a Virtual Boardroom
Monitoring software shouldn’t just be used to track members of the engineering and research staff. Doing so can make it look as though they were being singled out and aren’t taken seriously by the management. Make sure that everyone climbs aboard whatever system gets chosen. Growing companies may want to refer to this online space as a virtual boardroom portal instead of a monitoring agent in order to stress the fact that it’s there for everyone to voice concerns they may have.
Gamification became something of a management trend in the last few years. While it might have died out at huge Silicon Valley juggernauts, it’s still going strong at many startup companies. Firms that want to make customer service feel more like a game can use a tracking application to gauge everyone’s performance. Chances are that most employees will respond better to this than they would to a punitive scheme. Well-designed tracking applications can provide regular reports, which should help to satisfy those who need a more substantial form of analysis.
Preventing Bad Actors from Spoiling the Fun
Media depictions of startup companies usually depict them as having a carefree attitude, but this can quickly get spoiled by bad actors who damage a company from within. Employee monitoring applications that run constantly can often spot unusual activities and send out a warning to the relevant authorities. This eliminates any need for onerous inspections, which could put a big damper on the mood of a new firm.
Around two-thirds of small business end up outsourcing at least some of their work to another small organization. That tends to widen the circle of trust that companies have to deal with, since it invariably means that more people are getting brought into each project.
Using a tracking application that can monitor outside contractors as well as those inside the company can help to spot any related problems while simultaneously ensuring that nobody has to look over anyone’s shoulder. Though it might be something of a balancing act, it’s possible to grow as a firm without losing the vibrant spirit that new companies are known for.
