I'm looking for a way to help my colleagues keep track of their in-office days. Our company has a policy requiring us to come in 13 days per quarter. People can choose how to space those days—be it once a week or twice every other week. However, my task is to ensure everyone is meeting this goal, and I want to make sure the process is simple and user-friendly. We have a badge system that logs entries, but the data isn't accessible to employees and only provides high-level information like, 'Marketing has XX days in office,' which isn't particularly helpful. I was wondering if a Microsoft Form could work for this since our company is security-conscious and may not allow third-party software. Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated!
4 Answers
It sounds like you're dealing with a common issue where HR is leaning on IT for a function that should be theirs. Simple badge tracking options should be available for everyone, but the system you've described seems limited. If you can convince HR to let them access the badge report directly, that would be ideal, but if not, you could use a Microsoft Form for individuals to log their in-office days themselves. Just remind them that honesty is key; it feels like your team has integrity, so it might not be as big of a problem as you think.
At my last job, we just had everyone send a daily email with their in-office days. Not the most efficient, but it worked in a pinch. HR could gather that data and figure something better out as they go. It could be a looser system until they decide to take this more seriously.
It's a bit clunky, but if it works temporarily, then why not? You can always push for something more efficient later.
I really think this task is more on HR. Since you already have the badge access, it might be easier to hand that responsibility over to them. They could use the data from the badge scanner and automate a simple report. An API could be the key here to pull the relevant information, that way you won’t be carrying the weight of it all.
Nice suggestion! If HR doesn’t know how to handle it, they might need to invest in a better system. That can help you avoid any blame if things go wrong.
Tracking visits gets complex when you think about people's varying schedules. If you roll with the form idea, maybe create a summary work sheet that automatically counts individual visits by name. Excel can handle it if you get the formulas right—maybe a good opportunity to brush up on your Excel skills as well! Or just have someone help out because honestly, it’s a necessary task.
Absolutely! There are tutorials all over for using Excel for tracking. It could be easier than you think to set up.
For sure, a self-logging system could work well! Just make sure that people understand it’s about creating a culture of accountability rather than checking up on them.