Dear Doctor Spin,
I have to fill out a weekly timesheet. Whenever I fill it in honestly, I always seem to get a lecture - ie I'm either under or over servicing clients. I seem to get the most praise when I fill it in with the numbers my account director wants to see. I'm confused.
The timesheet should be a valuable management tool, allowing for assessment as to whether resources are being deployed appropriately. Unfortunately, in the wrong hands, it can be something rather less valuable. In your case, your account director doesn't seem to have grasped the point of the exercise. This could be because he/she wants to demonstrate an amazing level of control over account activity - however, if I was their boss, I'd immediately be suspicious of such an apparent untrammelled grip on how the account team spends their time. What would be interesting to know would be whether or not client objectives were being met and/or whether the client is happy with the work. Having flawless time accounting becomes meaningless in the face of lack of performance and/or client dissatisfaction.
If your agency has a regular company meeting, why not ask for timesheets to be put on the agenda. If you raise the question of honesty in time sheet filling in the open, it may help to flag to senior management that all may not be well with the current system. If they have any interest in whether the company is best servicing its clients, then I've no doubt you will get a sympathetic hearing.
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