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Re: Time Tracking (WAS " Freeware Time Planning Tool?")
Subject:Re: Time Tracking (WAS " Freeware Time Planning Tool?") From:Richard L Hamilton <dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:14:22 -0700
Re: Grindstone:
Looks interesting, though be aware that it's a windows only tool.
This was the first time that I can say that too few clicks was a bad idea. I clicked on download, expecting the usual screen that tells you what platforms it supports and gives you a choice of what to download. Instead, the download link is a direct link to the Windows executable, which my mac happily started downloading:-).
Looking at the features, however, it looks interesting, and there's a nice clean up-sell to the software (TaskForce) that does project tracking on top of Grindstone.
Richard Hamilton
-------
XML Press
XML for Technical Communicators http://xmlpress.net
hamilton -at- xmlpress -dot- net
On Jun 17, 2011, at 9:20 AM, Pinkham, Jim wrote:
> Seems to me that's a bit of a fork in the road, Steve, though the two
> topics are complementary. My favorite time-tracking tool for flexibility
> and ease of use has been Grindstone (www.epiforge.com) for more than a
> year now.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Steve Schwarzman
> Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 10:51 AM
> To: Bill Swallow
> Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Freeware Time Planning Tool?
>
> I would use (and do use) a timeclock program. Having worked many years
> in an environment where billing was to the tenth of an hour, precise
> allocation of time to projects became second nature. There are many
> programs out there; one I've used with satisfaction is traxtime:
> www.spudcity.com/traxtime
>
> It's crucial to know how long each of your projects takes. Without this
> knowledge, you can't reliably estimate future projects. With it, you can
> estimate projects of thousands of person-hours accurately.
>
> <commercial plug>
> In my book, I devote quite a number of pages to a methodology of
> estimating projects accurately. And the first step in the process, upon
> which all others depend, is accurate tracking of past and current
> projects. There's more to it than that - analyzing the variables in your
> different projects that make some take longer and some not, and
> constantly refining this analysis in the context of your organization.
> But the first step is to know how long your projects have taken you in
> the past.
> </commercial plug>
>
> Steve Schwarzman
> --
> *Technical Writing Management: A Practical
> Guide*<http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Writing-Management-Practical-Guid
> e/dp/1456534181?&tag=writersbookmall-20>
> Now available at
> Amazon<http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Writing-Management-Practical-Guid
> e/dp/1456534181?&tag=writersbookmall-20>in
> softcover and Kindle editions
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