Hi Reader. Running an MSP is challenging. One of the most common challenges is getting people to enter time in the PSA.

I've worked with MSPs that are 5 people and MSPs that are 350 people. This problem exists in all of them, but there are patterns that are worth noting and learning from.

The core truth is that this is a fixable problem. I know a small number of companies that do not have to fight with staff each week to get time entered in the system.
So what have they figured out that the rest of the companies have not?

The key insight is that this is a cultural problem.

MSPs that have high time entry compliance have put in the effort to set clear expectations, provide training, and reinforce expectations through regular feedback.

It’s actually not that complicated. Sure, it isn’t easy, but it’s not complicated.

Expectations

Be clear with staff about WHY time entry is important.
It’s not so you can micromanage their every minute and make sure they are busy. It’s a crucial datapoint that represents how human effort is being spent in the company. Without that data, it’s tough to tell which client agreements are right-sized to their consumption of service. It’s tough to tell if the team has bandwidth or if we should start recruiting for a new team member. Being busy is expected, but too busy is a problem. This can’t be judged by feels though. Objective data needs to be available to make business decisions about margins and labor ratios. Without time entry, we have neither.

Provide Training

Do all of your staff know the shortcuts and hacks to make time entry easier? Probably not. Beyond the basic PSA training, you should encourage your best techs to share how they manage their time and ticket entry. There are a ton of unintuitive lessons that peer sharing can uncover that aren’t in the PSA training. Also, training techs who enter time and notes on a ticket is part of doing the ticket, not something you need to find time for later. This is a surprisingly uncommon understanding for MSP techs. They think speed is the ultimate desired metric. Provide training, give clarity, and reduce friction in the practice.

Regular Feedback

The shortest path to creating a team culture that doesn’t meet expectations is to tolerate the behaviors that you don’t want. FAR too many managers and leaders feel like they have talked about time entry endlessly, and people still won’t do it, so they give up.

If you’ve set expectations and provided training, there should be no reason to accept non-compliance for an expectation of your job. This is called professional insubordination and can result in termination of your employment.

Why do we not take it that seriously? If someone refused to show up for work 80% of the time, we would fire them. Yet, we tolerate them not entering time simply because they don’t want to?!

Meet with your staff weekly and provide feedback about your expectations for their performance.

Be supportive.
Smother them with support.

If they still can’t meet the expectations of the job, then maybe they need a new job?

A large MSP that I used to consult for had a screenshot of an email from the president of the company that would sometimes get passed around by managers to staff. It said simply:

Entering your time is a requirement for being employed here -

SMC

If you want more support creating an accountable culture and not have to fight with people about time entry, join me and Kyle Christensen of Empath for our monthly Service Manager Cohort webinar next week, March 25th.

Register for the Service Manager Cohort session here 👇

Have a productive Week!
Todd

Join my community for MSP owners and operators here.