Maximizing productivity should always be a top priority for business ownersbut trying too hard to micromanage every inch of your operations can actually do the opposite.

Systems within a business need to be in place to ensure it runs smoothly – from having a daily structure to setting meeting agendas, setting company values ​​and setting hiring criteria – without them, businesses can explode.

Tracking time is a prime example of a system that employers use to improve staff productivity by increasing awareness, encouraging accountability, minimizing waste of time and maximizing profit.

The increasing demand for time tracking software, as a result of the increase in remote workcould set the market for this technology at an estimated value of 31.88 billion dollars by 2028.

But it's not all positive. While time tracking may seem like a smart business move, it certainly has its downsides if not used carefully.

Faith is everything

What separates good leader of great leaders is their ability to provide guidance, resources and support to their team. At the same time, they must allow employees the space to manage themselves.

A healthy working relationship between employer and employee relies heavily on having a strong sense of mutual trust and a relatively balanced power dynamic. Time tracking to monitor staff input and output can blur the lines if clear expectations are not set.

Requiring staff to log every minute of their workday can leave employees feeling unduly pressured and like they can't be trusted to do their jobs. When employees don't feel trusted, trust has the potential to break down both ways.

Chaining people to their desks

Over the past few years, the importance of being healthy work-life balance has been more stressed than ever. The fact is, people work better when they have time for things that don't revolve entirely around work.

As a manager, being too smart about the hours an employee logs on their time tracker each day can cause real problems.

Staff are people, not machines – they need bathroom breaks, coffee breaks, time off for personal meetings and an early finish now and then.

Time tracking often ignores these essential elements of a work schedule. It can even cause employers to penalize staff for not spending a certain amount of “profitable” hours at their desks. After all, this is completely unrealistic.

Related: The importance of achieving the right work-life balance

Privacy Concerns: Is It Unethical?

Then, there are big concerns all around surveillance.

Not only can there be legal requirements for monitoring staff productivity, but the morality of tracking a person's every move must also be questioned.

People come to work to do their jobs, earn money to live and reap the rewards of their efforts during their time off. What they don't want is to feel like they're constantly being watched or waiting to be criticized for not working hard enough.

Excessive supervision can be a major demotivator for employees. This can lead them to wonder what other activities are being monitored themselves, which can lead to serious conflict.

Related: It's a Jobseeker's Market – Here's Why Employers Should Think Twice About Using Surveillance Technology

Cheating the system

When employers are too strict about how their staff use time tracking software, it leaves room for fraud. This is even more true with the increase in people working from home.

Unless you're sitting in the office and physically monitoring what employees are doing, there's no way to tell if they're actually doing the job. Your marketing manager might have the time tracker working on a client job while relaxing on a beach in a completely different country. You couldn't be the wiser.

This is where it comes back to trust factor. If employees feel under pressure to make every second of work count, they may be more inclined to cut corners.

Don't overcomplicate success

There is a common misconception that tracking your employees' every move will allow you to determine exactly how much value they add to your business.

However, the reality is that there is no way to 100% accurately measure the success of a business with this software. The key thing to remember here is that there is a distinct difference between productive and profitable.

Take staff meetings for example. They may not directly generate revenue, but they are necessary to keep your team up to date, moving in the right direction and on the same page. Without “non-billable” activities like these, a business cannot function effectively. The same goes for customer research or networking – the success of these interactions is too complex for time tracking software to measure.

Related: Defining Success: 4 Key Metrics That Go Beyond Revenue

Food for thought

While I'm by no means suggesting business owners rule out time tracking software entirely, as you can see, there's a lot to consider.

If you choose to use these systems in your workplace, it's critical that you find a way to use them that doesn't limit your team's ability to do their jobs—or set them back.

Transparent it's everything. Let your staff know exactly how time tracking will be implemented and monitored from the start and allow them to raise any concerns they may have. It's also a must to regularly review what is and isn't working.

And if you think time tracking isn't right for your business, there are plenty of other, more traditional ways to measure its success without it.