This week USE* launched an IT tool designed to go further in delivering our pledge to deliver accountability and transparency for our customers.

j*Time is an online tool that allows USE* employees to record the time they have worked against both routine tasks (for example, attendance or management of package reviews) and individual deliverable items (for example, authoring a given Owner Handbook Procedure).

As such j*Time fulfils three key functions for USE*: it fulfills an HR function by providing a record of how every employee in the business has spent her or his time; it fulfills a Project Management function by allowing USE* to derive precise metrics that can be tailored to suit any situation or customer; and it fulfills a Finance function by providing billing information that can be approved by the customer and serve as a basis for invoice generation.

Metricated data is especially important: j*Time allows USE* to understand how much time is spent creating every single deliverable provided by each member of the team, and it even facilitates the identification of deliverables as stages, with more granular reporting showing time spent per employee per deliverable stage.