Impact Analysis, an Insights feature available in select plans, allows you to correlate organizational change to shifts in employee work habits. Conduct A/B tests and before-and-after analyses to understand the impact of new workplace programs (like a reduction in force, a new hybrid work policy, or a 4-day work week), leadership changes, the adoption of new technology, and much more.
This dashboard utilizes Insights
This dashboard is powered by ActivTrak's Insights data, which processes and analyzes historical information with daily updates. For a complete explanation of how Insights differs from Live Data, see Understanding Live Data and Insights.
Creating & managing Segments
The first step to getting started with Impact Analysis is to create Segments of employees whose work habits you want to compare. Segments can be defined based on employees’ work location, time period, days of the week and team.
- Navigate to Impact in the left app navigation, then click the Segments tab at the top of the page. Admins and Configurators can view, edit and delete existing Segments, and create new ones. (Power Users and Viewers with access to Impact Analysis can view the list of Segments, but cannot edit, delete or create them.)
- To create a new Segment, click on the green + icon in the upper right corner of the page to bring up the Add New Segment dialog box.
- Give the Segment a unique name, then select values from the following fields to determine who should be in the Segment:
- Location: Office, Remote, Office/Remote, or All Locations
- Timeline: Select a start date and end date to define a specific timeline. To conduct an ongoing comparison, leave the end date blank
- Days of the week: Select one or more (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun)
- Teams: Select specific teams or ‘All Teams’ (the list is limited to a user’s Viewable Groups)
Note: To create a new Team, navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Groups, then select 'Create Group.' Newly created Teams cannot be added to a Segment until the next data refresh occurs (every 24 hours).
- To complete the process, click the green Save Segment button.
Note: When a new Segment is created, it will appear in the Segments list immediately, but will not be available to view in Impact Analysis until the next data refresh occurs (every 24 hours). When a Segment is edited, the updated Segment's data will not be reflected in Impact Analysis until the next data refresh occurs (every 24 hours).
In the Segments list, you will see two default Segments: ‘Monday - Thursday’ and ‘Friday.’ You can select these defaults from Impact Analysis to view sample data before you create any Segments of your own. (Example use case: Assess whether No-Meeting Fridays help increase focus time, reduce screen time and lead to lower utilization levels.)
To edit existing Segments, click on the pencil icon to the right of any Segment. To delete Segments (one at a time or in bulk), select the check box next to the group name, then click the trash bin icon that appears above the list.
Note: Default Segments (‘Monday - Thursday’ and ‘Friday’) are view-only; they cannot be modified or deleted.
Summary tab
Select two Segments from the drop-down filters at the top of the dashboard (Segment A and Segment B) to see a side-by-side comparison of key productivity and utilization metrics.
Note: The ‘Team’ filter can be used to view data for a subset of teams within Segments. It’s most useful when the Segments being analyzed include all or a significant number of the teams within your ActivTrak account. If a team selected from the ‘Team’ filter is not included in either Segment A or Segment B, the dashboard will display null values for all metrics.
Quickly assess which Segment has the higher value (indicated in green) for each metric. Note: Depending on your use case, the higher value may not indicate a positive result.
Productivity & Focus
- Daily Screen Time
- Daily Productive Time
- Daily Focused Time
- Avg. Focused Session
Workload Balance & Wellness
- % of Overutilized Users in Segment
- % of Healthy Users in Segment
- % of Underutilized Users in Segment
- Daily Break Time
Productive Time Breakdown & Work Day Span
- % of productive time broken down: Focused, Collaboration and Multitasking
- Work Day Span (Average Start & End of Day)
Trends tab
View a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly breakdown of productivity and utilization metrics to understand how each Segment’s work habits are evolving over time. The Trends tab is especially useful when conducting a before-and-after analysis to assess the impact of a one-time event, such as a leadership change or a reduction-in-force.
Productivity Trends
In the filters section at the top of the dashboard, click More, then select one of the following metrics from the Productivity Trend drop-down to compare data in the ‘Productivity Trend View’ chart:
- Screen Time
- Productive Time
- Focused Time
- Collaboration Time
- Multitasking Time
Workload Balance & Wellness Trends
The 'Utilization Level Trend View' shows how the percentage of healthy, overutilized or underutilized employees in each Segment has changed over time.
To change the metric shown in the chart, click 'More' in the filters section at the top of the dashboard, then select an option from the 'Utilization Level Trend' drop-down.
Technology Usage tab
Compare website and application usage for the selected Segments. This data can help gauge the adoption of new technology or assess whether employees are spending time with the tools critical to their roles.
To see the top applications and websites in a specific category, click More in the filters section at the top of the dashboard, then select one or more options in the 'Category' drop-down. Use the Show Top N slider to adjust the number of categories and apps/sites displayed in the dashboard (up to 20).
Frequently asked questions
Which User Roles can access Impact Analysis?
Admins and Configurators on a Professional or Premium plan will have access by default. Admins can manage access for other User Roles via the Role Access page (Settings > Access > Role Access).
- Admins & Configurators can create, edit, and delete Segments
- Power Users & Viewers (if given access) can view the list of Segments in the Segments tab, but cannot create, edit, or delete them
Can I view historical data in Impact Analysis (i.e., data collected before the feature was enabled in my account)?
Yes, you can access user data beginning on the date an Agent was first deployed, or as far back as allowed under data retention limits
The one exception is Location data, which is subject to the same historical data limits as the Productivity by Location:
- Professional / Premium Customers: Location data is available beginning on Sept. 1 (or the date an Agent was first deployed, if after Sept. 1).
- Essentials / Advanced Customers who upgrade to a Professional / Premium Plan or Trial: Location data becomes available on the date you upgrade. If you are on a trial, location data will continue to be collected after your trial ends, and will be available if you subsequently upgrade to a Professional / Premium Plan.
- Suppose you create a Segment with a specific Location (e.g., Remote) and a start date before the date that Location data is available. In that case, the dashboard will return no data for that Segment because the Location before this date will be reported as "Unknown.” Note: This will not be an issue if the Location for a Segment is set to ‘All Locations.’
How often does Impact Analysis data refresh?
The data refreshes every 24 hours. Newly created Segments will not appear in the Segment A or Segment B drop-downs until after the data refresh has occurred (typically the day after it is made). When a Segment is edited, updated data will not be reflected in the dashboard until the data refresh has occurred.
What is the purpose of the 'Team' filter in Impact Analysis?
When viewing Segments that include several teams, the Team filter can be used to focus on a subset. For example, when assessing the impact of a change that affects the whole organization, you can zero in on a specific department by selecting only the relevant teams. There are a few things to note:
If a team selected from the Team filter is not included in either Segment A or Segment B, the dashboard will display null values (0 for any numerical values; no results in charts) for the Segment that does not include the selected team.
- Example: Segment A includes the sales and marketing team, and Segment B contains only the marketing team. If the sales team is selected from the Team filter, values will be displayed for Segment A, but Segment B will show null values.
If a team selected from the Team filter has no activity during the time period defined in a Segment, that Segment will not appear in the Segment A or Segment B drop-downs. The same applies to all Segments where the time period is set to a future date.
When a team is selected from the Team filter, the Segment A and Segment B drop-down lists will refresh to show only Segments that include the selected team. This is a good way to filter the list if a user is only interested in viewing data for Segments that include their team.
What’s the deal with the ‘Monday - Thursday’ and ‘Friday’ Segments that are pre-populated in the Segments tab?
These “default” Segments are pre-populated for all customers so they can view example data in the dashboard before they’ve created any Segments of their own. The default Segments cannot be edited or deleted.
An example use case for default Segments: Assess whether No-Meeting Fridays help increase focus time, reduce screen time, and lead to lower utilization over time.
- ‘Monday - Thursday’ Segment: Users from all teams, in all locations, on Monday through Thursday
- ‘Friday’ Segment: Users from all teams, in all locations, on Fridays