#4 – Don’t Be That Guy - MSP Time Tracking - Stop Telling Techs (Ryan Alter)

In Episode #4 of Don’t Be That Guy on the BMK Vision Podcast, Josh Peterson and Ryan Alter confront one of the most persistent and damaging myths in the MSP industry: that technicians fail at time entry because they lack discipline, accountability, or care.

This episode dismantles that assumption at the root. Time tracking does not fail at the technician level—it fails at the system level. When leadership designs an operating environment where technicians are expected to self-dispatch, absorb constant interruptions, manage ticket flow, and carry administrative ownership alongside technical execution, accurate time entry becomes structurally unrealistic. In that environment, time entry isn’t ignored out of apathy—it is sacrificed for survival.

If you’ve ever repeated the phrase “just enter your time” and wondered why nothing changes, this conversation explains why behavior never improves without structural clarity—and what disciplined MSP leadership must change for time entry to become automatic instead of adversarial.

The core problem: techs are doing jobs they shouldn’t own

Josh makes the case early and unequivocally: most MSPs unintentionally assign technicians four jobs instead of one. They are expected to resolve issues, prioritize incoming work, manage ticket flow, and remember administrative follow-ups—all while operating in an interruption-driven environment.

Time entry fails not because it lacks importance, but because it competes with responsibilities leadership failed to separate.

• Technicians self-dispatch instead of focusing on resolution.
• Interrupt-driven work erodes documentation discipline.
• Ownership confusion turns time entry into a negotiable task.

Dispatch isn’t overhead — it’s leverage

Ryan and Josh challenge the idea that dispatch is a “large MSP luxury.” Even in two- or three-technician teams, someone must own the day, the priorities, and the flow of hours. When that role is absent, technicians absorb dispatch responsibility silently—and accuracy collapses.

• A dispatcher owns tickets end-to-end.
• They balance urgency, availability, and client experience.
• They shield technicians from unnecessary context switching.

Standards matter — but only if they’re enforced

Time tracking only improves when expectations are explicit, enforced, and inspected. Josh outlines a simple but non-negotiable baseline:

• 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week.
• Time submitted by Friday at 5 p.m.
• Time approved by Monday morning.
• Time reviewed multiple times per day.

Most MSPs already have policies. What they lack is consistent inspection.

Inspect at the same rate you expect

This principle defines the episode. Reviewing time three times per day isn’t micromanagement—it’s leadership. Coaches correct athletes during the game, not days later watching tape. Time entry habits form when feedback is immediate, human, and predictable.

• 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and end-of-day reviews reset behavior.
• Feedback should be calm, personal, and judgment-free.
• Habits outperform motivation every time.

Why this actually matters

Accurate time entry is not about control—it’s about truth. Without it, MSPs cannot trust agreement gross profit, effective hourly rate, utilization, or client profitability. Every downstream decision becomes distorted by bad inputs.

If you want clean reporting, confident pricing, and predictable margins, this discipline is foundational—not optional.

Episode highlights

• 00:05:37 – Why self-dispatching destroys time entry.
• 00:06:12 – Dispatch works even with very small teams.
• 00:13:22 – Creating a distraction-free technician role.
• 00:19:41 – The BMK time entry standards.
• 00:21:34 – Why reviewing time three times per day works.
• 00:30:56 – Charge codes reveal where time actually goes.
• 00:45:46 – Inspect at the same rate you expect.

About the guest: Ryan Alter

Ryan Alter is a former MSP owner who grew a one-man operation into a 25-person firm before selling the business. His perspective is grounded in lived experience—especially around dispatch discipline, technician focus, and operational clarity.

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About the host: Josh Peterson

Josh Peterson is the CEO of Bering McKinley and host of the BMK Vision Podcast. Through Don’t Be That Guy, Josh helps MSP owners replace heroics with structure, habits, and operating systems that scale.

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Want to go deeper?

If you’re ready to stop fighting time entry and start running your MSP on clean, trustworthy data, explore Vision or apply to be a guest on the podcast.

👉 Apply to be on the BMK Vision Podcast
👉 Learn more about Vision