WhatsApp round-robin assignment: giving each new chat to the next person
How round-robin assignment works for WhatsApp chats: taking turns in a team, keeping a returning customer with their owner, and what makes it fair.
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- By WavesFlo team
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Round-robin hands each new chat to the next person in a team, in turn, so no one is picked by habit and no lead waits for someone to notice it. It works only with three exceptions built in: a returning customer goes back to their last owner, people who are away are skipped, and someone already full is passed over. Without them, taking turns makes things worse.
How does round-robin work in WavesFlo?
- You set up a queue for the team in Settings, under Assignment queues, with taking turns as its method.
- A new chat on a number the team answers goes to the next person in the list.
- If the customer has written before, it goes to whoever answered them last, if they are eligible.
- People who are signed out, off shift or over their cap are skipped, and the turn passes on.
- A manager or team leader can still hand a chat on with its notes, or leave it in the shared queue.
What makes it fair?
| Problem | What handles it |
|---|---|
| A customer writes again and gets someone new | A returning customer goes back to their last owner |
| A chat lands on someone who is away | Only signed-in people on shift are eligible |
| One person is buried | A cap on open chats; over it, they are skipped |
| Two people answer one customer | A live typing indicator shows when a colleague is already answering |
| A lead is stuck with the wrong person | Hand-off with notes, to a person or another team |
| Nobody can see how it was decided | Each assignment records what decided it |
What goes wrong in practice?
- Mixed-skill teams. Taking turns gives a new hire the same chats as your best closer. Use separate queues for work that needs different skill.
- Uneven leads. If one source brings the best chats, turns do not even that out. Look at the pipeline by source.
- Gaming. People who can pick what they take will pick the easy work. Round-robin removes the choice, and Get next puts it back, so decide which you want.
- Silent queues. A chat nobody is eligible for must show somewhere. Watch the backlog.
How do you roll it out in a week?
- Day 1: list the teams and the numbers each answers.
- Day 2: create one queue per team with taking turns as the method, and set a cap.
- Day 3: set shifts and time off, so only people who are working are eligible.
- Day 4 to 5: run it alongside assigning by hand, and read the assignment log for surprises.
- Week 2: turn off the manual routine, and keep hand-off with notes for exceptions.
Where does it fit?
Round-robin is the simplest rule in a wider queue, and it sits alongside assigning by hand. For the manual routine, see how to assign WhatsApp chats.
Taking turns works the same whether a team answers one number or twenty, because every linked number's chats meet in one shared inbox before the next person on the team is chosen.
Questions
What is round-robin assignment for WhatsApp?
Giving each new chat to the next person in a team in turn, so work is shared without anyone choosing.
Does a returning customer get a new agent?
No. They go back to whoever answered them last, if that person is eligible.
Does round-robin skip people who are away?
Yes. Only people signed in, on shift and under their cap are eligible.
Can I still assign a chat by hand?
Yes. A manager or team leader can hand any chat on with its notes, or leave it in the shared queue.