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How do you distribute work amongst your team?

  • 21 June 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 206 views

Round robin assignment rule 

How do you divvy up work on your team? As Front users, we already have a huge advantage working in shared inboxes compared to a traditional single-player inbox where everyone must share one login. Now, in this multiplayer inbox world, what further workflows do you use to make sure all the work is distributed? 

Share with us what your systems to assign work are, or browse the thread to get some ideas for your own team. If you see something you’re curious to know more about, feel free to ask in the thread. 

I’ll kick us off with an assignment rule that Front’s own support team uses for chats:

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Note: If your rule templates look a bit different, that’s because we’re rolling out an updated design that hasn’t gotten to you yet, but you can still recreate the above rules using your templates. The design is slightly different, but all the elements are the same.

Our Chat inbox receives messages from our customers who are on the plans with access to chatting with support. Since the nature of chats is that it’s an immediate conversation, rather than the asynchronous nature of email, we assign chats out right away using this rule template. We use the round robin option here rather than load balance because we don’t want one person who might have the fewest load at the time to get all the chats. If you’ve ever handled chats, you know they flow quickly and require your full attention like a real-life conversation, so it’s hard to handle multiple at a time!

We have all the Support teammates added to a teammate group called Support, so we just need to choose that group instead of adding each teammate individually (saves a lot of time when we have to make multiple rules for this team or when there are staffing changes). 

3 replies

laoise_scully

I lead our Growth Account team, where a small but mighty team of 4 collaborate in a shared inbox, helping customers with all their commercial needs and handling thousands of inbound queries per quarter.  

Due to our high inbound volume, and the fact that our team are global, assignment rules are really important to ensure nothing falls between the cracks and every conversation has clear ownership.

We use the round robin rule mentioned above, but there are some instances where I want certain individuals on my team to handle specific queries. For example, our Front instance is synced with our CRM so I can use smart rules (scale plan) to assign a conversation based on customer information. In the example below, I have used dynamic variables to pull in CRM account information, like the account owner, and have routed to that person (the below rule was built on the old rule builder so it might look different) :

To ensure this rule does not conflict with my round robin rule, I just had to order this rule to trigger before the round robin:

 

ellis_rost
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Being relatively new here at Front, I've had the pleasure of exploring some fantastic features that have made my work life not just more efficient but also incredibly enjoyable. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the ability to effortlessly jump into a teammate's personal email thread.

Example: You're working on a critical email response, and you come across a challenging question or need some input from a colleague who's the expert in that area. In a traditional email setup, this scenario might involve forwarding the email, writing a detailed explanation, and waiting for their response. But not at Front! 

Here, it's as simple as a few clicks. I can seamlessly join my teammate's email thread, see the context, and collaborate in real-time. It's like having a virtual brainstorming session, right there within the email client! We can bounce ideas off each other, fine-tune responses, and ensure that we're providing the best possible support to our clients or partners.

The best part? It's not just about problem-solving; it's about fostering a sense of camaraderie and teamwork. We're not isolated in our inboxes; we're a cohesive unit, working together to deliver top-notch service. Plus, it makes learning from each other a breeze. I've gained insights and strategies from my teammates that have truly elevated my email game.

In a nutshell, Front's collaboration features are a game-changer that blends efficiency with a dash of fun teamwork. It's one of those tools that makes you wonder how you ever got by without it. Here's to more email-thread adventures and collaborative victories!

danielle_hieronimi
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Each team has their own shared inbox. Once an email arrives in its designated shared inbox, the Director of the team decides the assignment. Some shared inboxes have automations with auto-replies, tagging, etc. We leave these decisions to their respective teams. We utilize the SLA breach and message template features, and are excited about the introduction of the knowledge base and dynamic objects!

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