Assigning and transferring work

Assignment answers a simple question: Who owns this job right now? Keeping that clear helps technicians know what they are responsible for and helps managers see where work is sitting.

The ownership rule

Every open work order should have a clear owner, a clear reason if it is temporarily unassigned, and a visible handoff when responsibility changes.

Choose the right assignment action

Action	Use it when
Assign	One person should own the job
Leave unassigned	The work still needs manager triage
Add technician	More than one person is working the same job
Transfer	Primary responsibility moves to someone else

Assign a work order

You can assign a work order when you create it or later from the work-order details.

Choose the technician who should own the job. Once assigned, the work appears in the views that person uses to manage their work, including their work-order list and the shared Board, Table, and Calendar views.

Only people who can perform maintenance work — technicians, managers, and administrators — appear in the assignee picker. Requestors do not appear because they are the people work is for, not the people responsible for completing it.

Leave work unassigned when it still needs triage

You do not have to assign every work order immediately. Leaving a job unassigned can make sense when the problem has been logged but a manager still needs to decide who should handle it.

Unassigned should be temporary

Use unassigned work as a triage state, not a parking lot. Review it regularly so jobs do not sit without an owner longer than necessary.

Add extra technicians for multi-person work

Some jobs need more than one person. Keep one person as the main assignee, then use + Add technician to add helpers.

Extra technicians can work from the same work order and are recorded on the job. Adding or removing a helper becomes part of the work-order history, so the record reflects everyone who participated.

Transfer a work order

Transfer the work when responsibility genuinely changes — for example, when someone is out, priorities shift, or another technician is better suited to the job.

1. Open the work-order details.
2. Choose the new assignee.
3. Enter the reason for the transfer when prompted.
4. Confirm the change.

The reason is saved with the work order, and any labor, comments, parts, purchases, or other history already recorded stays with the job.

Write a useful transfer reason

A reason such as Transferred to Alex — electrical troubleshooting needed gives the next person more context than Reassigned.

Assignment does not mean work has started

A work order can be assigned and still remain Not Started. Change the status to In Progress when someone actually begins the work.

See Work order statuses explained for when to use each status.

What to do next

Once ownership is clear, the technician should keep the job record current as the work happens.

Continue with Tracking time, parts, and purchases.