Workload balancing

The Assign user(s) action lets you distribute conversations across your team. When you select multiple users, you choose how to assign them:

Distribution methods

1. All at once

2. Randomly

3. Round-robin (in turn)

4. Least busy first (fewest assigned conversations)

1. All at once

Every new conversation is assigned to all selected teammates simultaneously.

Example: If you have three support agents and four new requests, all three agents will see the four conversations in their inbox.

Use this when your team handles messages collaboratively or when everyone should stay aware of all new conversations.

2. Randomly

Missive assigns new conversations to teammates at random, without considering workload or order.

Example: A conversation might go to any teammate in the group, regardless of who handled the last one.

Use this when team members have similar roles and workloads, and fairness matters more than balance.

3. Round-robin

Round-robin is one of the most popular ways to distribute conversations evenly across a team. It automatically assigns new conversations to teammates in rotation, following a set order.

Example: If you have three support agents:

• The first new conversation goes to Agent A

• The next goes to Agent B

• Then Agent C

  The pattern then repeats from Agent A

Use this to ensure an even and predictable distribution of new requests across the team.

4. Least busy first

Missive assigns new conversations to the teammate with the fewest assigned conversations at that moment.

Example: If Agent A has 6 assigned conversations, Agent B has 5, and Agent C has only 1, the next new request will go to Agent C.

Use this for real-time balancing when workloads fluctuate throughout the day.

When to use each method

Method	Best for	Why it’s useful
All at once	Shared inboxes, collaboration-heavy teams	Everyone can see and respond to every new message.
Randomly	Small teams with equal responsibilities	Keeps assignment fair without added logic.
Round-robin	Structured support or sales teams	Ensures even distribution and consistency.
Least busy first	High-volume or dynamic support teams	Prevents overload by keeping workloads balanced in real time.

You can combine workload balancing rules with filters or conditions.

For example:

• Assign billing inquiries using round-robin

• Assign technical issues to the least busy teammate

This gives you full control over how each type of conversation is handled.

Out of office handling

By default, users marked as Out of office are skipped when assigning conversations.

If all selected users are out of office:

• The conversation moves back to the team inbox

• No one gets assigned until someone returns

To assign conversations even when users are away, disable the Skip out of office users option in the assignment action.

How to set it up

1. Go to Rules > Create rule

2. Add conditions

3. Select the Assign user(s) action

4. Select your teammates

5. In Assign selected users choose one of the assignment methods

Once saved, Missive will automatically assign new conversations according to your selected method.