Round-robin scheduling that balances your team’s workload
When clients book without choosing a specific person, Picktime takes care of the assignment. Distribute bookings in your preferred order, balance them evenly across your team, or share them fairly based on the service booked.
Choose how bookings are shared
Not every team shares work the same way. Round-robin scheduling assigns bookings automatically, in the way that suits your team.
By team member priority
Set the order of your team members, and Picktime assigns bookings based on that priority. Ideal when certain people, like senior staff or team leads, should get first preference.
- 1Abby KentBusy at 11:00am
- 2Dylan MooreAssigned
- 3Mia KnightNot reached
By priority and total bookings
Is one person fully booked while another has open slots? Picktime assigns the next appointment to the team member with the fewest bookings, helping everyone get a fair share.
Distribute bookings by team member priority and service booking count
Total bookings might look balanced, but one stylist could still be handling every hair coloring appointment. Picktime counts bookings for each service and assigns the next one to the team member with the fewest bookings for that service.
Assignment rules are on the paid plans
On Pro
- Round robin, so an unnamed booking goes to the right person
- 10 to 100 team members
- Unlimited locations
- 10 resources
- Two-way calendar sync
On Starter
- No round robin
- 3 team members
- 2 locations
- Specific booking links
- Two-way calendar sync
On Free
- No round robin
- 3 team members
- 2 locations
- Unlimited appointments
- One-way calendar sync
Booking a named person
Clients choosing a particular team member, and everybody keeping their own hours and services, works on the free plan.
The rule for everybody else
Deciding automatically who an unassigned booking lands on is on the paid plans.
One team member is fully booked, and another is waiting for bookings
A client books without choosing a specific person. Someone still needs to take that appointment. Without a clear assignment rule, bookings often go to whoever answers the phone, checks the calendar, or happens to be available at that moment.
Over time, one team member ends up juggling back-to-back appointments while another has plenty of open slots. The workload becomes uneven, not because anyone planned it that way, but because every booking was assigned separately.
One booking might not make a difference. Thirty bookings without a clear system certainly will. Picktime's round-robin scheduling automatically assigns bookings across your team, so you don't have to do it yourself. Set your preferred assignment order, distribute bookings evenly across the team, or balance them by service. Every booking follows a clear rule, so one person doesn't end up doing all the work while others wait.
Round-robin assignment is available on paid plans, while customers can still book a specific team member by name without it.
Tue 10:00A client books, nobody named
Whoever is nearest the diary
- Week 1Four for Drew, one for Sam Drew was at the front desk, so most bookings went to him. Nobody noticed.
- Week 2Five for Drew, none for Sam Sam was away for two days, and Drew kept getting the bookings. The gap grew.
- Week 3Three for Drew, two for Sam Someone noticed the difference and tried to balance things manually. But only this once.
- Week 4Nobody's tracking bookings Drew feels overworked. Sam wants more appointments. Both know something's off.
UnevenBy accident
A rule you set once
- Set onceFewest bookings gets it Set your preferred assignment order, or distribute bookings evenly across the team.
- Tue 10:00Sam has fewer, so Sam Picktime assigns the next appointment to the team member with the fewest bookings.
- Month endA split you can defend Every booking follows a clear rule, so one person doesn't end up doing all the work.
EvenBy the rule
The problem? Every booking made sense at the time. But by the end of the month, one person was overloaded while the other had empty slots.
What people say about Picktime
Great free scheduling tool. The ability to book directly from Google Maps and to start charging for appointments! It is crazy how many free features Picktime gives you. I also like how I can manage multiple accounts for my staff.
The perfect tool to book appointments in organizations. Easy to use and integrable with Facebook. It allows to book appointments with multiple locations/people. It simplifies all the process and sync it with your calendar.
I love this company. Packed full of features, this software works perfectly and the customer support is outstanding! I am so happy with this company, I liked everything about this software.
FAQs for Round Robin
What does round robin mean in appointment scheduling?
Round robin scheduling automatically distributes customer appointments among eligible team members. In Picktime, Round Robin assigns bookings based on team-member priority, total bookings that day, or bookings for a particular service. This reduces manual assignment while keeping appointments aligned with your team's availability.
Does Picktime's Round Robin rotate bookings evenly among team members?
Picktime's Round Robin does not guarantee equal booking counts or follow a fixed rotation. Priority-based assignment can repeatedly select the highest-priority available team member, while the other methods favor team members with fewer bookings that day or for the selected service. Actual distribution depends on your chosen method and team availability.
Does Round Robin assign bookings only to available team members?
Yes. Picktime's Round Robin considers each team member's availability and the services they're assigned to. It checks whether someone is available for the requested appointment time before assigning the booking. This helps prevent scheduling conflicts and keeps appointments aligned with your team's working hours.
Which Round Robin assignment method should I choose?
Choose priority-based assignment to offer bookings to available team members in your preferred order. Use total-booking distribution to favor team members with fewer appointments that day, or service-specific distribution to balance appointments for a selected service. Team-member priority also helps resolve ties. Picktime offers all three methods on its Pro plan. For the latest plan features and limits, see Picktime pricing.
Can customers choose a specific team member instead of using Round Robin?
Yes. Picktime lets you configure your Booking Page so customers can choose their preferred team member instead of relying on automatic assignment. Customers can select an available provider for their appointment, while automatic assignment supports those without a preference. This helps you accommodate different booking needs.
Can I change my Round Robin assignment settings later?
Yes. In Picktime, go to Online Booking > Settings and find Round Robin under Booking Settings. You can change your preferred distribution method and save the updated settings. This lets you adjust how new appointments are assigned as your team's scheduling needs change.
How does Round Robin work when Approve Bookings is enabled?
When Round Robin and Approve Bookings are enabled together, Picktime continues assigning booking requests to the first team member until the first request is approved. After approval, the next new booking goes to the next available team member. Bookings paid through the online Booking Page are confirmed automatically, even when approval is enabled.
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Let Picktime Assign Bookings for You
Save time by automatically assigning appointments to your team based on their priority and booking availability. No more manual assignments.