How to Assign Tasks to Employees: Beginner’s Video Guide
To assign tasks to employees in Planfix, add each colleague to your account, then pick them in the assignees field, which answers the first question of any task: who is responsible for it. This 76-second video shows how to add an employee, choose assignees and control who sees the task; for more options, see other ways to link assignees to a task. New to tasks? Start with how a task works in Planfix.
What the video covers
- Add a new employee and invite them to Planfix (0:13).
- Create a task and pick the right employee in the assignees field (0:25).
- Give one task several assignees who work on it together (0:34).
- Add employees to an existing task or create a task from an employee’s card (0:41).
- Set task access permissions by role: who only views a task, who edits it and who monitors it (0:49).
How to assign tasks to employees in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Add employees to Planfix
Go to the Employees section and select New employee. Enter the person’s first name, last name and email address, where their invitation to Planfix is sent. Save the changes, then repeat for each colleague to bring the team into one shared workspace.
Step 2. Pick the assignee when you create a task
Create a new task and select the right employee in the assignees field. By default, the task then waits in the New status with Accept and Decline buttons, and accepting moves it to In progress (tasks you assign to yourself skip straight to In progress). Declining asks for a reason that goes to the task’s assigner.
Step 3. Assign one task to multiple people
Several assignees can share one task and work on it together: this is the default option, This task has multiple assignees. When you create a task, the Add assignees setting in the Additional parameters tab offers other ways to link them:
- Subtask for each assignee: each person gets their own subtask, and the assigner tracks them all in the parent task.
- Checklist item for each assignee: one shared task where only an item’s assignee can mark it complete.
- Assignees set in sequence: tasks are distributed evenly among several people.
- First to accept (competitive assignment): two options make the first person to accept the assignee; the rest either stay as participants or are removed.
Step 4. Use an existing task or the employee card
You can add employees to an existing task or create a task for an employee directly from their card. Assignees are added or removed in the task’s Details panel.
Step 5. Control who can see and change the task
Planfix tasks have access permissions by role: some users only view a task, others edit it or monitor its completion. By default:
- Assigner (usually the person who created the task): adds actions, changes statuses, assignees and dates, edits and deletes the task.
- Assignee: adds actions and changes statuses, assignees and dates, but can’t edit or delete the task.
- Participant: views the task and adds actions.
- Task auditor and account administrator: all of the above.
See the full table of task access permissions by role.
Task assignee vs participant
A task assignee is the person responsible for completing the task. Assignees can be employees, employee groups, customers with access to your account, or external contacts without access who work on the task by email.
A participant has access to the task but isn’t responsible for it: they can comment, but can’t change the status or end date, and the task isn’t in their Inbox. Mentioning an employee with @ or + in a task comment adds them as a participant.
Tips for assigning tasks to employees
- One owner per result: when several people each deliver their own part, use Subtask for each assignee. To have everyone confirm they’ve read new instructions, use a checklist item for each assignee.
- Check the result before closing: the assignee moves the task to Ready for review, and the assigner sets Complete.
- Spread incoming work evenly: for sales or support requests, the Assignees set in sequence option distributes tasks evenly among several people.
- Give managers visibility without extra roles: in the Company structure, group managers have access to the tasks of all their subordinates.
FAQ
How do I reassign a task to another employee?
Open the task’s Details panel, remove the current assignee and add the new one; the change is recorded in the task log. If someone is on leave, hand over tasks to a temporary replacement instead. For a permanent handover, transfer their tasks from the employee card.
Can I assign a task to someone who doesn’t use Planfix?
Yes. Enter their email in the assignees field and press Enter. If they have a Planfix account in another company, Planfix finds them; if not, it creates a contact who works on the task by email, and their replies to notifications become comments.
Who gets notified when a task is assigned?
By default, only assignees get an automatic notification about a new task. Participants, auditors and managers get one only if they’re subscribed to notifications in their employee card or on the project’s Notifications tab.
Build your team in Planfix
Start with one colleague: add them and assign their first task. Clear task ownership is a good first step in Planfix task management software. Next, learn how to mention colleagues in task comments. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
This video was featured in What’s New in Planfix: June 2026.
