Assign Tasks to Roles - Teamwork.com Support

Feature overview

What	Assign tasks to roles so you can plan project work by function before confirming who will complete it. You can then reassign role-based tasks to people individually, from within a project, or when a tentative project is confirmed.
Why	Keep planning moving when work is known but staffing is not confirmed. Define work by function (Designer, Developer, etc.) instead of waiting for named users. Move from planning to delivery faster by reassigning role-based tasks to people when staffing is confirmed. Support more consistent planning and project setup workflows.
Who	Users who can create or edit tasks can assign roles where supported. Users with permission to update all tasks can reassign tasks from roles to people in bulk. Project admins and site admins can confirm projects and complete the reassignment step during project confirmation. Site admins and permitted users can create and manage roles. 🔑 Your project permissions determine which tasks you can update and whether reassignment actions are available.
When	Use roles during early planning, templates, quoting, or tentative project setup when you know the work required but not the final assignee. Example: Build templates using roles before staffing is confirmed. Example: Reassign tasks from roles to people from within a project. Example: Confirm a project and assign role-based tasks to people.

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Before you start

Roles must already exist before assigning them to tasks.
Roles represent the type of work. They do not control permissions.
Role assignment is rolling out progressively and may not appear in all views initially.
Tasks assigned to roles can later be reassigned to users individually, from within a project, or during project confirmation.

Quick start

Create roles such as Designer or Developer.
Select a task’s assignee field.
Choose a role.
Replace the role with a user when staffing is confirmed.
Use the reassignment option from within a project or when confirming a project to update multiple role-based tasks at once.

Assign a task to a role

Assign a role to plan work before choosing a person. The role represents the work required, not the person completing it.

Open the task.
Click the assignee field.
Search for and select a role.
Click the role name (or the + beside it) to assign it to the task.

Task assigned to a role using the assignee picker

Reassign a role-based task to a user or team

Replace a role with a user or team using the same assignee picker.

Open the task.
Click the assignee field.
Search for a user or team.
Click the name (or the + beside it) to assign it to the task.

Suggested users

When selecting a user for a role-assigned task, the assignee picker may highlight relevant users.

Users with the selected role may appear at the top as Suggested.
Only users already on the project are shown.
The Suggested label appears only when a role is selected.

Reassign role-based tasks to people in bulk

You can reassign tasks from roles to people from within a project, or as part of confirming a tentative project.

This helps transition from planning to delivery without updating each task individually.

🔑

Users with permission to update all tasks can reassign tasks from roles to people in bulk from within a project. Only project admins or site admins can confirm a tentative project and complete this reassignment step during project confirmation.

Reassign tasks from roles within a project

You can reassign tasks from roles to people at any time from within a project.

Open the project.
Click the ⋯ (more options) menu in the top right.
Select Reassign tasks from roles.

This opens the reassignment modal, where you can assign people to each role and update multiple tasks at once.

Modal for reassigning tasks from roles to people

How reassignment works

Each role is listed with its assigned tasks.
Select a person for each role to assign all tasks for that role. The selection is optional. Choose Reassign tasks or Skip for now.
Task data, estimates, and history are preserved.
Users added through reassignment are added to the project.

Use roles in project planning

Role-based task assignments help you plan work based on the type of work required, not the specific people available. This makes it easier to scope projects, forecast capacity, and move smoothly from planning into delivery.

Define work by role before assigning specific people.
Plan projects even when staffing is not yet confirmed.
Use roles in supported planning areas, such as Workload Planner and Scheduler, to understand capacity and coverage.
Carry role-based planning from templates into project setup.
Assign users when staffing decisions are made.

💡

Plan work by role first, then assign people when you're ready to move into delivery.

Roles vs placeholders

Roles and placeholders both help you plan work before final assignments are made, but they serve different purposes.

Roles

Purpose: Define the type of work needed before staffing decisions are made.

Use when: You are scoping projects, creating templates, quoting work, forecasting capacity, or planning work before the final assignee is known.

Examples: Designer, Developer, Project Manager, QA Engineer.

Placeholders

Purpose: Represent a tentative staffing assumption before assigning a real person.

Use when: You are modeling availability, rates, contractors, future hires, or unnamed resources in resource planning workflows.

Examples: Future hire, contractor, regional resource, temporary stand-in.

💡

In short: Roles define the work. Placeholders represent a staffing assumption.

FAQ

What are role-based task assignments?

Role-based task assignments let you assign tasks to roles instead of users so you can plan work by function before confirming who will complete it.

Do roles control permissions?

No. Roles describe the type of work required. They do not control access or permissions.

Can I reassign tasks to users?

Yes. Use the assignee picker for individual tasks, or use Reassign tasks from roles from within a project to update multiple tasks at once. You may also be prompted to reassign role-based tasks when confirming a tentative project.

What permission is required?

Users can manage assignees on tasks they have permission to edit. Users with permission to update all tasks can reassign tasks from roles to people in bulk from within a project. Only project admins or site admins can confirm projects and complete the role reassignment step during project confirmation.

What happened to Choose Later?

Choose Later is still available during the initial release of role-based task assignments. In a future phase, we plan to sunset Choose Later in Project Templates and Task List Templates as roles become the more flexible way to define work before staffing decisions are made. We will share migration guidance before any changes are made.

Why use roles instead of users?

Roles let you plan work before staffing is confirmed. They help you define what work needs to be done first, then assign the right people when staffing decisions are made.

Why don't I see roles in every task view?

Role assignment is being added progressively and may not appear in all task views or pop-ups yet.