Reassigning tasks during employee absence
TL;DR: When an employee is unexpectedly away, use Uku's Dashboard and Calendar to filter their tasks, prioritize by deadline or importance, and delegate or reschedule work to other team members using bulk actions or drag-and-drop.
Who can do this
Users with admin or manager permissions in Uku
Team leads who need to reassign tasks within their teams
Overview
Unexpected absences (such as illness, vacation, or other leave) can disrupt workflows and risk missed deadlines. Timely task reorganization ensures that client service is not affected and important tasks are completed on time.
Uku offers several tools to quickly review an absent employee's responsibilities and delegate them to other team members.
Setting priorities
Before reassigning tasks, identify which ones need immediate attention:
Sort tasks by due date to see the ones with the nearest deadlines.
Use the Important filter to highlight critical work. Read how to mark tasks as important.
Group tasks with the Overdue status to find tasks that have already passed their deadline.
This gives you a clear overview of what needs immediate attention and what can wait.
Finding tasks in the Dashboard
Filter tasks by employee name
Open the Dashboard.
Set the desired time period (e.g., the employee's week of absence).
Use the User filter and select the absent employee's name.
Optionally add a Task status filter (e.g., select To Do).
You will now see the selected employee's tasks for that period.
Grouping by topic
Use the Group function in the Dashboard (e.g., group by TSD, Statistics).
Filter by the absent employee's name.
Select the topic-related tasks and delegate them to a replacement.
Read more about the Uku Dashboard.
Managing tasks in the Dashboard
Once tasks are filtered, you can decide what to do with them:
Postpone -- If you know when the employee will return, extend the deadlines.
Delegate -- If tasks must be completed sooner, assign them to other team members.
After delegating tasks, verify that the new assignee can see them by checking their task list filters.
Read more about bulk actions.
Delegating individual tasks from the client profile
Open the client profile.
Select the required tasks.
Mark them and delegate to the substitute.
Using the Calendar to reorganize tasks
The Calendar provides a visual overview of workload distribution and helps place tasks on suitable days.
Filtering employee tasks in the Calendar
Open the Calendar view.
Use the filter bar.
In the Users filter, select the absent employee.
Moving tasks in the Calendar
Drag and drop a task from one day to another.
Uku automatically updates the task's start date.
Make sure the new date aligns with the deadline.
In the Calendar, tasks can only be moved one at a time. Bulk actions are not available in the Calendar view.
Read more about the Calendar.
Troubleshooting
Tasks do not appear after filtering: Review all applied filters for accuracy. Remove unnecessary filters (status, assignee, project, or date) to broaden the task list view.
Delegated tasks not visible to new assignee: Ensure the new assignee's task list is set to display tasks assigned to them. After reassignment, check that no conflicting filters are hiding the tasks.
Cannot drag tasks in the Calendar: Verify you are in the Calendar view and that the task is assigned to the filtered user. Only individual tasks can be moved by dragging; use the Dashboard for bulk operations.
Need to reassign many tasks at once: Use bulk actions in the Dashboard rather than the Calendar. Select multiple tasks, then reassign or reschedule them in a single operation.