Posting a new client into the group chat
A new enquiry comes in: a couple wanting Tuesday evenings, online. You post a short, anonymised note in the associates' WhatsApp group. Two therapists reply 'maybe', one says she might have space from next month, and the fourth does not see it until the next day.
Meanwhile another enquiry needs daytime in-room sessions and a therapist who works with adolescents. You think Sam does, but you are not sure if Sam still has capacity after taking two new clients last week.
Allocation is one of the most important things a group practice does. At the moment it runs on a chat thread and your memory.
Why allocation stays informal
When a practice starts, the lead knows every associate's week. As it grows, that knowledge spreads out and goes stale, but the process does not change.
- Capacity changes weekly as clients start and finish.
- Associates work different days, rooms and formats.
- Areas of work and client groups differ, and some associates do not take certain referrals.
- EAP or insurer clients may only go to associates registered with that scheme.
- Nobody records who was offered a client and who declined.
What informal allocation costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Slow allocation | New clients wait, and some go elsewhere |
| Uneven caseloads | Some associates are full while others have gaps |
| Poor fit | Clients offered to someone who is not the right match |
| Details in a chat app | Client information sitting in personal messaging |
| No record | No way to review how allocation has gone over a year |
The chat app is worth dwelling on. Even anonymised, details of a client's situation posted into a group on personal phones are harder to control than anything in a practice system.
An allocation board for the practice
- Each associate keeps a simple capacity profile: days and times available, in-room or online, how many more clients they can take, and the kinds of work and schemes they are set up for.
- Capacity updates from the diary where possible, and associates confirm or adjust it weekly with one tap.
- New enquiries arrive on the board with their needs: days, format, scheme, and any preference the client gave.
- The board shows which associates fit, and the practice manager offers the client to one of them. The associate accepts or declines in the system, with a reason if they decline.
- Accepted clients move into the associate's diary with the enquiry details, and the enquirer gets a confirmation from the practice.
- A log of every allocation, so you can see waiting times, acceptance rates by associate and where the gaps in capacity are.
Only what is needed for allocation is shared on the board. Anything more sensitive stays in the client record, visible to the allocated therapist.
Allocation after the change
A new enquiry comes in and the board already shows two associates who fit. You offer it, the associate accepts before their next session, and the client hears the same day. The group chat goes back to being for rota swaps and birthday cake.
You can finally see the practice's capacity as a whole, which makes hiring decisions much easier to reason about.
Associates benefit too. They stop feeling they have to watch the chat constantly in case a client goes to whoever replied first, and caseloads spread more evenly across the team because the board shows who has room rather than who is quickest on their phone.
Is this how your practice allocates?
- New clients are allocated through a group chat or email thread.
- You are unsure who has capacity this week.
- Some associates are overloaded while others have gaps.
- There is no record of who was offered a client and who declined.
- Client details are shared in personal messaging apps.