@@ -49,15 +49,49 @@ Please note that while any simple questions or requests should be answered when
Time Off by Deel will ping you the day before the CSM returns. Be sure to let the CSM know about any requests or situations that occurred when they return so they can follow up, as well as any actions you took while they were out.
#### Americas East PTO Buddy Program
#### Americas CSMA PTO Buddy Program
As of July 2021, the Americas East CSM team is trialing a program where each CSM is paired with another CSM to be each other's regular PTO backup. The goal of this program is to allow the CSM's customers to become familiar with the backup CSM so they feel like they can rely on them, as well as to allow the backup CSM to become familiar with the customers so they can better cover any ongoing or new initiatives.
The Americas CSMA team operates a PTO buddy program where each team member is paired with a peer to serve as each other's regular PTO backup. The goal of this program is to allow customers to become familiar with the backup so they feel they can rely on them, while giving the backup enough ongoing familiarity with the accounts to cover any active or emerging initiatives confidently.
Additionally, it removes the uncertainty of having to ask the wider team if anyone is available to cover for them. It will also allow SAs to focus on SA work, as they should typically only be involved in pre-sales motions, and as such they may not even have more background on current customer initiatives than a backup CSM would.
The program also removes the uncertainty of finding ad-hoc coverage for every PTO — each team member always knows who their buddy is. It allows SAs to remain focused on pre-sales work, and it gives team members broader exposure to how their peers engage with customers, improving the team's overall efficiency and range of thought.
Hopefully as an additional benefit, CSMs will have more exposure to how other team members work and what challenges and initiatives customers have, which will improve our team's efficiency and diversity of thought.
##### Creating a Coverage Issue
As the East team continues to trial this program, they will share feedback and insights to the wider CSM organization.
For each account that needs active attention during your PTO, create an issue in your team's collaboration project and assign it to your PTO buddy. A well-prepared coverage issue is what allows your buddy to act confidently and in the customer's best interest without having to dig through Gainsight, prior meeting notes, or Slack history.
The quality of your coverage issue directly determines whether your buddy can cover you — or just hold the line.
**What to include:**
**Customer Overview**
Start with a brief but honest summary of the relationship and where the account stands. Your buddy should finish reading this section and immediately understand the customer's engagement posture, maturity level, and what they expect from GitLab. Include:
- What the customer is focused on right now and why it matters to them
- The relationship dynamic — are they strategic, early-stage, technical, exec-driven?
- Any relevant recent history (migrations completed, initiatives launched, prior commitments made)
- One or two sentences on how to engage well with this customer (e.g., "they expect precise answers; taking questions offline is normal and expected")
**Active Priorities**
List the workstreams that are actively in motion. For each one, briefly explain where things stand, what the customer expects to happen, and whether any action is needed during coverage. Not everything needs attention — the goal is to make sure your buddy understands what's live so they're not caught off-guard.
**Key Contacts**
Provide both the GitLab account team and the key customer contacts. For customer contacts, go beyond titles — include a sentence on how each person engages: who drives technical questions, who sets strategic tone, who to loop in vs. who makes decisions. This is the context that turns a contact list into something actually useful.
**Action Items During Coverage**
Be specific. List any meetings, check-ins, or customer touchpoints that will occur during your PTO with the date, time, and what your buddy needs to do (run the call, take notes, monitor for specific topics, etc.). If a meeting is covered by someone else or cancelled, say so.
**Standing Context (No Action Expected)**
Just as important as what needs to happen is what does *not* need to happen. Document items your buddy should be aware of — ongoing workstreams, pending investigations, background discussions — but that don't need to be advanced during coverage. This prevents well-intentioned but premature action on things you're actively managing.
**Escalation Path**
Identify who your buddy should contact if something escalates — typically your manager — and describe the specific conditions that warrant an escalation (customer frustration, commercial risk, relationship concerns). Don't make your buddy guess.
**Resources**
Link to the customer's collaboration project, relevant epics or success plan, account notes, and any other artifacts your buddy would need to act or get context quickly.
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The goal of a coverage issue is not to document everything — it's to give your buddy enough context to represent you and the customer relationship well for the duration of your absence. When in doubt, include it.
