Request for Comments: Create a 'Support Collaboration' project to get async help
Request for comments
Need
- You're working on a ticket that's assigned to you and you'd like help with it.
- You're working a doc update and would like a collaborator to help with the process as you haven't made many docs updates.
We don't currently have a good way of getting the help you need. Asking in Slack can often result in no reply.
Approach
- Create a project called 'Support Collaboration' with a Board showing columns
Help Needed
andHelp Received
- Support Engineers create issues when they'd like help with an assigned ticket
- Link the ticket
- Summarise what you're looking for help with (e.g. need TLS troubleshooting skills)
- Support Engineers and managers (especially seniors and experienced folks) subscribe to the project to see updates
- A person volunteers to help by assigning the issue to themselves
- When the the original author is happy, the issue is closed.
Benefit
- More structured way to get help with tickets (async and can see which ones have received help and who helped)
- Help encourage assignment as feel more likely to be able to get help
- Can set positive goal for experienced people / seniors / managers to help out with X tickets per week (can track like we do with pairings and have a leaderboard)
Competition / Alternatives
- We could use Slack instead - e.g. we already have
#support_how-do-i-say
- we could use a channel like that - not so easy to track if help received and acted on - Use the list of Skills by subject and message people in Slack who you think might be able to help. Not able to track and results in lots of pings to people.
Edited by Tom Atkins