Q3 begins on 1st August, which coincides with the go-live for the evolution of the Support Team Structure & Routing ([epic](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-com/support/-/epics/313 "Evolve Support Team Structure & Routing")). The following are intended to be a simple and memorable set of actionable guiding principles to support us in delivering results this quarter.  --- **_Foundational_**: **Collaboration will always be our super power!**  Let’s keep it up and keep innovating on how we support each other!  1. **Start from the top of the queue.** If you find you need to skip lots of tickets, initiate a pairing or crush. * Ticket weight is there to help us get the next most impactful ticket to the top of the view.  * It’s understood that at Associate level there will be a need to hunt the queue for tickets you can work, and likewise during onboarding and to support learning goals.  * In general, the principle is to either start from the top of the queue, or at least signal boost in slack if you need to by-pass the first ticket for whatever reason, especially if it’s aging.  2. **Ticket assignment helps everyone.** Develop the habit of assigning the ticket before you compose your reply.  1. Assignment signals your commitment to work on a ticket async by taking it out of the queue, helps others understand what to work on next. 3. **Be a good neighbour**. Thoughtfully work as part of our global team to collectively deliver results for customers.  * Take assignment of APAC-preferred pending tickets through the day. This helps AMER and EMEA SEs focus on tickets that work best with greater timezone alignment. In turn, we depend on EMEA and AMER to pick up tickets we’ve handed over so we can focus on the tickets where we can have the best impact. * At the end of your day, unassign all out-of-region preferred tickets except for AMER low priority tickets. Use the macro `Support::Rehome::Initiate Rehome` when unassigning ([Issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/support/support-team-meta/-/issues/6244 "Create Rehome Macros")). * APAC and AMER have agreed that we keep assignment of AMER-preferred low-priority tickets which find their way to APAC. This helps them to focus on tickets that are better handled in-timezone. Use the `Support::Out of Region::Cross-region_Preferred region clarify assignment` to let the customer know and give them the option to insist on it being rehomed to AMER. **_Afterthought_**: Count of assigned tickets may increase as we get in the habit of assigning pending tickets.  This isn’t intended to be an increase in workload, and we need to learn from it, but keep it in mind as you think about what you consider “normal” for assigned ticket count. On the flipside, as all regions put more focus on receiving handover tickets, we anticipate the number of EMEA and AMER tickets assigned in APAC to reduce.  --- We'll hold space for discussion on this during the 30 July APAC team call. In the meantime, you can collaborate here in the issue or discuss with your manager in 1-1s. cc: @gitlab-com/support/apac