Pairing sessions

This document provides information on pairing sessions in Support.

Overview

Pairing sessions are a core practice in GitLab Support that involve two or more Support Engineers working together collaboratively on tickets, troubleshooting issues, and sharing knowledge. These sessions are essential for knowledge transfer, skill development, and providing excellent customer support.

What are pairing sessions?

Pairing sessions are collaborative working sessions where Support Engineers:

  • Work together on customer tickets or other tasks in real-time
  • Share knowledge and troubleshooting approaches
  • Learn from each other’s expertise and experience
  • Solve complex technical problems as a team
  • Build relationships across the global support team

Pairing sessions generally happen synchronously (live video calls) but can happen asynchronously through Slack threads and shared ticket work.

Types of pairing sessions

Pairing sessions

  • Purpose: Collaborate on specific customer tickets
  • Duration: Typically 30-60 minutes
  • Participants: Usually 2 Support Engineers
  • Focus: Problem-solving, troubleshooting, and customer communication

Crush sessions

  • Purpose: Group pairing sessions where multiple engineers work together on tickets
  • Duration: Typically 60 minutes
  • Participants: Multiple Support Engineers (typically 3-10)
  • Schedule: Regular weekly sessions in each region (APAC, AMER, EMEA) plus cross-regional sessions
  • Format: Structured group sessions focused on collaborative ticket work and knowledge sharing

Senior/Staff help sessions (Office Hours)

  • Purpose: Senior and Staff Support Engineers providing guidance to other Support Engineers
  • Duration: Typically 60 minutes
  • Participants: Multiple Support Engineers (typically 2+)
  • Focus: Helping determine next steps, identifying subject matter experts, and providing direction
  • Schedule: Recurring sessions (depending on the DRI)
  • Format: Open sessions where anyone can join for assistance or dedicated time for specific help

Getting started with pairing sessions

To begin participating in pairing sessions:

  • Join crush sessions: These scheduled group sessions are a great way to start - check the GitLab Support calendar for times in your region

    • Look for calendar events with “crush” or “collaboration” in the title

  • Join Senior/Staff help sessions: Open sessions where you can get guidance and assistance - check the GitLab Support calendar for times

    • Look for calendar events with “Senior Help”, “Office Hours”, or “Help Session” in the title

  • Find Support Engineers to pair with:

    • Use the Skills by Subject page to identify subject matter experts
    • Ask in #support_team-chat to see if anyone would like to pair with you
    • Feel free to schedule time in other Support Engineers’ calendars even if it’s unprompted - it’s a great opportunity to meet someone you haven’t worked with before

  • Use Slack channels: Join the regional donut channels for automatic pairing opportunities

  • Be Proactive: Don’t wait until you’re stuck - pairing is most effective when done regularly

Tips

  • Consider setting up recurring calendar events for pairing sessions with Support Engineers
  • Try the Team Tracking template to pair with everyone globally
  • Ask Support Managers if they would like to pair too!

Tools and tracking

Pairing sessions are tracked to help with team metrics, individual development, and knowledge sharing.

Using Slack for pairing sessions

Most pairing conversations happen in #spt_pairing, but they can occur in other channels too.

When pairing through Slack:

  • Create a thread for your pairing session
  • Include all relevant ticket URLs and participants in the conversation
  • Use mentions (@username) to ensure everyone involved is tagged
  • The conversation serves as documentation of the collaboration

Pairify

Pairify is our Slack bot that automatically creates pairing issues from Slack conversations. It monitors channels for pairing threads and creates tracking issues automatically when you react with the Pairify emoji (:pairify:) emoji.

Manual tracking

You can also create pairing issues manually in the Support Pairing project using the appropriate templates.

Viewing pairing data

You can view your pairing history on the team pairing summary page.

Do note that pairing data is used for performance reviews and career development discussions.

Last modified June 26, 2025: Remove sentence from APAC donut (dfcc5c9b)
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