A Branch Out session is a crush session where the focus is on helping a Support Global Group with balancing load, particularly on tickets in the FRT stage.
Usually, at least in the early days of SGG, this will be when there are a lot of FRT tickets that are breached or imminently breaching in one (or maybe two) groups, while the remaining groups are in a more manageable state.
As an example, APAC had a Branch Out session when Kapok had 5 breached FRTs, but none imminently breaching, and all other groups had at least 4 hours until the next FRT breach.
Yes! When you work on a ticket during a branch out session, and you’re from a different Global Group, you need to think about assignment and load. Because the focus is typically on FRTs, the tickets won’t have an assignee, so these will be assigned during the Branch Out session.
Anyone can initiate a Branch Out session either as a new meeting or as the focus of a scheduled Crush session. It’s helpful to first check the ZD view of each group to see their current state before suggesting a Branch Out. It may be that we’re in a surge period and all groups are facing a deluge of FRTs, in which case a normal crush session in which you help each other to progress tickets is just as useful.
Ways you might initiate a Branch Out session