Mentor queues: how to triage questions without burnout
Mentor queues fail when they become an always‑on firehose. A queue has to be public, time‑boxed, and documented or it turns into DM debt.
Set a queue window
Define a daily window when mentors respond. Outside that window, responses are async. Two short windows (late morning + late afternoon) is enough.
Require a minimum question format
Ask for the minimum context so mentors don’t have to play 20 questions:
- What service or repo?
- What did you try?
- What output or error did you see?
- Link to the dashboard or log query you checked
Triage by category
- Blocking: production impact or on-call emergencies
- Important: onboarding milestones or build failures
- Later: knowledge questions with no immediate impact
Rotate mentors
A weekly rotation spreads load and keeps knowledge fresh. One owner is a burnout trap.
Capture the answer
Every answer should become a short entry with an owner and a source link. If the same question shows up three times, schedule a fix (runbook, doc, or alert).
Mentor queues work when the answers outlive the question.