Most L3 support teams don't have a documentation problem.
They have a decision problem.
New L3 engineers take months to become effective.
Senior engineers are constantly interrupted.
And the same incident types keep coming back.
This isn't because people aren't smart. It's because critical decision knowledge lives in a few heads — and nowhere else.
See How It Works
Watch a 5-minute walkthrough of the Time-to-Competence Sprint methodology and results
When incidents happen, junior L3 engineers often don't know:
which symptoms actually matter,
which diagnostics are a waste of time,
when to keep digging,
and when escalation is mandatory.
So they either escalate too early — or too late.
Senior engineers step in, firefight, and move on.
But the underlying knowledge never gets transferred.
The result is predictable:
longer resolution times
SLA pressure
burnout
fragile support organization
This is not an onboarding problem.
And it's not a training problem.
It's a decision-transfer problem.
Traditional onboarding focuses on what systems are.
But L3 effectiveness depends on knowing how experienced engineers think under pressure.
That knowledge is rarely written down — and when it is, it's not usable during real incidents.
That's what the Time-to-Competence Sprint is designed to fix.
In a focused, 10-working-day engagement, we extract how your senior L3 engineers actually diagnose and decide — and turn that into decision-ready guidance new L3s can use immediately.
No training slides.
No wiki dumping.
No generic playbooks.
Only what works during real incidents.
How It Works
We work with your team to:
analyze real incidents and escalation patterns
interview senior L3 engineers about how they think, not what they know
identify recurring failure and decision patterns
and structure those into clear, usable playbooks
The goal is simple:
reduce escalation overload and shorten the time it takes for new L3 engineers to operate independently.
Deliverables
At the end of the sprint, you receive:
A Minimum Viable L3 Competence Map
A clear definition of what a new L3 must be able to handle independently after two weeks, four weeks, and eight weeks.
Top Stuck Points
A list of the top situations where junior engineers typically get stuck, based on your real incidents — not theory.
Decision Playbooks
For your most common incident patterns: what symptoms usually mean, what they usually don't mean, which checks matter first, when to stop digging, and when escalation is required.
Case Library
Real incidents — what fooled people, what mattered, what fixed the issue, and what to watch for next time.
Escalation Rules
Clear escalation rules and ownership guidelines so the value doesn't decay over time.
What Changes
Teams typically see:
fewer unnecessary escalations,
faster resolution of recurring incidents,
shorter ramp-up time for new L3 engineers,
and less interruption for senior staff.
We don't promise miracles.
We promise measurable improvement in the areas that matter.
Set Expectations
This sprint only works if:
senior engineers are willing to share real cases,
recent incident data is available,
and there's agreement on what "independent L3" actually means.
If those conditions aren't met, this is not the right solution — and we'll say that upfront.
Optional: AI Decision Assistant
After the sprint, some teams choose to add an optional AI-supported decision assistant.
This assistant is trained exclusively on:
your validated playbooks,
your real case library,
and your escalation rules.
It helps engineers quickly find relevant guidance during incidents, walk through approved decision paths, and surface similar past cases.
It does not replace engineers.
It does not make autonomous decisions.
And it does not bypass escalation rules.
Think of it as guided access to your best knowledge under pressure — nothing more.
Investment
The Time-to-Competence Sprint runs for ten working days with a fixed scope and a fixed price.
It costs less than:
one prolonged outage,
one missed SLA,
and far less than hiring another senior engineer.
If your L3 support team feels overloaded, fragile, or too dependent on a few individuals, this sprint gives you a fast, practical way to stabilize and scale.
We'll tell you honestly whether this is a fit — or not.