Field Note #9 – Escalations: Clarity over Drama

Intro. You’re shipping, but decisions slip. The PO is half-available, priorities wobble mid-sprint, dependencies stack up. Do you grind through, fight, or pull the lever? This note is a short guide to escalating without torching trust.

What escalation is. A formal path to move an unresolved issue/risk/incident to a level with the mandate to act — when it can’t be solved within current scope or SLAs — so the right decision happens in time.

---

Why escalation feels dangerous. Done clumsily, it can hurt trust (“troublemaker” stigma), slow resolution (you’re now waiting on busier people), or backfire (“you found it — you fix it”). But not escalating has a price too: compounding risks, missed integrations, unhappy customers. Your job is to pick the lesser risk — and frame it so the system helps, not hinders.

---

A quick decision framework.

Five signals it’s time to escalate

• Objective, not personal: scope, cost, quality, compliance at stake.
• Internal avenues exhausted: mitigation, persuasion, compromise tried.
• Actionable: you can say what’s broken and what must happen — in one sentence.
• Red-zone risk: high probability × high impact (or legal/SLA exposure).
• Clock is ticking: the fix window closes before the team can solve it alone.

Three questions before you do

• If leadership backs you, what’s the plan? Next steps, owners, resources.
• Can you keep it zero-blame? Facts, impacts, options only.
• Do you have a paper trail? Evidence of attempts before escalating.

---

How to do it (CIA: Context → Impact → Ask). Keep it short, neutral, specific.

• Context — what is blocked, since when, by what; who owns it; what you tried; links to tickets/evidence.
• Impact — what slips if not fixed by DATE/TIME; who’s affected; probability × impact; confidence level.
• Ask — the decision/action you need, from whom, by when; options (A/B) with a recommendation; what you’ll do immediately after the decision.

Trust Killers (avoid): blame, vague language, no dates or numbers, no plan.

Trust Builders (prefer): a tight one-pager, one directly responsible individual (DRI), and closing the loop.

---

One-pager, one owner, close the loop.

• One-pager — one screen of facts: TL;DR → Context → Impact → Options & recommendation → Decision needed by (owner + time) → Next steps & owners → links.
• DRI — one person drives end-to-end (often the initiator). If they lack mandate/bandwidth/cross-group reach, appoint another DRI explicitly.
• Close the loop — confirm receipt, track the decision in the source, assign next steps with due dates, and post the outcome back. If the deadline slips, run the fallback you proposed and update commitments.

---

Internal vs. external. Same mechanics, different optics.

If you initiate an external escalation: no surprises internally (pre-brief stakeholders); constructive zero-blame tone; short RCA + prevention (even “in progress”); one voice (single DRI/thread); time-bound checkpoint up front. Reference SLA/SOW only when helpful — don’t posture.

If you’re the addressee: ideally you see it coming; pre-brief leadership; acknowledge fast (same business day) with the next checkpoint; filter emotion → work the facts (cause, impact, options); ask crisp questions about scope/constraints/“what good looks like”; name a DRI, agree on cadence, share a single source of truth; apologize for impact when appropriate; avoid promises you can’t keep.

Practical extras. Escalate to the nearest effective level (where priority/resources/policy can change), not necessarily the top; a heads-up → formal escalation two-step (24–48h) often resolves issues without drama; “escalate now” triggers: safety/security, legal/compliance, SLA breach with penalties.

---

Recap. Escalate when the risk is objective, internal routes are exhausted, the problem is actionable, the risk sits in the red, and the clock is ticking. Deliver it with CIA, a tight one-pager, a clear DRI, and closed loops. Clarity beats volume; ownership beats drama.

Written by Ilya Komakhin