Escalation is the rule for what happens when a task cannot move forward with its current owner. There are two kinds:
- Time-based: the task is past its deadline, so someone else is brought in.
- Authority- or expertise-based: the task needs a decision or knowledge the current owner does not have, such as an amount above their approval limit or a problem beyond first-line support.
A good escalation path is written down in advance: who is added, after how long, and what they are expected to do.
Why it matters
Without escalation, a request can sit in one inbox indefinitely and nobody notices until the requester complains. A clear path turns "I've been waiting two weeks" into a reminder on day two and a manager's attention on day four.
Example
A maintenance request has one business day for the facilities technician to respond (illustrative). At the deadline, the technician gets a reminder. Two business days later, the facilities manager is added to the request and decides whether to reassign it or call a contractor.
Common pitfalls
- Escalating straight to the top, which trains executives to ignore escalations.
- Escalations that are just more email, with no change in who owns the task.
- No context. The person who receives the escalation has to rebuild the history.
- Treating escalation as blame, so people avoid using it.
In Easyflow, a step that runs past its deadline sends overdue reminders and can add escalation contacts to the step automatically.