Escalation

Escalation at work - is it a bad word? 

From what I observe, people generally do not like to escalate bad news to seniors. Perhaps they are worried that 

🔫 they might be the messenger who get shot for delivering bad news

👎 they don’t want to appear incompetent

🏋️‍♀️ they are still trying their best to make it work 

😨they think this might spoil relationships 

However, in my early work years, I was taught to escalate matters before they get too serious. If the risks of project are highlighted earlier enough, with intervention by seniors, perhaps we could still salvage the situation. But if the escalation is too late, then all hope is gone - the bad outcomes will be inevitable. 

Hence, I think the trick is to strike a balance between over-escalating (as we should try to be independent enough to solve basic challenges) but know to escalate when intervention is needed before it’s too late. 

And to maintain good relationships and team dynamics, escalation should be focused on the issue / problem instead of fingerpointing at any individual or teams. 

What do you think might be the reasons that people don’t like to escalate ? And any more suggestions on how to escalate in a productive way? Do share. 

#escalation #worktips #personaldevelopment #jenelim