IC — escalation path
Purpose: Reduce silent drift and surprise escalations (supports Q2 focus on healthy escalation volume — catch issues early, escalate clearly).
Order of escalation
- Peer / thread — quick unblock in team channel if trivial (access link, env var, typo).
- Service Lead — technical ambiguity, design decision, capacity, dependency on another pod, security concern.
- CSO — client priority conflict, sponsor-visible timeline risk, or comms needed to reset expectations (with SL in loop).
- Head of Delivery — systemic risk, repeated misses, cross-engagement priority conflict, or SL/CSO deadlocked (see escalation framework).
What “good” escalation looks like
- Within the same day you’re blocked — not end of sprint.
- Includes impact: what’s stuck, what’s at risk (date/milestone), what you already tried.
- Proposed next step when you have one (even if wrong — speeds routing).
Anti-patterns
- Founder ping before SL/CSO unless safety/legal/production-down.
- Silent carry — ticket “in progress” with no comment for days.
- Side deals in Slack DMs that change scope without CSO visibility.
Last updated: 2026-03-23