Writing an escalation, a hand off, a shift note, whatever you want to call it, feels easy at first.

You’re in the seat, you’ve got something to pass to someone, how hard could it be.
But context and mode switching is a lot tougher than it seems, and we kind of assume other people know the things we know. Even in the moment.

When you’re handing off an escalation to someone, they need to cognitively shift from whatever task they were doing, and into your problem. Even when information is ‘easily found’, it’s workload you’re pushing onto someone else, when it could be solved now.

Most bad escalations aren’t missing information – they’re missing context.

Escalations are a communication skill, not an admin task.

Pointing out that “customer is angry” isn’t as useful, and isn’t coming from your expertise. It’s the information on why they’re angry, what makes this situation different, why you think it needs to be escalated at all. So what information did you have and use in the moment, and what information does the next moment need?

Good escalations answer some core questions:

What happened?

Why does it matter?

What’s already been said?

What decision do you need made?

How urgent is it?

Your job with an escalation isn’t to transfer information. Your job is to transfer understanding.

Think about where an escalation is going. 

Whoever is receiving it, needs to think, process and make a decision. And from an external perspective, you never know who could need to be on the receiving end. If you’ve got an ongoing relationship with someone, or a long term partnership? It actually makes it more likely to leave out critical details. We get comfortable, we make assumptions. 

Sending a note that says “Here’s another one!” can feel simple and logical when you’ve had 3 issues back to back, but it’s a lot of work and stress for someone opening them in reverse order 6 hours later. 

In many organisations, templates work, because it guarantees which information is included, which matters far more for the receiving end, than it does for you sending it. It also creates a space for responsibility, who’s going to own this? And where is it coming back to?

Process is as much about cognitive load, as it is about consistency.

Templates don’t exist to make life easier for the person writing the escalation. They exist to reduce the thinking required by the person receiving it.

A good escalation takes away the work that doesn’t need to be there. It shifts the person on the other end from trying to reconstruct the situation, to problem solving immediately.

Good escalation notes save time, reduce risk and stop customers repeating themselves.