Leadership is knowing when you can handle an issue alone and when you need support.
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Your job is to make your manager’s job easier. You were hired to do a job and presumably can handle independently most things that come your way. Having the skills, experience and knowledge to independently manage tasks and projects will help you feel like you don’t need your manager to sign off on every step.
You don’t want to come across as never knowing how to handle difficult situations, and you don’t want to seem as though you lack awareness to know when to approach your boss. Find that balance. Your manager’s time is precious, so finding that balance and knowing when to use their time is important. Here are five factors to consider to know if you need to escalate an issue:
1. Have you completed the same or similar task?
If you have managed a similar issue in the past, you probably have the tools to handle it on your own. You have more awareness now of the issue and context.
If this current incident is different, it may be wise to go to your manager for consultation on how to proceed. Even if the new incident seems simple, you may not have the experience to know that it may, in fact, be more complex.
2. Has your past performance been good or bad?
If you have proven that you can successfully handle a sticky issue, then you probably can handle the issue at hand again. If you did not handle well a similar, past situation, this may be the time to consult your manager.
Don’t go to your manager to explain the situation and ask what to do. Approach your manger with targeted questions to help you better navigate the issue this time. Think about what you didn’t do so well the last time and lessons learned to improve upon those aspects. This targeted approach will help you to use your manager’s time wisely.
3. Do you feel confident?
Have you thoroughly assessed the situation? Have you sought out information to challenge your perspective?
Feeling confident should come only after you have conducted due diligence and have the information you need to make an educated decision. It is not about taking a leap of faith and seeing what happens.
If you lack confidence, bring in your manager. Over time, your experience will help you to work through more incidents and build that confidence.
4. Is there great risk?
The situation at hand may involve a thorny issue or be high-profile. Your decision could come with loss in brand trust, reputational risk or litigation risk. Your decision could have a major impact. The riskier the situation, the more likely you should involve your manager.
5. Are multiple stakeholders involved?
The more people that could be impacted by your decision, the greater the likelihood that you should escalate the incident. Your manager may be in a better position to communicate cross-functionally and bring in colleagues from, for example, the legal, communications and product teams.
Rarely are issues simple. Rarely should decisions be made in a vacuum.
It is important that you communicate with your manager, but you should not be going to them for every decision. You need to make some of the decisions, so know when you can make those decisions. Consider whether you have completed a similar task in the past, your past performance in similar instances, your confidence, the risk level and the number of parties that may be impacted by your decisions.
What factors do you consider when deciding whether to escalate an issue? Share with me your stories and thoughts via Twitter or LinkedIn.
