Eskalations

Eskalations is a term used to describe the process of moving an issue to higher levels of authority or expertise when initial handling cannot resolve it. In English, the standard term is escalation, and “eskalations” may appear as a variant spelling in multilingual contexts or as a direct loan in some languages (for example German Eskalationen or Indonesian eskalasi, depending on plural form). The underlying concept remains the same: transferring responsibility to more senior staff, specialized teams, or external partners.

The concept is applied across many sectors, including information technology, customer service, incident response, project management, and healthcare. It relies on a clearly defined escalation ladder with roles, thresholds, and time limits. Common triggers include unresolved issues, high severity or impact, policy violations, safety concerns, or breaches of service level agreements.

Process and practices typically involve several stages: detection and logging of the issue; triage and severity assessment; selection of the appropriate escalation path; notification and handover to the designated owner or team; ongoing monitoring and status updates; resolution and documentation; and a post-incident review to identify improvements. Effective eskalations require an escalation matrix, documented responsibilities, and agreed timelines to avoid delays and miscommunication.

Metrics used to evaluate escalation practice include escalation rate, mean time to escalate, mean time to resolution, SLA compliance, and lessons learned from post-incident reviews. Potential challenges include over-escalation, under-escalation, and fragmented information if roles and processes are not well defined. Related concepts include incident management, escalation matrices, and service level agreements.