The Art of Escalation:

How to Solve Problems

Without Creating More

Today, let's talk about a topic that might send shivers down some freelancers' spines, while others aren't even sure what it is or how to deal with it. Yep, you guessed it — escalation.

Let’s break it down:

What escalation is (and isn’t)
When you should escalate a problem
How the process works
How our team embraces a culture of escalation

By the end of this, you'll have a much better understanding of whether this is something you need. Let's dive in!

What is Escalation?

We’ve gone through tons of articles from different fields — management, HR, customer service — and it’s easy to get lost in all the different definitions. Is escalation passing a task or problem to someone else? Is it about pulling in extra resources? Or is it raising the priority of an issue? Let’s clear things up together.

Escalation is not about passing off a task or responsibility to someone else.

If something is in your area of responsibility, it’s up to you to see it through. You’re the one who knows the ins and outs of that task. Imagine the chaos if everyone just “passed the buck.” Nothing would ever get finished, and we'd be playing a constant game of musical chairs with responsibilities.

The only exception would be a serious situation, like if someone gets sick or there’s a major emergency. In that case, we’ve got rule #4 of our basic communication guide, which you can check out here.

Escalation is about getting the right attention.

When we strip away the intimidating word “escalation,” what we’re really talking about is getting help when you’ve hit a problem that you can’t, or shouldn’t, solve on your own. You need someone with the right authority or resources to step in.

For example, if a client asks a developer to handle the design work, it’s not really the developer's responsibility (even if they could technically do it). In this case, the developer should escalate the issue to the manager or designer to make sure it’s handled correctly.

Escalation is the process of bringing an issue to the attention of someone with broader authority to help solve it.

Escalation happens when the issue is beyond your control and you don’t have the tools or authority to fix it.

The key is bringing attention to the problem, so the right person can decide whether it needs a higher priority or more resources.

How Should Escalation Work?

Having a clear process for escalation doesn’t mean you’ll avoid all problems, but it definitely makes handling them smoother and saves time and stress.

Sometimes, people hesitate to escalate because they’re afraid it will make them look incompetent, or they don’t want to seem like they’re “ratting out” their coworkers.

In reality, the person who escalates is simply asking for help when they recognize that things are getting out of hand. This lets the team quickly assess the problem, plan the next steps, and maximize the chances of resolving it successfully.

When Should You Escalate?

You should escalate when:

The problem is bigger than your area of responsibility.
The issue is beyond your power or tools to handle.
You don’t have the expertise to assess or resolve the situation.

For escalation to work well, it’s important that everyone on the team has clear responsibilities and knows their limits.

Escalation often comes up when issues span different roles or departments. In these cases, it requires someone higher up or an outside expert to step in and make decisions.

For instance, if two team members have a conflict, and one of them tries to resolve it directly but can’t, they might need to escalate to a manager who can mediate and help find a solution.

Or, when a team member has an issue with a client but can’t make a final decision about the project’s direction. In that case, they should escalate to the manager, who can either find a replacement freelancer or work out a solution with the client.

Timing is also key. When escalating, it’s important to highlight any deadlines and explain why they matter. That way, the urgency is clear.

What Happens After You Escalate?

Once you’ve escalated, it’s time to work together with the person who has more authority to analyze the situation and come up with a plan that addresses the issue. Then, you both follow through with the plan.

The main goal of escalation is to make sure the problem gets the attention it needs, and that leads to action.

Do All Teams Need an Escalation Process?

Not necessarily. But it’s helpful to understand what escalation is and have some kind of method in place for dealing with issues, because no one is immune to problems cropping up at work.

In our team, we don’t have a formal escalation process. Instead, we follow basic communication rules we’ve developed over time (especially rules #3 and #4). This helps us avoid the need for a formalized escalation procedure.

For larger teams (50+ people) with a lot of tasks, a formal process with incident tracking might be necessary. The next step could be creating a knowledge base where you log incidents and their solutions. That way, you build a clear process for handling similar situations in the future.

In smaller teams, this knowledge base can simply be the team itself or a person responsible for overseeing everyone, like in our agency.

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid to escalate!

Escalation shows you care about the project and take your responsibilities seriously. Asking for help is about thinking ahead to avoid problems, not about admitting failure.

Escalation is an important tool for resolving issues efficiently, especially when they go beyond the authority of an individual team member.

Understanding escalation as a way to bring attention to a problem (not just passing off responsibility) helps save time, resources, and avoids chaos in the workflow. Even if your team doesn’t have a formal process, having clear communication rules can make all the difference.