Escalate a problem to the level that can solve it
Take a problem the team cannot solve to someone who can, with what is known and a date, and follow it until it is closed.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- 1.1 h a monthper team; today it takes 2.5 to 6.5 h a month
- Elmira today
- Helps
- Frequency
- Weekly
- Who does it today
- Engineer
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
It is escalated out loud, and the problem gets lost on the way.
Whoever should solve it does not know they were asked, or by when.
The team reports the same problem week after week.
Some problems a team cannot solve alone: a spare part another area approves, a shift change management decides. Escalating them well means saying what is happening, what was tried and what is needed, to the person who can decide, with a date, and following it until an answer comes back. When it is escalated out loud, the problem gets lost on the way, and the team reports it again week after week.
Done today with
- Expert
- In-person meeting
- Email and chat
Each step, today and with Elmira.
In Obeyaka, escalating is asking for an action from whoever can solve it, in any branch: it reaches their inbox and, if they talked to Elmira in the last day, their WhatsApp. Elmira tells the team how it is going.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| The team decides it cannot solve it alone | In-person meeting | Your call |
| Find who should solve it | Expert, Email and chat10 min – 30 min | Still by hand |
| Ask them, with what is known and a date | Email and chat, In-person meeting10 min – 20 min | Obeyaka (web) |
| Let them know they were asked | Email and chat5 min – 10 min | Automatic |
| Follow it until it is solved | Email and chat, In-person meeting10 min – 30 min |
The conversation
- Paula, Packaging supervisor
Elmira, how is what we asked Rodrigo about the sealer’s spare part going?
“Approve buying the seal for sealer 3” is with Rodrigo Pérez and due on October 14. It is still open.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of routines and daily management
- Run the start-of-shift daily huddleThe board shows data from days ago, and nobody trusts it.
- Run the team’s weekly briefingThe meeting goes on looking for data instead of deciding.
- Run the team’s weekly debriefingThe week closes without looking back, and the same problems come back.