Escalation Process, Responsibilities and Matrix

Hello,

Can anybody to explain the following request. From our customer we need to do this and we do not know where to start :

"The escalation process must be defined on different levels and responsibility matrix defined"



Thank You
Daniel

Re: Escalation process

Hi Daniel,

Escalation with regards to what? Delays on Audit Non-Conformance CA's?, Product Non-Conformance CA's?, Grievance...?

Thanks,

Re: Escalation process

There must be an escalation model for deviations within the project which threaten the overall timing plan( risk management).
An escalation process for the project is described and established.

If special risk have been identified for technologies, suppliers this must be taken also into account in management escalation.

Re: Escalation process

span_daniel said:

Hello,

Can anybody to explain the following request. From our customer we need to do this and we do not know where to start :

"The escalation process must be defined on different levels and responsibility matrix defined"



Thank You
Daniel

Click to expand...

Just share to your customer the e-mails of the responsible officers who will communicate and be responsible on various matters between customer and you. Also share the e-mail of the managers to whom your officers report...

Re: Escalation process

Ok, so how I see it - if you have a Project Plan which says that (for example) Object A is going to be painted in week 6, then assembled to Object B in week 7, but the supplier calls to say Object A isn't going to be delivered until week 9 which then puts the whole project at risk of running late, how will this be managed.

For me, and I will happily stand corrected on this, but if the supplier calls the purchasing assistant to inform him/her that Object A won't be delivered until week 9, the purchasing assistant will inform the Project Manager, the Project Manager may in turn inform the Managing Director and between them they must inform their customer, ideally with a 'Plan B' solution.

Again, I may be wrong - but one thing I've often found is that people like to over complicate requirements (whether customer or international standards) and can easily end up tripping themselves up in the long run, by not doing what they've documented.

many thanks for your help

Re: Escalation process

Hi,
do you have any draft of procedure / matrix for escalation model for deviations within the project ?
thx
Francesco

Re: Escalation process

span_daniel said:

There must be an escalation model for deviations within the project which threaten the overall timing plan( risk management).
An escalation process for the project is described and established.

If special risk have been identified for technologies, suppliers this must be taken also into account in management escalation.

Click to expand...

For me an escalation model defines when senior management attention must be called for. The "responsibility matrix" would be the definitions of roles and responsibilities in the project. Escalation is used when someone believes they cannot meet a commitment called for in the project plan. (I suspect the idea comes from banks, which give different levels of management at the bank dollar limits upon the financial risks they can take, small at the bottom, world-shattering at the top.)

Examples:

If deviation from plan > 1 week call supervisor; if > 1 month call project manager; if > 3 months call company director.

If risk of cost overrun > $1000 call supervisor; if > $10,000 call project manager; if > $100,000 call for another job quickly!

The idea is to get management intervention before the problem becomes insoluble. A certain level or role of management will also be defined in the escalation process as responsible for telling the customer and perhaps engaging the customer in preventive action, e.g. workarounds and fall-back plans, or reducing project scope, or even increasing price and/or timeframe if the circumstance could not reasonably have been foreseen.

I'd keep it broad and flexible, and only a few levels before the buck hits the CEO's desk - too many levels, and things get forgotten. If it gets to the CEO quickly things have a habit of either getting resolved or getting CEO's appropriate engagement.

Hope this helps
Pat

It is general practice to define the responsibility and accountability matrix along with with system/process descriptions. (atleast for key processes)

One way of looking at is the definition of exceptions, and responsible roles accountable for same, another way of embedding this into responsibilities of the roles is to have a RACI charts defined into the procedures/standards itself.

A responsibility assignment matrix[1] (RAM), also known as RACI matrix[2] /ˈreɪsiː/ or ARCI matrix or linear responsibility chart[3] (LRC), describes the participation by various roles in completing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process.[4]

RACI Charts