Ask around after a missed deadline and you’ll often hear different versions of who made the call. It’s rarely negligence; more often it’s the absence of a simple rule about when a decision should be escalated, to whom, and how quickly.
Research published in the Project Management Journal links “decision latency” and unclear role boundaries with schedule overruns in cross-functional work – delays caused not by the work itself, but by the time lost waiting for someone to decide.
Clarity around decisions & escalations solves this hesitation – a small set of pre-agreed guidelines, usually championed by the Project Owner, for the teams. Not governance. Not hierarchy. Just clarity.
1 – Define what the team can decide on its own
Identify what your teams can decide without involving anyone else – e.g. under what budget amount? Within what scope? Limited by what timings? Make the boundaries clear and visible so people don’t escalate “just in case.”
2 – Agree the triggers for escalation
Agree with the teams when an escalation is needed, e.g. when it:
• Affects another team’s delivery or customer promise
• Changes cost, risk, compliance or legal exposure
• Contradicts a company-level direction
Defining these triggers will help stop over-escalations and prevent quiet delays.
3 – Name the decision-maker
One person. Not a committee. The moment a trigger fires, everyone should know who makes the call.
4 – Set the response window
How fast should the decision be made? “Within one business day” prevents slow drift. Teams move faster when the clocks are visible.
What this looks like in practice
A release and follow-on launch campaign is due next week. Dev & Product discover a bug that could affect the plans. Their escalation guidelines define the following:
• If bug can be resolved within plan, no escalation needed
• If bug impacts the schedule, notify marketing immediately
• Decision-maker: Marketing Director
• Decision timeline: One business-day
No guessing. No “loop everyone in.” Just a clear guide on making the final call.
Why this matters
Not all decisions will be the right ones – that’s a natural part of learning. However, a late decision, whether it’s the right one or not, has a greater chance of failing. Delays in making decisions frequently stem from unclear authority, risk aversion, and/or slow escalation.
When these guidelines exist, hesitation disappears. Teams stop escalating everything and stop sitting on decisions that matter.
How Oak Mountain helps
We help organisations build clear decision routes across teams, defining decision boundaries & escalation triggers, and creating the guidelines that keep delivery moving instead of stalling. Email enquiries@oakmountain.ltd to find out more.