Structure and package support escalations for engineering, product, or leadership with full context, reproduction steps, and business impact.
Determine when and how to escalate support issues. Structure escalation briefs that give receiving teams everything they need to act quickly, and follow escalation through to resolution.
Every escalation should follow this structure:
ESCALATION: [One-line summary]
Severity: [Critical / High / Medium]
Target: [Engineering / Product / Security / Leadership]
IMPACT
- Customers affected: [Number and names if relevant]
- Workflow impact: [What's broken for them]
- Revenue at risk: [If applicable]
- SLA status: [Within SLA / At risk / Breached]
ISSUE DESCRIPTION
[3-5 sentences: what's happening, when it started, how it manifests, scope of impact]
REPRODUCTION STEPS (for bugs)
1. [Step]
2. [Step]
3. [Step]
Expected: [X]
Actual: [Y]
Environment: [Details]
WHAT'S BEEN TRIED
1. [Action] -> [Result]
2. [Action] -> [Result]
3. [Action] -> [Result]
CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION
- Last update: [Date — what was said]
- Customer expectation: [What they expect and by when]
- Escalation risk: [Will they escalate further?]
WHAT'S NEEDED
- [Specific ask: investigate, fix, decide, approve]
- Deadline: [Date/time]