PMP lesson · Monitoring & Control · Monitoring, issues and escalation · lesson 2 of 2 · about 7 minutes
Issues, impediments and when to escalate
All approaches (agile: impediments and servant leadership)Free preview
Goal: After this lesson you can manage issues with an issue log, help remove impediments, and choose between solving, supporting and escalating.
1The situation
Three problems before lunch
Monday morning on the robot cell project. The robot arrives with a damaged gearbox. The software team says it cannot test because the purchase order for a test PLC is stuck in a three-signature approval loop. And two engineers argue about who owns the HMI alarm list.
Each problem needs a different owner and a different reaction. If the PM tries to solve all of them personally, nothing gets done. If the PM escalates all of them, the sponsor stops listening.
The skill is knowing who should solve what, and escalating only what really needs it.
2Issues and impediments
An issue is a current problem that needs action. An impediment (agile term) is anything blocking the team's progress. Both are recorded, owned and tracked until resolved.
Issue log
Track every issue
Description, owner, priority, due date, status, resolution.
Impediment
Remove blockers
The servant leader removes obstacles the team cannot remove itself, especially organisational ones.
Escalation
Right level
Raise to the authority that can decide, with facts and options, when it is beyond the PM.
PMP mindset: try to solve it at the lowest effective level first, then escalate with options. Never escalate as the first step, and never hide what you cannot solve.
3Who solves it?
Can the team solve it itself?
→ yes
Team solves it (self-organising); PM supports
Is it within the PM's authority?
→ yes
PM acts: removes the impediment, negotiates, decides; logs it
Outside PM authority, or beyond thresholds?
→ yes
Escalate to sponsor / governance with facts, impact and options
Safety, legal or ethical?
→
Act immediately within policy and inform the right authority
Start at the lowest effective level. Safety, legal and ethical problems are acted on immediately.
4How it looks on the exam
Exam-style question 1. An agile team has been unable to test for two sprints because purchase orders for test hardware are stuck in an approval workflow requiring three executive signatures. The team has raised this at every daily stand-up. What should the project manager do?
A. Advise the team to plan its sprints around the missing hardware
B. Record it in the risk register and review it at the next sprint review
C. Work with procurement and the approving executives to remove the impediment, escalating if necessary
D. Ask the team to buy the hardware with personal credit cards
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: C.
In simple English
An organisational blocker the team cannot remove itself.
What is the question really asking?
The PM's role.
Key words / trigger
“stuck in an approval workflow”
PMP logic
A servant leader removes organisational impediments through proper channels.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
Re-planning around it feels flexible, but the blocker stays in place.
5Remember this
Your memory card
Issue = current problem → issue log with owner, priority, due date
Impediments: the servant leader removes what the team can't
Solve at the lowest effective level; escalate when beyond authority or thresholds
Escalate with facts, impact, options and the decision needed