This week, I was finishing up a project at the agency where I work part time.  My colleague and I have been working closely with another internal team on this initiative since May, and fortunately, things have gone relatively smoothly.  As the vice president overseeing the project, I always try to be responsive to the internal team’s needs, knowing that they represent the best interests of the client.  My colleague and I talk to members of this team at least every other day, and sometimes multiple times in one day.  They have my cell phone number.  If I’m not in the office, they know where to find me.  

Just after we launched the initiative this week, the vice president on the other internal team discovered that something was wrong.  Normally, he or someone on his team would have called my colleague or me on our cell phones.  Instead, he called my boss.

It’s my role on projects like this to provide my boss with information on a “need to know” basis.  He was unprepared for a call like this and caught off guard, and understandably reacted with a bit of panic.  I’m fortunate that I didn’t get in trouble, because my boss trusts me and isn’t quick to place blame or come down hard on me just because someone expresses displeasure.  

I hate corporate hierarchies as much as the next person, but it just burns me when someone I’ve been working with blatantly goes over my head.  I was always taught that this was a big no-no, and yet I’m seeing it happen more and more.  My colleague calls the phenomena “premature escalation” – referring to the fact that those who use it don’t even give the rightful people they’re working with a chance to respond appropriately.  

In my opinion, you should reserve going to someone’s boss for cases in which that someone is not giving you what you need, and has been forewarned.  Even then, you should be careful.  Behavior like this is not going to endear you to your co-workers, so you should make sure it’s necessary and that you have no other choice.