A project manager discovers that a critical project issue has been escalated to senior management without their knowledge. The issue was escalated by a team member who felt their concerns weren't being addressed through normal channels. What should the project manager do FIRST?

Answer options:

Meet with the team member to understand their concerns and why they felt escalation was necessary

Address the issue with senior management to provide context and project perspective

Remind the team about proper escalation procedures and communication channels

Document the incident and discuss it with the team member's functional manager

How to approach this question

When escalations bypass normal channels, understand why the normal process failed before addressing the escalation or reinforcing procedures.

A.Meet with the team member to understand their concerns and why they felt escalation was necessary✓ Correct

Understanding why team members feel the need to bypass normal channels helps identify and address communication or process gaps.

Focusing on process compliance or immediate damage control rather than understanding and addressing the root cause of the communication breakdown.

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