Track response and authority separately
Synthetic request Q-A asks which field must appear on an internal report. The designated owner has not answered by the supplied Tuesday 12:00 escalation point. Deputy Jo is explicitly authorised to answer when that point passes; assistant Ren may relay messages but cannot choose the field.
| Person / event | Evidence | Authority / next state |
|---|---|---|
| Original owner | No reply by Tuesday 12:00 | Q-A remains open |
| Ren reply | “Use field X” | No decision authority; record as suggestion |
| Deputy Jo | Backup instruction BK-A | May decide after escalation point |
Move the question to the authorised deputy
- Check unanswered request and cutoff
- Use recorded deputy authority
- Send evidence and exact question to Jo
- Keep implementation paused
- Resume on Jo’s recorded answer
If deputy authority is absent or expired, escalate ownership rather than treating any available colleague as the approver.
Ren’s suggestion remains visible but cannot unblock the task. Jo’s accepted answer should link to Q-A so the team does not need to infer it from a general chat message. The supplied times create no service-level promise.
Ren replies before Jo. Can the implementer proceed with field X?
Show the worked answer
No. The task remains blocked until the designated owner or authorised deputy provides the decision.