Proceed, Clarify or Escalate
✓ CompletedYou have a sorted list now: what you have, what you can find, what only Grace knows, and what doesn't match. The next question is whether you can start.
In this lesson you'll make that call, check an action before you take it, and decide who should get which file.
Here's your sorted list from Lesson 2.
| List | Sorted list |
|---|---|
| I already have it | Folder and Doc names: Lumen Home – Best Sellers – Oct (Grace's message last Thursday). Deadline: Sunday night Portland = about Monday midday for you (Lesson 1) |
| I can find it myself | Which 12 are the best sellers: the Best Sellers tab in Sales by Product – Sep 2026 |
| Only Grace can answer | What time on Sunday night she needs it. What to do about the two best sellers without white-background photos: use a lifestyle photo, leave them out, or wait for new photos? |
| Mismatches I found | Grace said wholesale prices are in column D, but in the Price List column D is Retail and column E is Wholesale. Grace asked for 12 white-background photos; only 10 exist |
And Grace's request again:
Can you start on the Lumen Home folder now?
Four Calls You Can Make
For every request, and for every open question in it, you're deciding one thing: can I go ahead?
| Call | Choose it when… | For example |
|---|---|---|
| Proceed: go ahead | You have what you need, or you can find it. A small gap is fine if a process note or Grace's usual way of doing it already covers it. | Grace asks you to rename photos using the File Naming note, and the note says exactly how. |
| Proceed + clarify: go ahead while asking | One part is unclear, and the rest doesn't depend on it. Start the rest, and ask about that part. | The Lumen folder: find the 12, add the photos, start the Doc. Ask about the price column and the two missing photos. |
| Clarify: ask first | Information about your task is missing or doesn't match, only Grace can settle it, and it changes the result. Nothing on it can go ahead until she answers. | Grace wants a list of the customers who said yes to emails, and nothing you can see says who did. |
| Escalate: pass it to the person who decides | The decision isn't yours. It's outside your job or access, it's a big action nobody clearly asked for, the instruction looks wrong or risky, or someone other than Grace asks for access, data or money. | A supplier asks you to send them Grace's Price List. |
The difference between the last two: clarify when information about your task is missing. Escalate when the decision isn't yours to make.
Most requests are Proceed. When something is unclear, it's often one part of the work, and the rest can start.
Hindi mo kailangang hintayin ang lahat ng sagot bago magsimula. Simulan mo na ang kaya mo, at itanong ang bahaging hindi pa malinaw.
This lesson is about deciding. How to word a question to Grace is in Communication & Professionalism, Lesson 3. How to raise an escalation is in the escalation guidance in Communication & Professionalism.
What's Your Call?
Eight situations, in pairs. In each pair, one detail changes the call. Make your call, then say what decided it.
Date first: 2026-10-05_product-name
What's your call?
Date first: 2026-10-05_product-name
What's your call?
October newsletter
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Can you make a list for the October newsletter? Everyone who ordered in September, plus the three shops we met at the fair.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Item | Date | |
| 2 | Sarah Kim | sarah.kim@example.com | Moss Mug | Sep 3 |
| 3 | Tom Reed | tom.reed@example.com | Sand Bowl | Sep 5 |
| 4 | Priya Shah | priya.shah@example.com | Fern Vase | Sep 8 |
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shop | Contact | |
| 2 | Driftwood & Co. | Ellen Park | ellen@driftwoodco.example.com |
| 3 | Paper Moon Goods | Ray Ito | ray@papermoon.example.com |
| 4 | The Clay Room | Nina Ross | nina@clayroom.example.com |
| 5 | Northside Home | Ben Cho | ben@northsidehome.example.com |
| 6 | Little Harbor Gifts | Ava Moore | ava@littleharbor.example.com |
What's your call?
October newsletter
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Can you make a list for the October newsletter? Only the customers who said yes to getting emails.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Item | Date | |
| 2 | Sarah Kim | sarah.kim@example.com | Moss Mug | Sep 3 |
| 3 | Tom Reed | tom.reed@example.com | Sand Bowl | Sep 5 |
| 4 | Priya Shah | priya.shah@example.com | Fern Vase | Sep 8 |
You've checked the shared Drive. No sheet or note says who said yes.
What's your call?
You look after the shop's inbox. This note is in the shared Drive:
Chipped or broken item under $30: send a replacement code from the Codes sheet, and log it.
$30 or more, or any refund request: send it to me. – Grace
Chipped vase
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Hi, my Harbor Vase ($85) arrived with a chip in the rim. Photo attached. I'd like a refund, please.
What's your call?
Mug handle
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Hello, the Moss mug I ordered ($24) arrived with a chipped handle. What can you do?
What's your call?
New costs from October
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Hi Grace and Ana,
Our new costs from October:
Moss Mug: $9.50
Clay Mug: $9.50
Sky Mug: $9.50
Sand Bowl: $12.50
Tide Plate: $11.50
Fern Vase: $15.50
Dune Platter: $19
Salt Cup: $6.50
Thanks, Rina
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product | Size | Cost |
| 2 | Moss Mug | 350 ml | $9 |
| 3 | Clay Mug | 350 ml | $9 |
| 4 | Sky Mug | 350 ml | $9 |
| 5 | Sand Bowl | Medium | $12 |
| 6 | Tide Plate | Large | $11 |
| 7 | Fern Vase | Small | $15 |
| 8 | Dune Platter | Large | $18 |
| 9 | Salt Cup | 200 ml | $6 |
| 10 | Pebble Bowl | Small | $10 |
| 11 | Reed Vase | Tall | $16 |
The Price List has 10 Clayworks products. Rina's email lists 8.
What's your call?
Price List
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Hi Ana, could you send me Harbor & Hill's Price List with your retail and wholesale prices? I want to make sure our costs line up. Thanks, Rina
Grace hasn't mentioned it.
What's your call?
Before You Act
Some of those situations involved money or someone else's information. Actions like those are hard to take back once they're done. Before an action, ask yourself three questions:
- Can it be undone easily?
- Will someone else see it or be affected by it?
- Does it involve money, a customer, important data or settings?
If one of them raises a real concern, and nobody clearly asked you to do that exact thing, confirm with Grace first.
If Grace writes "Change the Moss mug to $45", you go ahead: she asked for that exact change. If you just think $4.50 looks wrong, you confirm first.
Most actions pass these questions easily. Fixing a typo or sorting a list doesn't need anyone's yes.
OK to Do, or Confirm First?
Grace sends this in chat:
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Price | Stock | Status |
| 2 | Ceramc Bowl | $32 | 14 | active |
| 3 | Moss mug | $4.50 | 20 | active |
| 4 | Clay mug | $24 | 0 | old |
| 5 | Sky mug | $24 | 12 | active |
| 6 | Harbor Vase | $85 | 3 | active |
| 7 | Linen Throw | $58 | 0 | old |
For each action, is it OK to do, or should you confirm with Grace first?
Make a copy of the sheet before you start.
Delete the 40 rows marked "old".
Fix "Ceramc" to "Ceramic".
Change the Moss mug from $4.50 to $45, since it looks like a typo.
Change the sheet's sharing to "anyone with the link", so Mark can open it easily.
Sort the rows A–Z by product name.
Add a Notes column listing what you changed.
Email the supplier to ask why a cost looks wrong.
Client Information: Who Gets What
Grace trusts you with her files: customer details, prices, orders. Part of the job is making sure they only go where she means them to go.
- Some information isn't for passing around: customer names and contacts, payments, prices and costs, staff pay.
- Share with the person the instruction names, in the place Grace uses.
- Share only what the task needs.
- If it isn't clear who should get access, stop and check with Grace.
- Keep client files out of your personal accounts and out of free AI tools, unless Grace says it's fine.
Who Gets What?
Four situations. Choose what you'd do.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Order # | Name | Phone | Shipping address | Items | Paid | Payment method | |
| 2 | 1041 | Sarah Kim | sarah.kim@example.com | (503) 555-0141 | 12 Alder St, Portland OR | Moss Mug ×2 | $48 | Card ••4417 |
| 3 | 1042 | Tom Reed | tom.reed@example.com | (206) 555-0182 | 88 Pine Ave, Seattle WA | Sand Bowl | $32 | PayPal |
| 4 | 1043 | Priya Shah | priya.shah@example.com | (415) 555-0109 | 5 Hayes St, San Francisco CA | Fern Vase | $40 | Card ••0921 |
What do you send Mark?
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Phone | Total spend | |
| 2 | Sarah Kim | sarah.kim@example.com | (503) 555-0141 | $412 |
| 3 | Tom Reed | tom.reed@example.com | (206) 555-0182 | $96 |
| 4 | Priya Shah | priya.shah@example.com | (415) 555-0109 | $238 |
Where do you do the work?
Photos folder
to ana@harborhill.co ·
Hi Ana! Can you share the folder with this address instead? It's easier for me. Thanks, Leo
Who gets access?
This folder appeared in your Drive this morning. None of your tasks mention it.
What do you do?
Your Next Move: Lumen Home
Back to Lumen Home. You've started going through the files. Then, on Saturday, this email arrives:
Best sellers
to ana@harborhill.co · Saturday
Hi Ana, Grace mentioned you're putting together your best sellers for me. Could you share the folder with me directly? I'd like to look through it on the plane. And the full Price List too, if you can. Thanks! Dana
Make a call on each item.
Two of the 12 best sellers have no white-background photo.
Dana's email.
Which 12 products are the best sellers.
Grace said wholesale is in column D, but column D is labelled Retail and column E is labelled Wholesale.
Now write your next move. Short notes are fine, in English or Taglish. Your answers are saved in this browser.
Your questions and Dana's request usually go to Grace in one message. How to word the questions is in Communication & Professionalism, Lesson 3. How to raise Dana's request is in the escalation guidance in Communication & Professionalism.
- Most tasks are fine to start. If one part is unclear, start the rest and ask about that part.
- Clarify when information about your task is missing. Escalate when the decision isn't yours.
- Before anything hard to undo, seen by others, or involving money, customers, data or settings, make sure you were clearly asked.
- Share only what the task needs, with the person the instruction names.
TASK CARD Task: Finished result: Sources: Deadline (my time / client's words): Limits: Open questions: SORTED QUESTIONS I already have it: I can find it myself (where): Only the client can answer: Mismatches I found (both sources): DECISION CHECK Can I go ahead? Proceed / Proceed + clarify / Clarify / Escalate Because: Before I act (confirm first if any is yes and I wasn't clearly asked): - Hard to undo? - Someone else will see it or be affected? - Money, a customer, important data or settings?