Criteria

Replace 'The Pilot Went Well' With Testable Conditions

The Threshold Ladder turns a vague pilot goal into measurable Minimum, Target, and Stretch conditions for SM-PILOT-03. Vague phrases like “improve efficiency” stay blocked until they become observable results with a measurement method, data source, Owner, and failure condition.

Completion Rate

Escalations agents close without opening an engineering ticket

Stretch85%
Target70%
Minimum55%
  • MeasurementPlatform telemetry completion flag
  • Data sourceProduct Telemetry locker
  • OwnerTeam Lead
  • Failure conditionAny week below 55% without documented exception

Above Minimum, below Target — an Extend candidate, not yet a Go.

Handling Time

Median minutes from escalation open to resolution

Stretch≤ 15 min
Target≤ 22 min
Minimum≤ 30 min
  • MeasurementMedian minutes from escalation open to resolve
  • Data sourceWorkflow Result export
  • OwnerIT
  • Failure conditionMedian above 30 min for two consecutive weeks

Above Minimum, below Target — an Extend candidate, not yet a Go.

Escalation Count

Weekly escalation volume the workflow handles without backlog

Stretch200/wk
Target150/wk
Minimum100/wk
  • MeasurementWeekly closed escalations without backlog growth
  • Data sourceSupport Issue volume report
  • OwnerTeam Lead
  • Failure conditionBacklog growth > 10% week over week

Above Minimum, below Target — an Extend candidate, not yet a Go.

Allowed Exceptions

Escalation types explicitly out of scope for this pilot

StretchZero undocumented exceptions found
TargetIT + Security reviewed
MinimumDocumented
  • MeasurementDocumented out-of-scope escalation types
  • Data sourceAllowed Exceptions sheet + Security review
  • OwnerSecurity
  • Failure conditionAny undocumented exception appears in production

Above Minimum, Security sign-off pending on the Target rung.

Every current reading sits between Minimum and Target — none has cleared Stretch yet.

Vague phrasing such as “improve efficiency” is rejected here until it becomes an observable completion rate, handling time, escalation count, or allowed-exception rule.

Approve Criteria Set

Locks criteria, thresholds, Owners, and test methods into the formal Criteria Set version for this Evaluation Case.