A project item marked blocked says little until the record names the blocking condition, when it began, the last attempted action, and who can remove it. Age should start at the evidenced block, not at project creation or the most recent cosmetic update.
Set the operating boundary
Use categories such as owner decision, dependency, missing input, access, technical failure, vendor response, or capacity. Keep the original category and log changes; repeatedly relabeling the item can reset attention without resolving anything.
Make the handoff explicit
A Philippines project coordinator can reconcile timestamps, request missing evidence, chase agreed follow-ups, and prepare escalation notes. The coordinator does not accept risk, approve scope changes, or declare a dependency resolved without proof.
Keep authority with its owner
Review the oldest consequential blockers first, then items approaching a real downstream commitment. Raw age alone can mislead: a deliberately parked improvement may be older than a one-day security or customer issue.
Verify the evidence
For each escalation, include impact, dependent work, actions already tried, decision needed, safe state, and response time. Once resolved, record the source decision and restart owner rather than simply moving the status to active.
Review what the record proves
The weekly output should show counts and age by cause, plus recurring conditions that deserve a process change. It should not rank people by how many externally blocked items happen to sit in their queues.