Project Management Framework
Execution - Issue Management
The Issue Management Plan defines a process by which all project related issues will be reported, logged, tracked, escalated, and resolved. Adhering to the defined process, provides an effective means of reporting issues and ensuring accountability for resolving them.
Issues are generally large problems that fall in two categories, "routine" and "political". Routine issues generally result from lack of information, resource conflicts, poor communication, or unanticipated events. Political issues are commonly centered on personality and power, and frequently occur as a result of disagreements at a high organizational level about how, or whether, something should be done on a project, and by whom. Political issues can also result from the performance (or lack of performance) of one or more members of the extended project team.
For Best Results
- Strive to resolve issues quickly so the project can keep making progress. If the issue has been active for some time or there is no sense of urgency, check to see if it is really an issue. It may be a risk (potential problem) or it may be an action item that needs to be resolved at some later point in time.
- Include an activity in the work plan for the Project Manager to follow-up on open issues to ensure they are being diligently resolved.
- Encourage team members to resolve issues at the lowest level possible. If an issue must be escalated, alternative solutions should be proposed along with the issue to facilitate decision making.
- Engage the project's customer in the resolution of issues from very early in the project. They will begin to see problems as temporary hurdles that can, and need to, be overcome.
- Require the attendance of people with decision-making authority at issue resolution meetings.
- Search for a root-cause when several issues are reported together in a very short time period. These issues may stem from a common problem. Addressing this problem may resolve many issues at the same time.
- Consider the subject matter and impact to the schedule when assigning the priority of an issue.
- Include in your issue management process a means of escalating issues that have reached dispute status to a dispute resolution/management process.
- Initiate the Change Management process if the issue resolution causes the budget, effort or duration of the project to change.
- Review the issues log on a regular basis. There should not be many unresolved items on the log at any one time. Items that are really risks should be moved to the Risk Management process.
Also Consider
- Breaking large, difficult issues down into logical sub-issues so they are easier to understand and resolve in a timely manner.
- Making personal contact with the impacted parties to convey that the issue is being resolved with a sense of urgency.
- Using a threaded conversation mechanism to assist the team in understanding and resolving issues identified during a meeting or discussion (formal or informal).
- Adding issue resolution tasks to the work plan to track the issue resolution effort.
Related Links:
Issue Management Plan
Issue Management Plan Example
Issue Management Plan Template
Issue Management Form
Issue Management Log
Checklists