Issues should be resolved as quickly as possible. Defining and following an issue management plan brings visibility to issues and accountability for how issues are acted upon and helps ensure issues are resolved effectively and in a timely manner. Observing business rules for prioritization and escalation ensures that issue management is consistent with the project’s objectives.
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What to do |
How to
do it |
1 |
Define general issue management goals and approach |
Define the major goals of issue management and a high-level description of the approach to managing issues.
Example goals:
- Issues are identified, evaluated, and assigned for resolution.
- Issue resolutions or decisions are documented and communicated to all affected parties
Also refer to the goals and approach written in the Issue Management Strategy section of the Project Charter. |
2 |
Define priority categories and rules |
Priority categories provide a ranking to help determine the order of importance or urgency to address the issue. The project sponsor, key stakeholders, and project manager should agree on the business rule that underlies each priority. The driving project constraints and the impact of the issue determine whether the resolution of an issue receives a high, medium, or low priority.
Example categories and rules include:
- High: The project cannot proceed without issue resolution.
- Medium: The project can proceed, but there is a high potential for rework if the issue is not resolved soon.
- Low: Quick resolution is not urgent. The project can proceed, but the issue will need to be resolved prior to project completion.
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3 |
Identify who decides if a problem/opportunity is an issue |
A problem/opportunity is categorized as an issue if it will impede the progress or successful completion of the project. Typically the project manager determines if the problem/opportunity should be classified as an issue. |
4 |
Define other issue management roles, responsibilities and expertise |
Other typical issue management roles include:
- Who can raise an issue
- Who is responsible for logging and tracking
- Who assigns the issue for evaluation and resolution
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5 |
Determine how issues are identified |
Define how the issues should be sent to the project manager. For example:
- Verbal communication (in a meeting)
- Formal issue submittal form
- Email
- Issue tracking tool entry
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6 |
Determine how the issues are tracked |
Typically, issues are tracked in an Issue Log, which includes:
- Issue tracking number
- Issue title
- Description of the issue and impact on the project
- Date issue was added to the log
- Person who raised the issue
- Priority
- Person responsible for resolution
- Action to be taken by person responsible for resolution
- Resolution due date
- Status of resolution
- Date resolved
- How the issue was resolved
Assignment of due date, person responsible for resolution, and action to be taken by person responsible should be specific. |
7 |
Determine how, when and to whom issues are escalated |
An issue that cannot be resolved should be escalated. The project sponsor and project manager should agree on the business rules and process for escalation, including to whom issues should be escalated.
Example conditions that could lead to escalation:
- Failure to resolve an issue within an agreed period of time.
- Impact on a project constraint above a set threshold.
- Inability to secure the resources needed to resolve this issue
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8 |
Determine how issues are assigned for resolution |
Identify who determines who needs to be involved in resolving an issue and how an issue is assigned and tracked. |
9 |
Determine how issues are monitored |
Possible approaches include:
- Reviewing issues at weekly project status meetings or in the morning team standup meeting
- Team members update the status of issues assigned to them and the Project Manager monitors status reports produced by the issue tracking system
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10 |
Determine how the issue management process and status of issues are communicated |
The issue management process, identified issues, and their status should be communicated. Include, for example:
- Audience
- Frequency
- Level of detail
Update the communication plan with details for issue communications. |
11 |
Determine how issues are closed |
Define the process to close an issue. Include, for example:
- Who determines an issue is closed
- How the closing of an issue is recorded
- Who is notified
- How closed issues are communicated
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12 |
Identify the tools used to track project issues |
Specify whether issues will be tracked manually in a spreadsheet or with an issue management tool such as JIRA. |
