ISSUE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
M O N T H D AY, Y E A R
Purpose
The Issue Management Process ensures:

a structured approach for identification, communication,
tracking, escalation and resolution of project issues

a means to assure all issues are visible to the entire team
and all team members can share accountability in issue
resolution

a mechanism to ensure consistency and reliability of issue
tracking across the program
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Definitions
An issue is defined as problem which has occurred that can have an
adverse impact on the success of the project. Any problem that
cannot be resolved quickly and/or during the normal course of
project mechanics should be logged as an issue.
There are several criticalities to issues:
Critical
Significant impact on the project; the consequences may affect other projects
or halt the implementation; requires immediate resolution
High
Impacts several areas of the project; Leadership intervention required
Medium
Cannot complete phase without resolution, but does not need to be addressed
immediately; may or may not require Leadership invention
Low
Does not impact resources and schedule but requires resolution; may or may
not require Leadership intervention
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Definitions
To ensure consistency, it is important to understand issues vs. non-issues. The
Project Manager will provide ongoing guidance.
What is an Issue?
Example
Disposition
A problem which cannot be resolved
during the normal course of project
activity and for which there is no known
course of action
The budget does not
appropriately account for the
inclusion of Vertex software for
Phase 1
Log Issue
A problem which requires escalation
and cannot be resolved by the person(s)
raising the issue OR may impact
multiple teams/program as a whole
Need to determine the approach
for material number format.
Decision needs to be made at an
executive level as it is high
impact, strategic and sensitive.
Log & Escalate Issue
A scope decision/question that is being
raised after Blueprinting
What is the scope of Treasury for
Phase 1
Log Issue
What is Not an Issue?
Example
Disposition
An action item/task/question that arises
throughout the project by which a
course of resolution or action plan is
known
Need to determine an approach
for the Center of Excellence ;
Need a follow up meeting
resulting from a workshop
Log as a task within
the team workplan
and/or meeting
minutes action plan
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Guiding Principles
To ensure efficiency in the process, the following will serve as guiding
principles:
1) Issues should be proactively entered by all Team Members
2)
Team Leads will be responsible for review and acceptance of issues
3) The Project Manager will serve as champion to ensure compliance of
issue management across the project
4) Issues should focus on key project impacts such as process, policy,
technology, data, scope, resources, budget, change/communication
5) Issues should be proactively managed for resolution based on
criticality. Issues opened longer than 14 days should be reviewed as the
validity of the issues
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Issue Management Process
Track As Workplan
Task/Action Item/
Other and Close
Issue
4
YES
NO
Identify the Issue
1
Log the Issue
Qualify the Issue
Issue Exists?
YES
3
2
Issue
Escalation
Reqd?
Manage the Issue
5
Contact Assignee and
Team Lead
NO
NO
1
RESOLVE
ISSUE
Issue
Resolved?
Resolve Issue
YES
7
Close Issue &
Execute
Resolution Next
Steps
Key Decision
Resulting?
YES
Update the Issue
w/ Decision Data
8
11
NO
Issue
Disposition
TRACK AS
CHANGE
REQUEST
2
6
Close Issue & Log
Change Request
Scope
Management
Process
END
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Legend
3
TRACK AS
RISK
Close Issue & Log
Risk
Risk
Management
Process
Project Team
Project
Manager
10
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Process Steps
Ref ID
Process Step
Description
Input/Output
Time Horizon
Owner
1
Identify the Issue
As the project progresses, it will be the responsibility of
all team members to actively identify issues
Input: N/A
Output: Identified issue
Any time
Project Team
2
Log the Issue
Once the issue has been identified, it should be
immediately logged in the issue log (Excel – short term
or Document Repository Tool - long term) for tracking.
To minimize access to the log, a coordinator (and
backup) will be designated , per team, to enter issues.
Note: When assigning an issue to another assignee,
particularly from another team, the assignee should be
notified via email of the assignment
Input: Identified Issue
Output: Logged Issue
Any time
Project Team
(Coordinatory)
3
Qualify the Issue
The Project Manager will qualify the issue. If it is valid,
the issue will continue into management (step 5). If
the issue does not qualify as it issue, proceed to step 4
Input: Logged Issue
Output: Issue Confirmed
Any time
Project Manager
4
Track as Workplan
Task/Action Item and
Close Issue
If the issue does not qualify as it issue, it should be
entered as a workplan task, action item or other, next
steps documented in the issue log and finally, the
issue closed
Input: Unqualified Issue
Output: Closed Issue
Any time
Project Manager
5
Manage the Issue
Once an issue is qualified, it must be “worked” in
order to drive to resolution. The proper resolution of
an issue will vary depending on the circumstances of
the issue. It is key that all impacted parties should be
involved in reaching proper closure to an issue. This
involves completing Impact Assessments as necessary.
If at anytime, escalation is required to resolve an issue,
the status of the issue will change to escalated and
issue management will continue. If no escalation is
required, the issue will move forward for disposition
(step 6)
Input: Qualified Issue
Output: Managed Issue
Any time
Project Team
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Process Steps (continue)
Ref ID
Process Step
Description
Deliverable I/O
Time Horizon
Owner
6
Issue Disposition
There are several potential dispositions to an issue:
Resolution (step 7), Tracking as an Change Request
(step 9), or Track as a Risk (step 10).
Input: Managed Issue
Output: Managed Issue
Any time
Project Team
7
Resolve Issue
In resolving an issue, it is important to involve all
impacted parties in the resolution process to minimize
additional problems downstream. The resolution
should be clearly documented in the issue log. The
resolution of an issue typically results in the following
impacts:
• 40%: Functional/Technical development
• 30%: Integration development
• 15%: Hardware
• 15%: Software
Input: Managed Issue
Output: Resolved Issue
Any time
Project Team
8
Close Issue & Execute
Resolution Next Steps
Once the resolution has been documented, the issue
will be updated with next steps and the status changed
to ‘closed’. The next steps will then be executed
outside of the issue process. Such next steps may
include:
• Update workplan/action item plans
• Conduct follow up meetings/review sessions with
impacted parties (i.e. Technical, Data, etc)
• Identify/update relevant key deliverables based on
resolution
Input: Resolved Issue
Output: Closed Issue
Any time
Project Team
9
Close Issue & Log
Change Request
During the management of an issue, the problem may
escalate to a change request. At this point, the
resolution should be updated (closed and CR opened),
the status changed to ‘closed – CR initiated’ and a
new CR opened
Input: Managed Issue
Output: New Change
Request
Any time
Project Team
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Process Steps (continue)
Ref ID
Process Step
Description
Deliverable I/O
Time Horizon
Owner
10
Close Issue & Log
Risk
During the management of an issue, it may be
discovered that the problem has not yet occurred and
is better tracked as a risk. The resolution should be
documented, the issue closed and a new risk logged
Input: Managed Issue
Output: New Risk
Any time
Project Team
11
Update the Issue with
Decision Data
If the issue and its resolution is deemed to be a key
decision that will have a significant impact on the
project/implementation, the issue log should be update
to reflect it is a key issue. Additionally, the key
decision makers should be noted at that time. If the
Project Manager wishes to later view all key decisions,
the log will be filtered accordingly.
Input: Managed Issue
Output: Key Decision
Any time
Project Manager
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Issue Management Forums
There will be several meetings throughout the week where issues will be
discussed and managed.
Meeting
Issue Mgmt Activities
Weekly Project Team
Meeting
• Review/update of ALL CRITICAL and
HIGH team level issues for accuracy
• Drive resolution
Overdue Issues
Update (exception
basis for teams with
Overdue items)
• Review/update action plans for ALL
OVERDUE issues
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Key Roles & Responsibilities
There are several key roles and responsibilities necessary to ensure
effectiveness of the Issue Management Process.
Role
Responsibility
Project Manager
• Qualify issues
• Ensure proper logging of issues
• Drive tracking and resolution
• Manage issue escalation
Team Members
• Identify and log issues
Project Executive
• Review Critical/High issues
• Assist in issue escalation where applicable
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Contact Information
For additional information on this process, please contact…
Contact Name
Email
Phone
Primary
Secondary
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