Issue management procedure

1. Issue Management
Consulting Group Procedures Page 1 April 6, 2022
Every project has issues that hinder progress. It is important to ensure that these issues are identified
and formally tracked by the project’s management team. As issues are identified the project’s
management team needs to assign them to resources who can quickly resolve them, identifying both the
individuals who will do the work to resolve the issues and the individuals who will monitor the status of
the issues and the progress being made on the resolutions.
Each project will select a tool to implement the Issue Management procedure. The specific tool chosen,
whether simple or highly-specialized, will often drive the procedural details of Issue Management. This
document is intended to be tool-independent, however, the workflow or sequence of events, the
terminology used, and the specific forms and reports will vary from project to project, depending on the
tool and the environment. Adapt this document to reflect the project environment, but be sure that each
aspect of the procedure is adequately covered.
To effectively deal with issue management, the entire project team must be aware of the importance of
identifying issues and getting proper resolution. The following procedure will ensure that issues are
visibly tracked. A flowchart depicting this procedure is attached as Exhibit 1. References to the steps
in the flowchart are included below in parentheses.
 Identify the issue. Throughout the project, any issues that could hinder the team’s ability to
meet the project objectives must be identified. Some issues may be broader, identifying a
problem or risk external to the project that may impact project or business objectives. Issues
can be identified by anyone involved with the project. Each project must identify an appropriate
tracking tool and determine how to apply this procedure by entering and updating data using the
tool.
 Document the issue (Step 1). The person who identifies the issue must document it. The
documentation must include the date the issue was identified, who identified and documented it,
and a description of the issue.
 Review and classify the issue (Step 2). The project’s management team must review each
new issue to determine if the documentation is adequate; when the issue will begin to impact the
project’s schedule, and therefore cost; and classify it by type. The typical types of issues may
specifically be defined by the tool being used and the way it is set up, but, in general terms, they
are action items, problems, changes, and risks.
 Identify duplicate and out-of-scope issues (Step 3). The project’s management team must
check whether the issue has already been reported and logged. Duplicate issues should not be
deleted, rather they should be cross-referenced. The Statement of Work and project plan must
be the basis for determining whether an issue is an in-scope problem, such as a bug or missing
hardware component, or an out-of-scope change, such as a new business, process or technical
requirement or a change in the organizational responsibilities. Out-of-scope issues must be
identified as such, and a change request must be prepared to initiate the Scope Management
procedure.
 Determine resolution approach and estimate of effort (Step 4). The project’s
management team must assign an appropriate individual to determine the optimal approach for
resolving each issue, which may vary depending on type of issue, and prepare an estimate of the

2. Issue Management
Consulting Group Procedures Page 2 April 6, 2022
required effort. Action items usually require scheduling and an updating of the project plan.
Problems must be analyzed, estimated, and scheduled. Changes must be analyzed, estimated,
and approved using the Scope Management procedure. Risks typically require a mitigation
plan, accepted by management, and a mechanism for monitoring, using the Risk Management
procedure. The responsible person must be an individual who has the knowledge and authority
to make decisions regarding the issue.
 Approve or reject the resolution approach and estimate (Step 5). An appropriate
member or members of the project’s management team must approve or reject the resolution
approach and estimate of effort. The project manager must set the criteria for determining the
appropriate management team member, including escalation guidelines. When an issue
resolution approach and estimate is approved by the appropriate management team member,
the issue log and project management plans must be updated accordingly. If rejected, the
management team member must document the reason for rejection and return to Step 4 for
reassignment.
 Implement the resolution (Step 6). The project’s management team must assign an
appropriate individual to implement the approved resolution for each issue. The management
team must also assign a priority to the issue and a due date for resolution. When necessary, the
project’s management team may need to reset priorities or reallocate issues so that a resolution
is achieved. The individual assigned to implement the issue resolution must confirm that the due
date is reasonable based upon the estimated effort. The due date for an identified risk may be
the next follow-up date, the next decision date, or a date when the risk will have passed. The
issue log and project management plans must be updated to reflect the assignment and the
confirmed due date.
 Monitor and control progress (Step 7). All issues must be tracked on an issue log that will
be maintained to formally track the status and resolution of the issues. The issue log, usually
generated by the tool being used, must at least include the issue number, short description or
title, classification, status, owner, priority, assigned due date, project impact date, and expected
completion date. This is the primary tracking mechanism for action items and problems.
Changes must be tracked in the issue log until resolved, and then closed, including a reference to
the change request number, if applicable. Risks are typically monitored by following a Risk
Mitigation Plan, but the status is often tracked using the issue log.
 Report progress on issue resolution (Step 7). The issue log must be presented as a part of
the weekly status report, discussed in the weekly status meeting, and made available to all team
members. New issues and new resolutions must be presented at an appropriate level of detail.
All status changes must be confirmed and late resolutions must be addressed, rescheduled, and
perhaps reassigned. Also, a summary of the key, unresolved issues should be used in the status
reporting to the client program management and included in the monthly Delivery Excellence
Project Status Report. (See the Client Reporting Procedure.)
 Determine if the resolution has been implemented (Step 8). With every reporting cycle,
newly implemented resolutions are reported before being removed from the open issue
reporting.

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Consulting Group Procedures Page 3 April 6, 2022
 Communicate issue resolution (Step 9). Documented resolutions of issues must be made
available to all team members. The status of an issue is changed to Closed when the resolution
has been implemented.
When a project is initiated, the project’s management team must decide on the roles and responsibilities
related to Issue Management. The assignment of the project manager to review issues and the members
of the project’s management team to assign and prioritize issues must be documented and shared with
the project team, CSC management, and the client’s management. In the event that an issue cannot be
resolved in a reasonable time frame, to the mutual satisfaction of CSC and the client, the issue must be
escalated to the next level of management. The specific individuals to whom issues are escalated, and
the procedure for escalating, must also be documented.

4. Issue Management
Consulting Group Procedures Page 4 April 6, 2022
Exhibit 1 – Issue Management Flowchart