Examining Project Issues

Before making a decision on a course of action, each Project Issue should be assessed for its impact and alternative actions considered.

Context

Capturing Project Issues captures and catalogues all Project Issues. The capture of a Project Issue should trigger its analysis. All open Project Issues should be reviewed and courses of action be recommended for consideration during Reviewing Stage Status.

Process Description

An initial examination of a Project Issue should be done as soon as it is logged.

All open Project Issues should be reviewed on a regular basis. Decisions on a course of action should not be taken until the Project Issue can be seen in the wider context of stage status, product delivery and progress against plan. As soon as the actions are decided upon, then the Action Log must be updated accordingly. In order to prepare Project Issues for review in Reviewing Stage Status, the following steps need to be taken:

	Assemble all available and relevant information about the Project Issue, including anything which pertains to the Issue's effect on: Costs Timescales Benefit achievement and/or value Risks Meeting the requirements of the project Meeting the stated quality standards
	Update the Risk Log if the Project Issue relates to a previously identified risk
	Or reveals a new risk
	Present status of all Actions associated with the Issue.
	Recommend a management course of action

A recommendation may address a number of Project Issues.

Responsibilities

The Project Manager is responsible. Members of the teams may be required to assess the impact of Project Issues on products, workload, cost, schedule and risk, and devise alternative courses of action. Some of the administrative work may be delegated to an appointed project support role. Those with project assurance responsibilities should be involved in the examination of the impact of Project Issues on the products, risks and the Business Case.

Information Needs

Management information	Usage	Explanation
Business Case	Input	Reference back to the Business Case to evaluate the impact of the Project Issue
Stage Plan	Input	One of the bases for impact analysis
Project Plan	Input	To check if the Issue affects the project
Issue Log	Update	A list of all outstanding Project Issues and their status, updated with impact analysis information
Action Log	Update	A list of all associated Project Actions and their status
Risk Log	Update	Current risks that an Issue may affect. To be updated if any action is recommended which will affect a risk or generate a new one

Key Criteria

	Who would be best to evaluate the Issue?
	How urgent is the decision? By when does a decision have to be taken?
	Is any special action needed to assure the Customer's best interests during the evaluation?
	Was time and effort for Issue evaluation put in the Stage Plan?
	How do any relevant contracts handle changes?
	Is there a separate change budget?
	What Delioverables the Project Issue would affect?
	Who would be involved in taking any action?
	What alternative courses of action are there?
	What would solution of the Project Issue cost in effort and money?
	What is the impact of the Project Issue on the Business Case?
	Would implementation change the current project objectives, as specified in the Project Foundation Document?
	What would the impact of the Project Issue be on anything in the Risk Log?