The definition of an issue is that it is a problem that will be detrimental to the success of the project and cannot be totally resolved by the project team. That definition leads you to understand that issues must be addressed quickly. If a problem is indeed being classified as an issue, the project manager must take responsibility for getting it resolved. The project manager should have an activity in the schedule every week to follow-up on open issues to ensure they are being diligently resolved.

By the same reasoning, if there is no urgency to resolve the issue or if the issue has been active for some time, you should look again to see if it really is an issue. It may be a potential problem (risk) or it may be an action item that needs to be resolved at some later point. Issues by their nature must be resolved with a sense of urgency.

When issues arise, they should be solved as quickly as possible. However, try to resolve the root cause of the issue, not just the symptom. Solving the root cause will ensure that the problem does not resurface later in the project. The root cause can usually be found by asking a series of ‘why’ questions. Why did the issue arise? When the question is answered, ask yourself ‘why’ again, and again. When you cannot answer the ‘why’ question again, you are probably close to the root cause.

Issues can come from team members or any project stakeholder. It is a good practice to encourage people to help identify solutions along with the issues. When a team member identifies a potential issue, ask them to bring one or more possible solutions.

This process will help build accountability among the team members, but it will also help determine possible courses of action. In fact, if a team member proposes one or more viable solutions, the problem may be able to be resolved with the help of the project manager and never reach the level of an issue at all.

Typical steps for resolving issues include:

• Document an issue, including any pertinent details such as the date and who reported it.
• Determine a priority for the issue. Label it as high, medium, or low.
• Assign the issue to a project team member. The issue can be scheduled for resolution to better manage the team member's time and effort.
• Track the status of the resolution. Label it as open, in progress, or closed.
• Document the process by which the issue was resolved. This will help the team note any lessons that can be learned from the problem's solution.

To learn how to use an issue log, visit the post on How to manage project issues – the Issue Log.

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