Objective

The objective of this task is to execute the activities specified in the Issues Plan and to identify, track, and resolve project-related issues in a timely and efficient manner. Perform Issue Resolutions - Flow Diagram

Task Deliverable

Issues Resolved

Approach

Identify and log the issue as outlined in the Issues Plan. See the Issue Submission Form and Issues Database tools for additional information on logging issues. Capture applicable information pertaining to the issue using the issue submission form (from the Issues Plan). Review the issues log to verify that the issue was not previously submitted. Present the completed issue submission form to the project manager for review, approval, categorization, and prioritization. Have the project controller (if present) transfer all applicable information from the issue submission form to the issues log. Assign the issue to an issue owner. Have the project manager or project controller assign the most appropriate level resource as an issue owner, based on the type, category, and priority of the issue. Document the name of the assigned issue owner in the issues log. Before conducting any work on issues, conduct a meeting with the project manager or project controller and the issue owner to discuss and clarify: Details of the issue Proposed due date for issue resolution Potential stakeholders affected by the issue Stakeholders or other project team members who are available for providing assistance in analyzing and resolving the issue Whether potential escalation procedures are required Revise the Integrated Project Plan and project team organization, if required, based on the resources allocated to the issue resolution process (outlined in the Issues Plan). Research and analyze the issue. Perform an impact analysis of the issue by assembling all available and relevant information about the issue and analyzing its effects on: Project costs (from the Financial Plan) Time frames (from the Workplan) Benefit achievement Value Risks (from the Risk Plan) Project requirements Established quality standards (from the Quality Management Plan) Established and proposed designs Other issues (including related and conflicting issues) Develop recommendations for issue resolution and identify a potential resolution. Develop issue resolution alternatives or recommendations. Refer to the Issues Evaluation Methods tool. Review the issue resolution alternatives and present the recommendations to the stakeholders directly affected by the issue. Solicit input from stakeholders when developing recommendations, if necessary. Use applicable evaluation techniques to select the best solution from the existing recommendations. Sometimes it is useful to have a process to aid in decision-making. The Decision Making tool provides a guideline for making decisions among alternatives. If the issue cannot be resolved or if little or no progress is made toward resolving the issue, have the issue owner escalate the issue to the next authority level (as defined in the Issues Plan). After obtaining the project manager's agreement for escalating the issue, change the level of authority and incorporate any applicable notes in the issues log. Approve, defer, or reject the resolution. Have the project manager conduct the following activities: Approve the proposed resolution if it falls within the established tolerances of the project (for example, scope or budget) and if the issue may impede the progress or success of the project. If the issue is approved, continue with the issue resolution process. Defer the proposed resolution if it is contingent on another issue that is not resolved or if the issue is not critical or high priority. Request more information from relevant parties. When the information is received, continue with the issue resolution process. Reject the proposed resolution if it requires an extensive number of resources for execution. If the request is rejected, communicate the decision to the initiator. If the execution of the resolution has a major effect on the project schedule, cost, or scope, escalate the proposed resolution to the project board. Record and communicate the resolution decision. Document the decision to approve, reject, or defer the resolution in the issues log. If the resolution is rejected or deferred, document the reason for the rejection or deferral. Notify the applicable stakeholders of the resolution decision. If the proposed issue resolution is approved, determine the activities required for implementing the resolution. Execute the issue resolution activities. Assign the applicable project team members to execute the required activities for issue resolution. Determine the formal date by which the resolution activities need to be completed. Update the issue’s status, as often as required, in the issues log. Expedite the issues that are not resolved by the forecast due date or whose lack of resolution affects other project activities. Communicate the status of implementation activities during regular project team meetings. In addition, provide issues status reports to the organizational stakeholders, including the individual who originated the issue.

Inputs Supported by Deloitte Methodologies

Financial Plan (Task Deliverable) Integrated Project Plan (Task Deliverable) Issues Plan (Task Deliverable) Quality Management Plan (Task Deliverable) Risk Plan (Task Deliverable) Workplan (Task Deliverable)

Tools

Decision Making (Development Aid) Issue Submission Form (Development Aid) Issues Database (Development Aid) Issues Evaluation Methods (Reference Material) Scalability (Development Aid)

Detailed Procedures

Documenting Lessons Learned

Key Considerations That Apply to All Types of Projects

General One of the most fundamental aspects of the issues management process is communication among the project manager, team leads, team members, and client organizational stakeholders. By adopting tactical and strategic approaches, the project manager addresses all aspects of communication. A tactical approach involves communication with the project team, whereas the strategic approach addresses organizational management. For additional information regarding the strategic and tactical communication approaches, refer to the Produce Project Communications Plan task. Refer to the detailed procedure about Documenting Lessons Learned for instructions on how to record lessons learned for this task. The terms of the contract dictate how activities are performed, what deliverables are created, and how services are delivered. These items must meet, but not exceed, the terms of the contract. Persons who are directly or indirectly involved in this task must clearly understand the terms of the contract. Managing issues is the essential responsibility of the project manager and is fundamental to the success of an implementation. The project manager’s focus should be on resolving or preventing issues. Issue Identification Issue prioritization should be based on the established priority definitions and each issue’s effect on other project tasks or phases. Project team members should capitalize on the events that can improve on the project costs, schedule, or performance. These items should be initially recorded as project issues. All potential change requests should be initially identified and logged as issues. However, after identifying that an issue will result in a major change in the approved project scope, schedule, cost, or end-deliverable, the issue should be identified as a change request and the project team should conduct the procedures detailed in the Change Plan. Project issues can be identified by any individual (including stakeholders or project team members) associated with the project and at any time throughout the projects duration. All project issues that are general questions or the result of misunderstandings or miscommunications should be answered immediately. A formal reply should be documented and distributed to the originator of the issue. The issues log should be updated to reflect the resolution. The project manager is responsible for prioritizing the issue according to its importance and urgency. Urgent issues should be addressed quickly, while important issues should be addressed comprehensively. Omit trivial issues as early as possible to concentrate on the important issues. The project manager should categorize and prioritize issues according to their relationship to the implementation time line. The project manager can develop a contingency plan, which enables the project manager to accurately prioritize the issues by phase. Issue Owner Each project, its scope, project manager, and project team have unique characteristics and qualities. Consequently, each member’s responsibilities may vary from project to project. However, the project manager should attempt to assign the issue responsibility at the lowest level (but capable individual) of the hierarchy. Issue Analysis Over the course of the analysis, be sure to answer the following questions: Which resource would best assist in the issue evaluation? If necessary, acquire additional input or assistance from the individuals who submitted the issue and any other organizational stakeholders who may be affected by the issue. How urgent is the decision? When does a resolution need to be presented? Ensure that urgent issues are addressed quickly. Are special considerations or actions required to ensure that the client organization’s best interests are considered during the evaluation? How do established project contracts and procedures address changes? Is there a separate change budget? For additional information regarding change budgeting and procedures, refer to the Produce Change Plan task. What phase and end deliverables are affected by the issue? What is the effect of the issue on the project business case? The best approach to issue analysis and resolution is to: Categorize issues and identify how they relate to established project activities. Approach major issues before minor issues. Consider evaluating more complex issues as multiple issues. Create clusters for grouping related issues. The impact analysis should be performed as soon as possible after the issue is assigned to an issue owner. It is the project manager's responsibility to be aware of the issues documented in the issues log and to provide guidance and suggestions to the issue owner for grouping related issues. In addition, the project manager should identify conflicting issues as soon as possible. An impact analysis is performed on selected issues to identify: Aspects of the project that require change Labor effort required to resolve the issue Effect on the project Business Case and project scope Risks involved with the issue Recommendation Development Sometimes it is useful to have a process to aid in decision-making. The Decision Making tool provides a guideline for making decisions among alternatives. If the project team, including the project manager, cannot resolve an issue, escalate the issue to the project director if the issue: Has potential major effects on the project cost or budget Involves unplanned risks that may affect the project quality or schedule Involves major problems with organizational relationships The project team, with the assistance of the project manager, should be able to resolve all technical and procedural issues without the involvement of the Deloitte Consulting project director. When identifying a resolution, be sure to obtain answers to the following questions: How many resources need to be involved in the resolution activities? Are there alternative courses of action that may not have been previously identified? What is the solutions cost according to resource effort and the project budget? Would implementing the resolution dramatically change the current project activities? What is the effect of the resolution on the projects risk and quality? Be sure to consider the opinions and sensitivities of the project and external stakeholders when addressing various issues. The project manager is responsible for addressing the sensitivities of the stakeholders and may often be required to use targeted communications for each specific group. The coordination and support of the team leads, project office, and project board in the issue resolution process will: Keep the project moving forward. Confirm the importance of an enterprise-wide effort. Reaffirm managements support and direction. Provide the project teams with a united focus group from which to obtain direction and guidance. Any issues that have not been resolved within the specified time frame or to the satisfaction of the issue owner or originator should be escalated. A single set of recommendations or a proposed resolution may actually address a number of project issues or an issue "cluster." Be sure to follow the issue resolution guidelines from the Issues Plan. Decisions pertaining to issue resolution activities should not be made until the issue can be reviewed according to the project status, product delivery, and progress against the Workplan. The only exception to conducting this review is if the issue creates an urgent need for action. If the issue resolution results in a change, refer to the procedures documented in the Change Plan. The approval of issue resolutions could drive the current phase beyond acceptable margins or tolerances. Inform the project board of the potential delay when they are considering the resolution. The client organization may require a written exception report to the Workplan when the project board’s response to an escalation involves adjusting the cost or time targets or conceding on quality for an off-specification resolution. Issue Resolution Execution The project manager should be aware of any obstacles or problems in the execution of issue resolution activities. The project manager is responsible for expediting an issue. In addition, the project manager should evaluate the reason the issue is not resolved and define the activities required to resolve the issue. The project manager may choose to assign more resources to the issue team (if it assists in resolving the issue) or to raise the priority of the issue and rearrange the project schedule to accommodate issue resolution. It is vital that the project manager frequently communicates with the project team concerning issue management activities, including any situation that identifies any new issues or obstacles in the issue resolution process. In addition, the project manager should be aware of any changes to the current plan at all times. The project team members who are assigned to complete the resolution activities should define, execute, and document all of the actions and decisions pertaining to the resolution. Do not maintain and track Deloitte Consulting-specific issues in the projects issues log. The project manager should determine an internal method of tracking these issues, if applicable.

Roles

Project Board Project Controller Project Director Project Manager Project Member Team Lead

Estimates, Frequency, and Scalability

When scope/issues management has a higher level of risk than the project as a whole, use scalability considerations from the next project size. For example, if the current project is small and has a high level of risk in scope/issues management, adopt the techniques for medium or large projects. Use the Scalability tool to determine the project size and risk. Small Project The communication of issue status to organizational stakeholders may be informal (for example, verbal or via e-mail). Medium Project The communication of issue status to organizational stakeholders should be through biweekly summary reports. Large Project The communication of issue status to organizational stakeholders should be through weekly formal reports that include supporting information. In addition, the reports should include updated information that is presented in weekly project team meetings.

Dependencies

Time-Driven The issue resolution process occurs throughout the life of the project. Issue analyses, recommendations, and processes will be discussed at regularly scheduled team, project, and board meetings. Event-Driven The issue resolution process is primarily event-driven. Issues are not planned; they are identified as problems arise on the project. Sequence-Driven Produce Integrated Project Plan must finish before this task can start. Produce Issues Plan must finish before this task can start. This task must finish before Control Issue Resolutions can start.

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