PRINCE2 Issue Definition – Part 2 – Formal Issues and Decision Time
The first decision the project manager must make is whether the issue should be handled formally and tracked, or informally by making a note of it within the Daily Log.
If the issue is to be handled formally, then the full detail will need to be recorded in the Issue Report and then the tracking information of who sent it, its current status, etc. within the Issue Register.
You must see the Issue Register as a control document. It provides an overview of all the current issues shown when each was received, what action is being taken on each, and whether or not it has been resolved.
The Issue Report records to full details of each single issue. For experienced PRINCE2 team managers, you could ask them to submit any issues in the Issue Report format by completing as many sections as they can.
Whether this information is then copied onto the Issue Register or the Daily Log does not matter.
A summary of the control information within the Issue Report is copied into the Issue Register.
The PRINCE2 7 Issue Report
Here is an overview of the sections contained within an Issue Report:
The purpose of the issue report is to describe the issue’s impacts on the project baseline and identify
ways to resolve the issue or address off-specification and recommend a decision.
Unique identifier: unique reference for the issue
Product identifier(s): the identifier of the product(s) affected by the issue
Date raised: the date the issue was first logged
Type of issue: problem or concern, external event, business opportunity, request for change, and off-
specification
Grading: severity and priority, if used
Description: a summary of the issue source, cause and impact
Impact analysis: analysis of its impact on the project baseline
Options: ways in which the project, user, or supplier could respond to the issue
Recommendation: the decision recommended by the project manager or team manager
Decision: a record of the decision in response to the issue, e.g. for an off-specification it could record the
acceptance and provide a summary of the concession made.
The PRINCE2 7 Issue Register
This is a control document that gives an overview of all issues and will repeat much of the information as described within the Issue Report:
- The purpose of the issue register is to log all issue reports raised during the project lifecycle, their current status, and date of closure
- Issue identifier: unique reference for the issue
- Issue description: summary of the issue
- Issue type: problem, concern, external event, business opportunity, request for change, and off-specification
- Grading: a rating of priority and severity
- Issue owner: for the issue
- Decision: a record of the decision in response to the issue, e.g. for an off-specification it could record the acceptance and provide a summary of the concession made
- Status: the current status of the issue, for example, logged, reviewed, actioned, escalated, and resolved
- Relevant dates related to the issue: for example, date raised, date last reviewed, action due dates, and date resolved
- Records: list of the documents associated with the issue and their location.
A point to consider here is that the severity and priority ratings may not be known at this point until the next step when the issue is examined. In such a case simply make your best estimate at this point and be prepared to come back and modify it after further examination.
It is often the case that the person who raised the issue will be emotionally motivated and overate its true status.
Step Two – Examining the issue
This should involve all appropriate individuals not just the project manager. These individuals could include team managers, team members, specialist contributors, Or even external third parties such as suppliers.
Be careful about involving Project Assurance here as that may detract from the impartiality. Remember that Project Assurance provides an audit function independent of the project manager.
Several impact areas should be considered, and the following list give you some ideas for those that should be included when examining the issue:
- Costs
- Risk
- Quality
- Business benefits and project justification
- Time scales for the stage and project Including any knock on effects to future stages
- Any impacts on a program or other related projects
Staffing levels and staff availability
A point worth considering here when planning the project with in the initiation stage, is whether you predict and expect many changes to occur. In such a case it would be smart to include resources and time in your plans for issue impact analysis.
Step Three – proposing action
There are three levels of decision-making authority here, the project manager, a Change Authority if you have one, and the Project Board. Such actions if beyond the project manager’s delegated authority need to be proposed to ever is authorized to do so.
Exactly who that authority should be, falls to the Project Board. During initiation, the Project Board must decide how much authority, and what type they are prepared to delegate to the project manager, and this includes a clear definition of the point where the project manager must come back to them for a decision.
Very often this decision point is cost or budget. The way to do this is to set a band of cost where if any issue action occurs within it, then the project manager can make the decision. Any point above that will need to go before the Project Board.
But there is another dimension to this, as some decisions although falling within the authority banned described above, may have operational consequences that the Project Board need to be involved in.
Related Posts — ‘PRINCE2 Issue Definition’
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