In Project Management the Issue Log is used to document issues, assess their impact on the project and record the actions that will be taken to remove the issue, or reduce its impact. stakeholdermap.com
Issues can be thought of as risks that have materialised. In other words an issue is a current problem that needs to be solved rather than a risk, which is a threat or opportunity that might happen.
Record the current status of each issue, for example:
Open: The issue is currently open but has not yet been addressed.
Work In Progress: The issue is being actively worked to develop a resolution.
Closed: The issue is no longer considered an active project threat and can be closed with or without resolution.
Issue Priority
Each issue should have a priority, ideally with s color code, for example:
Critical: Issue will stop project progress.
High: Issue will likely impact budget, schedule or scope.
Medium: Issue will impact the project, but could be mitigated to avoid an impact on budget, schedule or scope.
Low: Issue is low impact and/or low effort to resolve.
Issue Description
Give a brief description of the issue. For example:
Concerns raised by board members about the business case are preventing the project moving out of the initiation stage.
Owner
The individual who will take ownership of the issue. They won't necessarily take the actions to resolve the issue, but they will be accountable.
Estimated Resolution Date
Enter the target date or estimated date for resolution of the issue. This might also include a time stamp for time critical items.
Escalation Needed (Y/N)?
Some issues may need the intervention of senior management. Perhaps to bring additional resources or to approve an action. For example, a change request to implement an action to resolve the risk.
In this section you can use a simple: "Yes" if the program/project manager feels an issue needs to be escalated and "No" if escalation is not needed to resolve the issue.
Impact
Describe the impact of the issue. This may be in terms of the project constraints of time, cost and scope, see the Project Triangle.
Actions
Actions to mitigate, avoid, or resolve the issue.
Date Identified
The date that the issue was identified.
Logged by
The name of the person who documented or identified the issue.
