管理项目问题

From "Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management 2nd Edition"

管理项目问题

Managing Project Issues

 

Projects are dynamic, projects often dealwith the “new” and the “leading edge,” and projects involve people. As aresult, circumstances are going to change, misunderstandings occur, assumptionsdon’t hold, political agendas collide, problems arise, and risk events happen.These situations are categorized as project issues, and they all have the potentialto adversely affect the project’s ability to accomplish its objectives.

 

AdministrativeProcess Principles 管理流程原则

 

To properly manage project issues, thereare a few administrative fundamentals to adhere to:

• Document the issues 记录问题—You need somewhere to log the issues as they are identified. We’lldiscuss the log details later on.

• Track until closure 跟踪指导解决—Use the log to make sure issues remain visible until they areresolved.

• Align with project needs 与项目需要保持一致—Ensure theoverall process matches the communication and workflow needs of the project.

• Cost-effective approach 采用成本效率比好的解决方法—Keepthings in perspective. Don’t buy a BMW when a Chevrolet is all you need.

 

 

BestPractices 最佳实践

 

The work of project issue management is straightforward.However, there are several techniques that are proven to be effective and will helpyou avoid the common mistakes in this aspect of project control.

■ Assign Unique ID 分配唯一的ID—Make sure to assign a unique number to each logged issue. Thissimplifies the ongoing communication and tracking process.

■ Assign one person responsible 指定专人负责—As with otherwork tasks, assign a specific person responsible for any follow-up action itemsand for complete resolution to the issue.

■ Facilitate resolution to complex issues 协调解决负责问题—Thereare times when issues do not have a clear owner or will need the collaborationof several parties to resolve. As the project manager, you must either assignsomeone to facilitate this process or take ownership of the facilitationprocess yourself.

■ Resolve issues at the lowest level 尽量在问题处在低优先级的时候将其解决—Alwaysattempt to deal with problems at their lowest level. You can resolve issues fasterand at less cost. More importantly, you will earn the confidence of upper managementby protecting their time and only engaging them when it is warranted. Again,make sure to establish the escalation triggers with your senior management stakeholdersduring planning, so you are clear about their expectations.

■ Go after “root cause”寻找问题的根源—A common error in dealing with issues is not to deal with the actualsource of the problem (root cause). Sometimes, political reasons may hamperyour efforts to deal with the root cause, but whenever possible, do the properanalysis to get to the real problem, and address it. If you do not, the issuewill likely return for another visit.

■ Get buy-in on due date and ownership 在完成日期和负责人上达成一致—Applythe same approach to assigning issues, as you do (or should) with assigningscheduled work tasks. For better issue management, make sure to

spend the time with the person designated totake action on the issue and get their agreement on when they can have theaction completed and that they are the right person to do it.

■ Adapt process and data points 采用流程和数据点—Even if yourorganization has a standard approach or methodology for issue management, don’tbe afraid to adapt the workflow process or the tracked data points to betterfit the needs of the project.

■ Review issues frequently 时常回顾—At a minimum,review any outstanding issues during each status review meeting (this should beincluded in your Communications Plan). As a good practice, follow up onoutstanding issues every day and make sure the necessary steps/actions areoccurring to get to a resolution.

■ Train project team on process and tools 对项目组进行流程和工具的培训—This is not as important for projects where the Issue Log is more amanagement tool just for the project manager (you). However, in any situationwhere collaboration tools are being utilized or multiple people are involved inthe process, make sure the project team is properly prepared to leverage thesystem.