Questions surrounding unplanned occurrences must be referred to the program from its components (projects and other work), and from the program to organi-zational executive management. Seasoned program managers know when it is and when it is not important to make those referrals and how to do them properly. This is the purview of the issue escalation process noted in the plan and establish program governance structure process in the Standard for Program Management—Second Edition (2008). The issue escalation process is established as a planning process and then is used as the program is executed and monitored and controlled.
Issue Escalation Process Instructions
Purpose: Each program will have issues, or unplanned events, actions, or disputes that may impact program areas and that will need resolution, following the
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program’s governance plan and using the program issues register or log. One of the program manager’s responsibilities is to resolve these issues that are esca-lated from program components through a synergistic approach to enable the program’s benefits to be realized. It is also a key part of the program charter and program management plan to describe the identified risks and issues at the beginning of the program so they do not turn into problems later during execu-tion. Additionally, identifying and managing issues is a major part of program integration management, as defined in the Standard for Program Management
—Second Edition (2008), to anticipate issues and manage them effectively.
An issue resolution process can facilitate the steps to follow when there are issues that cannot be resolved by a component manager, a team member, or the program manager. It is important to recognize that issues may affect any aspect of the program.
In the Standard for Program Management —Second Edition (2008), this issue escalation process is an output of the plan and establish program gover-nance structure process.
This document describes an issue escalation process to follow:
1. Set up the program issues register at the beginning of the program, even though it is an output of the direct and manage program execu-tion process in the Standard for Program Management—Second Ediexecu-tion (2008). Use the program issues register to identify the issue and to track it throughout the process. Assign a number to the issue and link it to the program work breakdown structure (PWBS) number. Those issues noted in the program brief and in the program charter should be added to the program issues register once the program is officially initiated.
2. Determine if a change request is required for the issue, and if so, have someone on the program management team prepare it. Ideally, the change request should be prepared by the person who first identified the issue.
3. Determine the issue’s priority and identify someone on the program management team who will be responsible for tracking the progress of the issue through its resolution and subsequent implementation. Often, the program management office handles the issue log for the program.
4. Determine whether a feasibility study may be required to help analyze the issue and determine the most appropriate way to resolve it, and if so, identify a program management team member to conduct this study and prepare a plan for it so it can be completed in a timely manner. Use this feasibility study as part of the overall issue analysis process to determine if additional funding is required for the issue resolution process or to imple-ment corrective action.
5. Inform the governance board that an issue has been identified through a regularly scheduled status report or by other means if it is an issue that has been identified to have a major impact on the program or
52 Implementing Program Management: Templates for Success
the organization, in case it cannot be resolved by the program manager.
The governance board should be informed as soon as possible following the information distribution process in case a special meeting may need to be held to resolve the issue.
6. Review the program manager’s charter to see if he or she has the authority to resolve the issue. Typical resolution methods are to accept the issue and not require other change or to change the program management plan and other associated documents because of the issue. The issue escala-tion process and the people to be involved typically are covered in the program communications management plan.
7. Determine the stakeholders that will be affected by the issue and engage them as appropriate in the issue resolution process. Identify possible stakeholders who may be affected by reviewing the type of issue as noted in the program issues register. Update the stakeholder register accord-ingly to ensure all stakeholder concerns have been addressed.
8. If the program manager cannot resolve the issue effectively, escalate it to the governance board for resolution. Even if the program manager has the authority to resolve the issue, it may be one that affects other programs or projects or the entire organization, so the program manager may decide to involve the governance board because of the issue’s scope and impact.
9. If the issue is escalated to the governance board, the program manager should describe the importance of the issue. It may be appropriate to have a member of the program management team, or someone from the pro-gram management office, to facilitate the meeting so a decision concern-ing the issue can be made quickly and to see that the governance board member’s questions are answered during the meeting. The program man-ager then should communicate the resolution of the issue after the meet-ing to affected stakeholders, and the team member responsible for the program issues register should note the decision in the issue register.
10. Ensure that once a resolution for the issue has been determined that cor-rective actions are taken. Also determine whether preventive actions are required so the issue does not surface in the future.
11. Document the issue and its resolution as part of the lessons learned register.
12. In the next meeting with the governance board, state that the issue has been resolved and the corrective actions that have been taken. Note that it is part of the lessons learned register in case there are other projects or programs under way that could benefit from learning about this issue and its resolution.
13. In a status report that is distributed to stakeholders and members of the gov-ernance board, state that the issue was resolved and describe its resolution.
14. Ensure that as part of the transition plan after the program is officially closed, there is customer support in case a comparable issue arises later after the program deliverables are completed.
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