Managing Issues
Previous Topic  Next Topic 

In the life cycle of any project, there will almost always be unexpected problems and questions that crop up. When these issues arise, you have to be ready to deal with them – or they can potentially affect the project's outcome. Since most issues are, by their nature, unexpected,  dealing with them quickly and effectively is a challenge.  Ideally, you need an issue resolution process in place before you start your project – to make sure that you stay on schedule, and meet your objectives.

Issue management is the process of identifying and resolving issues. Problems with staff or suppliers, technical failures, material shortages – these might all have a negative impact on your project. If the issue goes unresolved, you risk creating unnecessary conflicts, delays, or even failure to produce your deliverable.

Issue versus Risks

Issues and risks are not quite the same thing. However, the exact nature of both is largely unknown before you begin. With risks, you usually have a general idea in advance that there's a cause for concern. An issue tends to be less predictable; it can arise with no warning. For Example: Being unable to find qualified staff is an identifiable risk. However, when one of your staff is in a car accident, and hospitalized for three weeks, that becomes an issue!

When you don't identify and reduce risks at the beginning of a project, they can often become issues later on. Make sure you understand your risks early. Learn from previous projects, and benefit from the team's past experiences. This way, you'll have fewer issues to manage as you move forward.

 Issue management module in SmartProject helps you in managing issues related to a Project.

Issues are managed in the same way as managing snags and non-conformances.

Issues facility can be opened from the Modules option in the global menu. 

 

Figure: Opening from Global Menu

and from the Project.

 

Figure: Opening from Project

If Issues facility is opened from the Project, Issues List of the Project is displayed directly. In case Issues facility is opened from the Module options, the following window is displayed.

 

Figure: Selecting a Project

  1. Click the browse button to select a Project. List of Projects will be displayed. Select a Project from the list.

Issue List window is displayed. In case already Issues are created for the Project, details of the Issues are displayed in the window.

Figure: Issue List window with issues

Count of Total number of  Issues and count of Issues with different statuses like Created, Open, Closed, Work In Progress, Completed and Cancelled will be displayed in different tabs. On clicking a tab, the respective Issues List will be displayed. For Example: If the tab OPEN is clicked, list of Issues with status Open will be displayed.

In case for the selected project Issues are not created the following window is displayed.

Figure: New Issue List window

Creating an Issue

An Issue can be created only by a user with security permission to create an Issue.

To create an Issue

Fetching details from Issue group

If Issue groups are available against the project, it is possible to fetch the details associated with the group, only if the corresponding data field in window is empty. This helps to specifying details quickly. 

To fetch details from Issue group

Notifying Issue creation

When an Issue is created a single notification mail can be send to the concerned users.

To send notifications

Modifying Issue Details

Issue details of an Issue in CREATED status can be modified. 

To modify an Issue

Closing an Issue

A user who is authorised to close an Issue only can carry out this operation.

To close the Issue

Updating Issue status

During the lifecycle of a Issue, if some mistakes happen, user may need to reverse the status. For Example: When an Issue item is wrongly approved, wrongly updated with a rectification status etc.

To update Issue status

Approving an Issue

Only the ‘Approver’ assigned to an Issue may approve it. When other users attempt to approve the Issue, a warning message is displayed, and the operation is aborted.

To approve an Issue

Removing an Issue

An Issue can be removed by authorised users. Creator of the Issue can remove the Issue before it is approved. Approver and Authorised to Close user can remove the Issue any time.

To remove an Issue

Operation Log

Operation log captures the following Issue operations.

  1. Creation
  2. Editing
  3. Removal
  4. Approval/ cancellation
  5. Completion
  6. Closure
  7. Updating Status

To view the operation log

Bulk Exporting of Issues

In some project sites, engineers need to export the details of issues for analysing and generating reports. To meet this requirement, Export option is available for Issue.

To bulk export issues

Configuration and security settings

Several configurations are required to avail the  Issue handling functionality. The administrators can use the ‘Administrative Settings option available in the Issue main window to manage the configurations.

Creating Defect Categories

When reporting Issues, it is a common practice to categorise them based on the nature of defects. This helps in assigning the experts in rectifying the respective type of defects. Also, common practices for rectification can be defined, making the rectifications quicker.

To create defect categories

To create a sub category

Modifying defect categories

Defect categories created can be modified.

To modify a defect category

Removing defect categories

Defect Categories can be deleted. Only defect categories that are not in use can be removed.

To remove defect categories

Creating Issue groups

Groups helps to define a list of common types of Issues for which default set of characteristics values can be predefined. This will help to create Issues easily instead of specifying values for each Issue properties individually.  A group can be assigned to an Issue and the property values as defined for the group will be inherited by the Issue.

To create Issue groups

Security Settings

Security defined here is applicable to both Users and  User Groups (Roles). Only users with security right can manage a snag.

To define security

Configuring reminders and escalations

Reminders and escalations can be configured for Issues.

To configure reminders and escalations

To configure a reminder

To configure an escalation

  1. In the Escalations pane tool bar click Add.

Issue - Escalation Details window is displayed.

Figure: Issue - Escalation Details window

  1. In the window enter values for the properties mentioned in the following table.

#

Property

Description

1

Description

Enter a description for the escalation.

2

Day after due date

Enter the number of days after the due date, on which an escalation is to be sent.

3

Priority

Select a priority for the escalation from a drop-down list.

4

To and Cc

Enter the recipients for the escalation.

5

Mail Template

Select a mail template from a drop-down list.

6

Notify

Select the checkbox next to the resource that is to be notified. 

  1. Click Save to store the changes.

Escalations and reminders are sent based on the configuration made here.

Managing Settings

User who creates the issue is automatically assigned as the approver. But in some project sites, issue created by a resource must be approved by another resource. Since both scenarios are required on site, a setting Assign creator as approver by default is available in the Settings tab of Issue Management Settings window.  If the checkbox next to this option is selected, creator is assigned as the approver by default. If the checkbox next to this option is not selected, user needs to select an approver.

Figure: Issue Settings

There are scenarios where a PMC user may raise a Snag, issue and NCR and assign it to the contractor user. The contractor user assigned to the Snag, Issue or NCR may need to reassign the Snag, Issue or NCR to the actual user in their team who will work on the objects to close it. Currently, this is not allowed. The assigned resource cannot reassign.Also, when the PMC has assigned one contractor user to a Snag, Issue and NCR, it cannot be changed. Hence if a wrong user is assigned, it cannot be rectified. This also needs modification.

As a solution to this, a setting to allow the user in “To be rectified by” field to assign work to another resource is available. 

If the checkbox next to the setting Allow "To be Rectified by" user to reassign is selected, resources assigned as To be Rectified by users will be able to reassign the issue.