Issues, Actually
What’s an Issue? (And How’s It Different from a Risk?)
Yesterday we talked about risks — the things that might go wrong.
Today, we’re talking about issues — the things that already have.
Risk
An egg balancing on the precipice of doom (or your kitchen counter, both work).
Issue
The egg 🥚is now… much like Humpty Dumpty… broken.
What is an issue in project management?
An issue is anything that’s already happened, is actively causing a problem, and needs resolving. It could be blocking progress, affecting budget, delaying timelines, or making your stakeholders a little… twitchy.
Let’s head back to our house-building analogy:
Risk: The electrician might not show up on the day.
Issue: The electrician didn’t show up, and the wiring is now behind schedule.
Issues can be:
😎 People-related (someone’s off sick, someone quit)
💻 Tech-related (software failed, integration broke)
🚚 External (supplier missed a delivery, weather delay)
💬 Communication-based (no one realised the scope had changed…)
Why issues need to be tracked, not just fixed
Most teams are great at solving issues on the fly.
Someone jumps in, a workaround is found, and everyone moves on.
But if you don’t track those issues - in your RAID log, in your project tool, somewhere - you’ll:
Lose visibility of how the project’s really doing.
Repeat the same mistakes in future projects.
Leave your stakeholders wondering why things “suddenly” fell behind.
Issue logs aren’t there to point fingers. They’re there to capture reality - so you can manage it.
The worst kind of issue? The one no one admits is happening.
Sometimes issues are hiding in plain sight:
That task that’s been “almost done” for two weeks.
The client who’s unresponsive but no one wants to chase.
The test environment that hasn’t been working properly but people are just… ignoring it.
The RAID log gives you permission to surface these things. To name them. And more importantly - to deal with them.
So, what do you do with an issue?
You log it. You assign it. You give it a timeline.
⬆️ This is the same mantra we had for Risks (we might repeat this for the As and the Ds… 😉).
Make it stand out
Issue: Roof tiles delivered are the wrong type.
Impact: Roofers can’t proceed. Project delay of 3 days.
Resolution plan: Contact supplier, arrange replacement delivery.
Owner: Site manager.
Status: In progress.
Then you check in. Update it. Move it to “resolved” when it’s done. You know - project management, but done properly.
TL;DR: Risk vs Issue
Risk = Might happen → Mitigate it
Issue = Is happening → Fix it
And yes, risks can turn into issues. But if you’ve been tracking them properly, it won’t be a surprise.
Tomorrow: we’ll look at Dependencies - those sneaky things that turn into blockers when no one’s paying attention.