Standard 11: Evidence based, action-oriented project management.

• Primary responsible: Project manager or chief of party (PM/CoP)
  • The PM/CoP leads the process of risk and issue identification, review, and tracking.

• Others involved: CRS and partner project staff (program and operations); country program senior management team (SMT); members of the project governance structureThe project governance structure may consist of a small group of senior leaders for a smaller, less complex project, or a larger project board for a complex, multi-partner project.
  • CRS and partner program and operations staff participate in risk and issue identification, review and follow-up;
  • The SMT reviews risks and issues identified, supports the project teamThis includes SMT direct engagement when needed to address sensitive or otherwise critical risks. to manage them, and promotes an enabling environment for timely and appropriate risk and issue management;
  • Members of the project governance structure support the PM/CoP with management of risks and issues that exceed established tolerances.The PM/CoP leads the process of risk and issue identification, review, and tracking.

• Throughout project implementation
  
  • Use regular (daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the project context) project team meetings to identify and analyze new risks and issues, and to review the status of critical issues and risks requiring active management.
  • Use quarterly and annual planning and review meetings to comprehensively review project risks and issues.This includes both risks requiring monitoring only, and risks requiring a risk response strategy.

This key action builds on prior risk identification and response planning as part of the project design process, as well as risks Project risk is the effect of uncertainty on project objectives. and issuesProject issues are unresolved decisions, situations, or problems that will significantly affect the project and that the project team cannot immediately resolve. identification and analysis during the project validation process at start-up.

Follow these steps and the detailed instructions in the project risk register and issues log templates to ensure that risk and issue identification and management is a regular part of project management:

1. The PM/CoP and the country program SMT reiterate that proactive risk and issue management is a project priority and staff should share information related to potential problems and concerns as they emerge and evolve throughout project implementation.

• Emphasize to staff that they should not wait for a meeting to share any potentially significant risk but rather should inform the PM/CoP immediately so that the project team can assess and determine an appropriate risk management approach before the risk becomes an issue.
• As the PM/CoP learns of potentially significant new issues or risks, he/she adds them to the issues log or risk register (or donor equivalent)Use the risk register to document potential occurrences that could impact the project. Use the issues log to document and track the status of decisions, situations, or problems that have occurred or are certain to occur; that will significantly affect the project; and that the project team cannot immediately resolve.
   
  Note that some donors may use slightly different terms and have preferred or required templates for documenting and tracking risks and issues and project responses. In such cases, use the donor’s terminology and templates.
    as appropriate, for further discussion and analysis with the team during project meetings.

Effective issue and risk management requires an enabling environment: The SMT and PM/CoP must model timely and transparent risk and issue identification and create an environment where CRS and partner staff can raise and discuss project issues and risks honestly, with a clear understanding that doing so is valued.

2. During project program and operations staff regular meetings, the PM/CoP invites staff to share any updates on progress in the management of previously identified issues and key risks, and any new risks or issues staff have encountered or anticipate in their day-to-day work.  

• Assessing newly identified problems or potential problems, and determining the appropriate project response.See the instructions tab in the risk register template for guidance on analyzing and assessing project risk. These may emerge from audits, assessments, stakeholder meetings, field visits, and other monitoring. Pay special attention to any problems or potential problems emerging from project accountability and feedback mechanisms, as feedback often includes complaints which may point to risks or issues.
• Developing strategies to resolve problems so they do not become issues. 
• Reviewing the management of active issues and priority risks (e.g. risks previously assessed as “high”). This should include identifying the informationIssue management and risk response information will vary depending on the risk or issue and the response/management plans, but may include such things as a sharing a revised activity schedule or updated resource forecast, reporting back on a discussion with a key stakeholder, etc. that the individual responsible for managing the issue or risk should bring to the next team meeting to facilitate team review and refinement of issue management and risk response plans.
• Identifying whether any issues or risks and related actions require PM/CoP discussion with senior management and the project governance structure (for example, if the team’s assessment of the risk has changed) - see step 5. For issues, this is called “issue escalation.” 

Keep the focus on the most important project risks and issues: While it’s important to identify and discuss all potential risks and perceived issues in real time to properly assess and address them as needed, be careful to avoid getting bogged down in extended discussions of minor risks and issues. In especially dynamic contexts or during periods of project implementation where more frequent meetings may be needed, or for risk, issue, and coordination-focused segments of a broader meeting, consider using rapid daily check-in meetings. Rapid daily check-in meetings are brief (e.g. 15 minutes) and intended to keep the focus on internal team coordination and the early identification of risks and issues. In a typical rapid daily check-in meeting, each team member has one minute to answer three basic questions: (1). What did you do yesterday? (2). What will you do today? (3). What barriers stand in your way?  For issues and risks identified during rapid daily check-in meetings which require further discussion, organize a focused follow-up discussion with the relevant team members. 

3. During quarterly and annual project review and planning meetings, the PM/CoP leads the project team in a formal review of the full list of active project risks and issues captured in the project risk register and issues log.

• Focus on unresolved issues and on reviewing the risk assessment for all risks, particularly considering the current project operating context.
• See Standard 11, key action 4 for detailed guidance on organizing quarterly and annual project meetings.

Issue identification can also identify opportunities: Keep in mind that in some cases, properly-managed issues can positively affect the project. For example, if the project team anticipates completing a portion of the project significantly under-budget or ahead of schedule, this may be an opportunity to reinvest project financial or human resources to enhance project impact.

4. The PM/CoP updates the risk register and issues log (or donor equivalent) as needed following project meetings, shares with the project team, his/her supervisor, the SMT, and the project governance structure.

• As noted under step 2, keep the issues log and risk register focused on substantive risks and issues.

Escalate critical risks and issues as they emerge or evolve: The PM/CoP must immediately inform his/her supervisor, senior management and members of the project governance structure about any risks with a high probability of occurring, and high potential project impact. For projects where IDEA leads award management, keep IDEA staff informed as well (see Standard 15, key action 2 for guidance on communicating with donors about issues and risks). All project staff must follow CRS policy with respect to immediately reporting all safety and security, protection, and fraud-related risks and issues.

5. For any risks and issues that the project team cannot address on its own, or that the PM/CoP is not able to address based on his or her decision-making authority (project tolerances)Project tolerances set clear parameters within which a PM/CoP can act autonomously—and make it clear when the PM/CoP needs to seek approval. Project tolerances describe the approved ranges of variation that a PM/CoP is authorized to oversee without seeking the endorsement of members of the project governance structure. Tolerances may relate to such things as budget and project timeframe, project scope and quality. For example, a project tolerance might describe the percent by which a project, or line items in a project, can over- or under-spend without the approval of members of the project governance structure; or the acceptable number of days of delay in the implementation schedule before approval from the project governance structure is required. , the PM/CoP works with senior management and the project governance structure (Standard 6, key action 5) as needed to identify and implement appropriate risk and issue management strategies.
6. All staff assigned responsibility for managing an issue or leading risk response:

• Incorporate the agreed upon actions documented in the project risk register and issues log in their workplans.See Standard 7, key action 3 on DIP development for more information on work plans. A work plan is a document that describes the detailed tasks required to complete the sub‑activities of a project. Project staff work plans consist of tasks informed by the project DIP and individual job responsibilities.
• Report on risk and issue status during subsequent project team review meetings as well as quarterly CRS and partner project review meetings. As needed, the PM/CoP leads the project team in incorporating any new activities or other adjustments related to risk or issues management during updates to the project DIP (see Standard 11, key action 4).