Our projects are utilizing Tasks, Issues and Action Items, and when a new item arises in the project, we seem to have difficulty determining whether the item is a Task, an Issue , or an Action Item. We would like to come up with straightforward definitions that will help make the process more intuitive (and consistent).

When a particular item comes up in the project, we seem to debate whether the item should be added to the schedule as a task, or added to the issues list. Action Items are a bit more straightforward, but how Action Items relate to Tasks and Issues is also an area that seems to always be up for discussion.

Do you have a systematic approach that you use in your projects to consistently determine which project items are Tasks, Issues, or Action Items?

As John implies, you really need to add risks to this list because that always seems to cause confusion as well.  My thoughts are fairly similar to John's:

Task (in the context of a project) - an item in the WBS at the lowest level

Issue - an item that is impacting one or more tasks that requires immediate attention / resolution.  An issue may result in new tasks being created, tasks changing (time, effort, priority, substance, etc)

Action Item - a specific action assigned to an individual to be completed by a certain time, often as the output of a meeting.  The action item may contribute to completion of a task, resolution of an issue, etc

Risk - An item that has the potential of impacting the project - often by creating one or more issues if it is realized.  High priority risks need active management through the creation of action items

Hope that helps!

Andy Jordan, President, Roffensian Consulting.  andy.jordan@roffensian.com

Joseph,

It depends how you have things set up and what applications you are using.  You can have a custom field in the Tasks application and change a task to an Action Item or Issue.  I have modified my Issues Application to manage my Risks, Action Items, Issues, Decisions, and Changes (RAIDC).  All I have to do to change an item category is change the custom field setting.

On this subject, what if I want to track time spent on an issue, action or on a new DA created by us. Would I be able to assign such DA entry to project members for it to appear on their timesheet in order to calculate total expenditure?

Cheers

Mohamed,

Right now, your best bet is to create a task and relate it to your RAID activity.  As the team member updates the task, they can click on the Related Item tab from their timesheet to update the RAID item and the task at the same time.  By relating the items, the update can be accomplished in minimal time.