Effective issue management always starts with the development of strategy and there are eight steps you must take to achieve this.
1 Goal.
Specify the outcomes youre seeking to achieve. Specify the issue management task by stating its purpose and objectives.
2 Stakeholders.
Identify the broad interest groups you will need to address by developing a list of influential stakeholders. Identify the precise targets for communication within these broader stakeholder groups.
3 Risks/Issues.
Identify and define the risks and issues. Register their likely impacts and effects. Briefly register the consequences of each risk and issue identified. Nominate the main stakeholders associated with each risk/issue.
4 Prioritisation.
Not all risks are likely to manifest. So prioritise the issues into those that are critical and those which are not Unfeasible risks and issues will be eliminated at this point. Assess by urgency. Is the risk/issue likely to occur within a short or longer time frame? Assess by impact. Is the risk/issue likely to be of major or minor impact?
5 Analysis.
To make the planning task manageable, the issues have to be understood in terms of their implications for achieving your objectives. Prepare an exposition of the issues.
6 Messages
. Develop the core messages you wish to communicate in relation to each objective and/or issue.
7 Strategy.
Determine a strategic pathway for managing risks and issues. Without going into detail at this stage, indicate the type of programs that will need to be employed to obtain the designated objectives.
8 Action plan.
Specify activities, money, time. Present programs in more detail, determine budgets and specify time frames.