Issue Management Glossary

 

Anticipation. The access to and use of information that empowers the individual to be aware of possible changes in the environment. Early identification and anticipation of issues are critical elements of issue management.

 

Duration. Defines how long the issue will remain a point of contention. Duration also describes the urgency of addressing an issue and possible consequences of not responding in a timely manner. The duration is defined by one of three categories:

 

Long-term: The issue will probably resolve itself within six months due to several factors, to include: increased knowledge, increased familiarity, passage of time and change of season.

 

Short-term: The issue will be remain a sensitive subject but will not lead to disruption because of: impersonal nature of the issue, non-threatening nature of the issue. and/or a "that is just the way it is" attitude by people.

 

Immediate: The issue will remain active and will escalate into a disruptive intensity due to people's perception of: discrimination, personal threat, loss of self-esteem, or loss of control.

 

Enhancement. Improvements to a proposed change that will make that change acceptable to a community.

 

Extent. Describes the geographical coverage of an issue and defines how widespread the public interest is in an issue. The extent is defined by one of three categories:

 

Isolated: The issue is limited in area and involves only neighborhoods or very limited parts of a network. The issue usually involves only a small number of people.

 

Local: The issue involves a community or several neighborhoods within a community. The issue also involves formal networks that can influence decision-making.

 

Regional: The issue involves the region or several communities within the region. The issue also involves a wide variety of informal and formal networks and may receive regional media attention.

 

Grounding. The process of identifying the carrier or carriers of a particular issue. Identifying the carriers of an issue will help relate the issue to networks and other people in the neighborhood or community. Grounding is one part of the validation of an issue.

 

Impact. The consequences of change on a community.

 

Intensity. See Stages of an Issue.

 

Issue. A subject of widespread public interest and discussion that an individual, network or group has decided to act upon to protect and maintain control of their environment. Issues are situations upon which an individual or group can act. For instance, a development project is of interest and discussion to a group. The group is able to act upon this issue because laws governing planning permit action. Issues are not static, but dynamic in that they are born, grow and die. Issue management uses emerging, existing and disruptive (issue intensity) to describe the stages in the growth of an issue.

 

Issue Carrier. The person within a network or a community who is personally involved in an issue and who has a stake in the outcome of the issue.

 

Issue Loading. The process of attaching additional issues onto an existing issue. Usually, people will take issues from other areas (e.g., a different development, a similar situation) and add it to the current issue. These additional issues frequently cloud the current issue and make resolution of the current issue more difficult.

 

Issue Management. The ability to recognize, analyze and respond to conditions that contribute to the development of issues affecting an organization's interests and community health[1].

 

Issue Management Cycle. A method to collect information on a community and to design strategies for resolving issues. The issue Management cycle is based on a complete investigation of a community using six interrelated steps[2]:

 

1.      Describe the community: Using the seven cultural descriptors to define a community. The description process will give a picture of how people live and interact in their communities.

 

2.      Determine themes: Themes are views or observations by people about their social resources. Themes do not carry a demand, but instead reflect attitudes, beliefs, values, and customs. Themes cannot be directly acted upon, but focus efforts to identify issues.

 

3.      Identify the issues and their related networks: When an issue is identified, it must be validated. Networks usually carry issues that are to be acted upon. Networks are identified at the same time that issues are identified.

 

4.      Scope the issues and determine strategic options: Issues are transformed into strategies for action. In order to be effective, strategies must be pertinent to the community and based on a community's description.

 

5.      Implement action plans: Implementation is making decisions based on a selected action. It is the who, what, how and where of formulating a plan or mitigation schedule to address the selected issues.

 

6.      Evaluate the results: Networks are monitored in order to find out if the actions to resolve issues have been effective. Evaluation is continuously tied to a community's description. Effective action to resolve issues may change parts of a community's description and this change must be reflected in a new description.

 

Issue Management System. A model designed to help develop policy or make decisions based on the human elements of the communities/citizens we serve. The issue management system looks at life and its sustaining natural resources within a defined community. The goal of the issue management system is to determine issue management strategy for one or several communities. There are five elements to the issue management system:

 

1.      Early Identification: Using the seven cultural descriptors to define a community. This definition will give a picture of how people live and interact in their communities. A complete cultural description accounts for the needs of a community and helps to identify issues early in their development.

 

2.      Effective communication: Effective communication can reduce the number of unnecessary issues and refine the understanding the real issues. In a community, effective communication begins with informal networks. Informal networks are identified and involved early in the planning process.

 

3.      Grounded Response: The key to resolving issues is to distinguish between themes and issues and to ground these issues in real people. Themes are views or observations by people about their community. Themes do not carry a demand, but instead reflect attitudes, beliefs, values, and customs. Themes cannot be directly acted upon, but focus efforts to identify issues. Issues express a need or demand and are action oriented. Issues are carried by people and must be grounded with people. These issues may then be validated.

 

4.      Timely Intervention: Once issues are identified and validated, then the issues are scoped to determine when and how to intervene. Strategies for action are subsequently designed based on the scope of the issue(s). In order to be effective, strategies must be pertinent to the community and based on a community's cultural description.

 

5.      Individual Network Ownership: When individual networks have a sense of ownership about the process of civic engagement, implementation is possible. Implementation is making decisions based on a selected action. It is the who, what, how and where of formulating a plan or mitigation schedule to resolve selected issues. Informal networks are monitored in order to find out if the actions to resolve issues have been effective. This evaluation procedure is continuously tied to a community's cultural description. Effective action to resolve issues may change parts of a community's description and this change must be reflected in a new description.

 

Issue Facilitator. The person within an organization responsible for working and, ultimately, resolving an issue. Frequently, issues are identified by others within the organization and then passed to the issue owner. The issue owner should validate (verify and ground) an issue before developing a strategy to deal with the issue.

 

Issue Resolver. The end result of working with an issue carrier to have the person actively involved in the issue management process. To turn an issue carrier into an issue resolver, four things must happen: the person must understand the changes resulting from the proposal, the person must be given the opportunity to share in deciding what will happen, the person must share responsibility for carrying out the actions decided upon, and the person must be able to track their issue throughout the entire process.

 

Mitigation. Reducing the impacts of a proposed change which will make that change acceptable to a community.

 

Opportunist. An individual who manipulates an issue for their own benefit while purporting to represent and speak for a community or other group of people.

 

Ownership. An individual, network or group claiming their right to become involved and taking responsibility for participation in the resolution of their own issues.

 

Scoping. The process of determining the extent, intensity and duration of an issue. An issue must be validated (both verified and grounded) as part of the scoping process.

 

Stages of an Issue (Intensity). Defines the level of public interest or involvement in an issue. The three stages of development of an issue are:

 

Emerging: A topic of discussion or activity that may evolve into a demand for action. Emerging issues are characterized by casual conversation between network members or by casual comments heard in the community. An emerging issue can frequently be resolved by the people themselves.

 

Existing: A public demand being made on others without formal action. Existing issues are characterized by people complaining about a situation. Public or governmental resources are usually needed to facilitate resolving an existing issue. Frequently, the actions needed to actually resolve the issue can be returned to the people themselves.

 

Disruptive: A direct public demand for action. Usually, a disruptive issue has divided the community into opposing factions. Disruptive issues are characterized by grievances being filed, people organizing to fight the issue, and/or people seeking legal counsel. Direct intervention and action by public or government agencies is necessary to resolve a disruptive issue.