issue log template
Free issue log template. Severity scoring, named owner, target resolution date and escalation triggers. Print it or run it live in Pocket PMO.
An issue is a problem that has already happened. That is what separates it from a risk, which might happen. Mixing the two in one list is the most common reason issue management breaks down: risks get reviewed monthly, issues need reviewing now.
This template keeps issues in their own log with severity (critical, high, medium, low), a named owner, a target resolution date and a resolution note. Severity drives cadence: critical issues get a daily update, high are reviewed weekly, medium and low are reviewed at the stage gate. Anything critical and older than five working days escalates automatically.
Each issue also records whether it originated from a realised risk, which is how you find out whether your risk register is actually predicting anything. In Pocket PMO issues feed the project RAG status and Execution Friction score directly, so an ageing critical issue shows up on the portfolio dashboard without anyone writing a report.
What's inside
- •Issue register with ID, description, raised-by and raised date
- •Severity scoring (critical / high / medium / low) with review cadence per level
- •Owner, target resolution date and current status
- •Escalation triggers and escalation route
- •Link back to the originating risk, where there was one
When to use it
- •Daily, during a critical incident or recovery phase
- •Weekly PM review, chase owners and close resolved items
- •Steering committee prep, filter to critical and overdue
- •Stage gate, confirm no open critical issues before proceeding
Template structure
Every section below appears in the downloadable PDF as a ready-to-fill table.
Issue register
Assessment
Resolution
Escalation
Use it live in Pocket PMO
The PDF is fine. The live version is better: auto-fill from your project, full audit trail on every change, AI Project Team drafts the tricky sections, and steering committees see one canonical version, not a stale spreadsheet copy.