LESSONS IN ISSUES MANAGEMENT
A Smarter Way to Prioritize Issues
For many companies, issues management generates a lot of process but little forward progress. By following a new approach to prioritization, you can identify the most important next steps to take, enabling decisive action and creating leverage for the business.
Issues are the expectations, interests and debates that companies must navigate in the public arena; this is often where corporate reputation is defined and a license to operate is earned. Issues can include:
Expectations of stakeholders — and a perceived failure to meet them.
Externalities (the added cost to society) from a company’s product or operations.
Public policy proposals that could affect the business in some way.
Reputation-shaping topics or trends.
For the most prominent companies, there are hundreds of issues to consider such as environment, labor, corporate conduct and many other industry specific topics. Navigating them — let alone managing them effectively — can be complex and overwhelming. The purpose of issues management is to create clarity and order out of the confusion, enabling the business to operate more strategically.
But first, what are issues?
Standard Process
Identify the universe of relevant issues. Which issues will likely trigger stakeholder pressure? On which issues will your reputation likely be shaped?
Estimate potential impact. Gather input from functional leaders within the business through conversations or a survey.
Analyze likelihood of occurrence. This is typically done by monitoring through social listening and analytic tools.
Plot the level of risk for each issue. Impact and likelihood can be plotted on a 2x2 matrix to form an overall picture of risk.
Most issues management processes follow a similar sequence of steps to identify and assess relevant topics.
Usually, this is where the process ends. All too often, issues management then becomes a meeting-heavy discipline with little action or forward progress. What was meant to be a strategic, future-shaping process devolves into lots of study and little action.
Prioritizing Issues: A New Framework
What's needed is a step that prioritizes levels of action. The following framework addresses this gap, thereby facilitating decisions, preparation and progress. Think of these tiers as resembling a pyramid — a small handful of major decisions at the top followed by a widening list of issues that require action, preparation or monitoring.
This prioritization step transforms issues management from a reactive discipline into one that enables proactive strategy and decisive action—creating a genuine source of competitive advantage for the business.