Managing Problems

---
title: Managing Problems
description: Understand how Problem and Problem task is created, assessed, investigated, and fixed in a Problem or Problem task states.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/problem-mgmt-lifecycle.html
release: australia
product: Problem Management
classification: problem-management
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Problem Management, IT Service Management]
---

# Managing Problems

Understand how Problem and Problem task is created, assessed, investigated, and fixed in a Problem or Problem task states.

-   **[Create a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/create-a-problem-v2.md)**  
A problem is a cause of one or more incidents. Create a problem to identify the root cause of the incidents and try to prevent them from happening again.
-   **[Assess a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/assess-a-problem.md)**  
Assess a problem to determine whether the problem requires a thorough investigation.
-   **[Add multiple incidents to a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/add-multiple-incidents-to-problem.md)**  
Add multiple incidents to a problem to avoid creating multiple problems for incidents that have the same issue.
-   **[Associate CIs with Problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/add-multiple-cis-to-problem.md)**  
Associate multiple affected or impacted configuration items \(CIs\) to a problem to find out all the CIs that are affected by the same problem.
-   **[Investigate root cause of a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/investigate-root-cause.md)**  
Identify the root cause of the problem to analyze, track, and resolve recurring incidents permanently.
-   **[Resolve and complete a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/resolve-and-complete-problem.md)**  
Resolve the issue and add detailed note of the resolution for future reference.
-   **[Create change request from a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/fix-a-change.md)**  
After you investigate and perform a root cause analysis of the Problem, you can understand whether the Problem can be resolved or you should find a temporary workaround for the Problem. If the Problem can be resolved, implement the fix, or the resolution for the Problem.
-   **[Add multiple change requests to a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/add-multi-change-req-to-prob.md)**  
Add multiple change requests to a problem to capture all the requests that you need to implement to fix the problem.
-   **[Create a problem task](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/create-problem-task.md)**  
Problem tasks are how the problem coordinator asks subject matter experts for help with identifying the root cause and proposed fix for a problem. Divide the problem into multiple problem tasks to help with the investigation. You can assign the problem tasks to different assignment groups or users.
-   **[Assess a problem task](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/assess-a-problem-task.md)**  
Assess a problem task to determine the feasibility of working on the task.
-   **[Complete a problem task](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/complete-a-problem-task.md)**  
Resolve and complete the problem task.
-   **[Resolve related incidents from a problem](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/t_CloseRelatedIncFromAPRB.md)**  
After you consider a problem to be resolved, the incidents related to the problem with the state **On Hold** may be resolved using a UI action from the **Problem** form.

**Parent Topic:**[Problem Management](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/problem-management/c_ProblemManagement.md)