How to set up a steering committee?

Why set up a steering committee?

A project always runs on two levels: it starts from a business challenge and an objective rooted in a strategic vision, so it involves the company's senior executives, but also the people who will implement it in a more operational phase — typically business teams, specific skill sets (internal or external) and support functions. The senior executives and the sponsor look after the project's strategic direction and make sure the resources and conditions needed for its execution are in place. The other project members then focus on executing and delivering the project operationally.

The problem: a project can fail fairly quickly through lack of strategic vision, power games and internal politics, poor resource allocation, or poor handling of the tensions and problems inherent in any project — which, even when planned perfectly, will almost always hit the unexpected. And the operations team won't always be able — or in the right position within the company — to solve those problems and make the right decisions.

Hence the importance of setting up a project steering committee to arbitrate and make the strategic decisions needed for its success, as well as to provide the means and bring together the factors that will give the project every chance of succeeding.

A project's success or failure very often depends on the actions this committee takes. Good news: you can dig into the fundamentals in our reference article: Project steering committee: the basics.

What's the difference between an executive committee, a steering committee and a project committee?

• The executive committee: by definition, it brings together all of the company's top executives, which favors horizontal handling of the company's key concerns and strategic actions. It may convene, for example, for crisis management or to address major strategic stakes.
• The project committee: it has a very operational purpose — tracking ongoing tasks and actions, operationally resolving issues in line with the trade-offs and strategic decisions (made in the steering committee), and coordinating and supporting the teams through operations and operational difficulties.
• The steering committee: its main purpose is to make sure the project progresses in line with the predefined, strategic objectives for the company. It is made up of company executives who can make the tough trade-offs, but also grant access to the resources and conditions that will make the project succeed.

What is the role of a steering committee?

• Set the strategic direction, involve and mobilize stakeholders
• Make decisions and trade-offs.
• Ensure the project runs smoothly and check that it is aligned with the company's overall strategies.
• Assess the quality and health of the project at each meeting. If certain issues need improvement, the key stakeholders can raise them so they get resolved.
• Give the project manager the power to act and to use the company's resources to drive the project's execution and progress.
• Resolve conflicts between departments, and issues related to cost, time, risk, resources, quality and scope.
• Monitor the project's progress against the agreed objectives and resolve the problems preventing the project from progressing on time.

Who makes up a steering committee?

If you want a steering committee that is truly effective and stands out from the usual way of doing things, selecting the committee members is critical — it can completely change a project's dynamic and outcome.

Among the key members you'll usually find:

The project sponsor: usually a member of the executive committee, they set the project's strategic direction and make sure the project manager gets the resources and conditions needed to properly coordinate the project's execution. They are also in charge of settling the tough trade-offs and decisions.

The project manager: the project's conductor and the sponsor's right hand. They work in tandem to make sure the project runs smoothly; the project manager is backed by the sponsor within the committee and also acts as the sponsor's eyes and ears.

This is where you can do things differently from everyone else: where most only involve business representatives and/or support functions later on or occasionally, the trick here is to bring all the key stakeholders' representatives into the life of the project as early as possible. Many projects have failed the moment the "file" lands on someone's desk — that is, only when operational actions are expected from them. That's often when critical problems arise internally, with near-immediate causes of failure that make the rest of the project really difficult, or even lead to a No Go.

Favor involving them as early as possible so you can take their attention points into account and smooth out the project's operational future.

The other distinctive move is to appoint a project champion on the business side, which helps genuinely involve the key department(s) and evangelize the project to internal teams that are still outside it. This lets the project manager steer the implementation while working with — and helping — the business champion to clearly identify the alignment between the problem to solve and the solution being put in place.

Who are the right steering committee members?

Favor as much as possible the driving forces behind the initiative — people who want to shake things up and are drawn to the project. Limit, therefore, personalities who are skeptical or hostile to the idea of the project or to the way it's being carried out.

You'll want to bring together the people in the company who hold the resources and influence needed to deliver the project.

Who else can take part in the steering committee?

You can sometimes bring in outside personalities to inject energy into the project's vision or execution, or call on experts who can clarify certain topics and/or eliminate certain cognitive biases of some stakeholders that could become blockers.

It can also be worthwhile for the company's leadership or the sponsor to occasionally involve members from other departments or subsidiaries, to expose them to the approach if they want to replicate it elsewhere on a future project, or as part of a drive to harmonize internal projects and avoid duplicate projects or duplicate solutions being rolled out.

Defusing internal politics in favor of the company's greater interests

The sponsor's role in the steering committee

Within the steering committee, the sponsor guarantees several things:

They set the strategic line, challenge progress and play a key role in trade-offs. They also make the project manager's work easier by suggesting ideas tied to the company strategy, and by taking on conflict management when cross-functional management isn't enough. They have the last word: they can make the call when decisions hang in the balance, and submit or assign corrective actions during the steering committee.

They safeguard the company's interest in the project and will reward the right mindset as well as the actions that move the project forward.

Putting the project's interests above personal agendas

A large share of projects touch several departments and several business skill sets, so for some people project actions pile up on top of their core activities — that's the case with cross-functional projects. As such, it isn't obvious to everyone that the actions of a cross-functional project matter just as much to the company as the actions of their core duties.

So it's important to set the rules and the framework from the start — on the expected commitment, on how decisions will be made, and on the role expected of each participant.

As for those tempted to play their own game — seeing the project as an opportunity to obtain something else or simply to shine — make sure you only reward the actions that directly move the project forward and those that foster team spirit.

Build a climate of trust, and recognize the project members for their ability to lead the group toward the project's success.

To dig deeper, find out how to handle aggressiveness in steering committees.

How to build a steering committee that stays effective over time?

Straight to the point

Look for the most effective, highest-quality path to reaching the steering committee's objectives — few people enjoy, or get more effective in, "meetings for meetings' sake".

The busier the members of your steering committee, the more they'll appreciate effective SteerCos that go straight to the point. To get there, focus on an agenda and a concise deck, sticking strictly to the information needed to make decisions. Categorizing agenda items by priority and impact on the project can be very effective.

As a reminder, all your materials should do nothing more than serve the steering committee's role and objectives mentioned above. You'll find more on this point in the article: How to prepare a steering committee well

The information and tools a steering committee needs

• Decisions from the last steering committee
• Performance: project plan vs. actual progress / planned budget vs. spend to date
• The next big milestones and stakes
• Dashboard (big picture), tracking of project progress and KPIs
• Risks and attention points
• Decisions to be made
• Questions
• Next steps
• Dates and milestones for the next steering committee
  Be careful not to use presentation materials that go too deep into the details, like project management tools — you risk losing a good number of participants during the meeting. And if you want to save time without spending hours redoing a PowerPoint for every steering committee and give visibility over the essentials of a SteerCo: the AirSaas tool was designed specifically to solve those problems.

Occasional guests and investing in the positive

No rule says a steering committee must be held in the same meeting room with exactly the same people. The project manager should control the committee's invitations to make sure no counterproductive presence slips in. That said, nothing stops them from inviting a guest chosen for a specific skill or background who could give the project fresh momentum. Vary the venues too, especially if the place has a link to the project and it helps get people out of their daily routine.

Another steering committee culture is possible, beyond essentially covering risks and blocking factors. Celebrate the work accomplished and use the project's completed milestones as moments to celebrate. Focusing too much on problems can end up creating new ones, and it's very important to also focus on what went well.

Preserving the steering committee's value

This body will keep its value as long as you preserve its effectiveness and its usefulness. Don't keep a steering committee just because the meeting has been on the calendar for ages if you have nothing significant to arbitrate or no meaningful progress to show. If the meeting cadence is right, this problem shouldn't appear — but if it does, it's always better to shorten or postpone a meeting than to try to pad its content.

The project manager must make this exercise easy for participants, make sure it remains valuable to its members, and keep this body sustainable over time.

What a steering committee is not for

• Simply informing, or a strictly top-down exercise — whatever your management choices, it will be more effective if it's inclusive and collaborative
• A public execution: it's not the place to tear down the work or the poor involvement of one or more team members. Some might think it would set an example and bring everyone into line. But don't wash your dirty laundry in public. Building a positive group dynamic is preferable for the good of the project. Favor one-on-one meetings to express when the project's expectations diverge from certain team members' actions.
• Going into too much technical detail, especially if it's to explain everything you've done. It's important to showcase your work and everyone's work, but slipping into a justification process rarely sets a great dynamic.

Have you set up your steering committee? Find out how to run a steering committee meeting.