If you had a group of powerful and influential people who met regularly to support, guide, and leverage your difficult or challenging projects, wouldn’t it be fantastic? Well, if you manage your project and need the help and guidance, you should form a steering committee for your project!
In this article, we are going to cover everything you need to know about the project steering committee from A to Z! Let’s start with the definition, shall we?
What is The Project Steering Committee? #
Executive assistance and problem resolution are provided by project management steering committees to guarantee that projects remain on track to accomplish their objectives. What is a steering committee, though?
Project steering committee is the top-level group in charge of running a project. It is put together at the start of the project. It provides oversight, direction, and support during the entire life cycle of the project. To put it simply, a steering committee is a group that determines what the client or business needs from the project, develops effective solutions, and monitors the performance of tasks.
Who is The Member of Steering Committee? #
Who should be included on the steering committee? Well, the steering committee should include project stakeholders and department representatives.
Members of the steering committee represent various functions or sectors impacted by the project. The project manager is the sole person from the project team that is a part of the steering committee.
So, it’s possible that some of the members may be high-level executives, while others will be experts representing diverse customer interests. It’s encourage that when forming a steering committee, you shall consider following areas:
- Budget allocation
- Resource allocation
- Customer compliance
- Representation from the affected groups (especially end-users).
Many projects ignore the end-users. Remember, when you ignore the feedback from end-users, you risk generating an unsatisfactory solution and squandering time and effort. Customer feedback is important!
The Purpose of Project Steering Committee #
The purpose of the Project Steering Committee is to manage risks, examine budgets, handle issues, and keep projects on schedule. Considering that all of this advising support occurs outside of the regular project team operations, this is of tremendous value.
The role of the Steering Committee is to provide guidance and guarantee the delivery of project results and attainment of project objectives. This may include tasks such as:
- Contributing to the project’s development, including the assessment method;
- Providing budget guidance;
- Defining and assisting in achieving the project’s objectives;
- Identifying the project’s priorities;
- Identifying potential dangers;
- Monitoring risks;
- Observe the project timelines;
- Monitoring the project’s quality as it progresses;
- As the project evolves, provide guidance (and sometimes make choices) regarding any necessary modifications.
The Steering Committee provides assistance, direction, and progress oversight. Typically, members do not work on the project themselves. Ideally, the Project Manager and other members of the Project Team perform the actual implementation work.
Creating Project Steering Committee Charter #
Simply naming a group a steering committee won’t work.
To help project teams, they’ll require guidance, an actual plan, and resources. Thus, creating a project steering committee charter is a must.
The charter of a steering committee is an executable road map that specifies the group’s basic vision, direction, and operations. It describes the committee’s role in assisting project teams and its development and functioning.
The following items should be included in the charter of a project steering committee: #
- The expansive project scope and the driving force behind the formation of the committee
- The committee’s jurisdiction, whether for a single project or for a portfolio project.
- The committee’s authority and if it will give strategic direction or serve in an advising capacity for the project.
- Rules governing the creation of committees, including the fundamental selection criteria
- Project deliverables, including committee decisions, views, and analyses, are included in the overall package.
Developing a clear charter for a steering committee increases its efficiency, reduces disagreements, and establishes the expectations and standards for all members.
Key Responsibility of Steering Committee #
After understanding the purpose of the steering committee, it should be easier to break down the responsibility of the steering committee. The following is a list of the most important tasks and responsibilities that a steering committee plays in the management of a project:
- Advocate within the organization for existing and future project initiatives
- Offer guidance on how to best utilize project resources, meet deadlines, hire new employees, and conduct marketing campaigns.
- Facilitate the achievement of project milestones in accordance with the project plan.
- Determine the project’s overall scope and strategic direction
- Complete monitoring metrics for good project performance
- Control incoming project requests, make sure they are valid, and decide whether to include them in project plans or not.
- Identify project employees, supervisors, and experts.
- Establish a timeline for the project and adjust it as needed.
- Manage project collaboration and handle team disagreements.
- Strategize the project and generate novel approaches to resolve end-user issues.
- Examine the project’s development and assist in avoiding impediments that can threaten the project’s success.
- Communicate project progress to top leaders, investors, and other stakeholders.
Run Successful Steering Committee Meeting #
Before the scheduled meeting of the steering committee, all committee members must receive important information and paperwork, such as:
- Meeting agenda;
- Previous Steering Committee Meeting Minutes (if any);
- Latest up-to-date status of the project from the project manager.
Certain members of the team should be accountable for creating meeting documents and scheduling notifications for the steering committee.
There is a chairperson for the steering committee, who is responsible for ensuring that the meeting goes according to plan. In addition, they ensure that all committee members express their views and thoughts on the issue at hand.
A basic meeting agenda for steering committee is almost the same like any other meeting agenda, however it would be best if include the following:
- Recognizing and distributing the minutes of the last steering committee meeting to other committee members.
- Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the action items decided at previous sessions
- Providing a status report on the project, as provided by the project manager.
- Conducting a thorough discussion of any additional issues relevant or project requirements
- Set the next meeting of the project management steering group.
Usually, the Project Manager serves as meeting chair. The chair shall manage the meeting in accordance with the topic, assuring that all members are encouraged to contribute during the meeting and that any decisions or suggestions are satisfactorily resolved and accepted by the members.
It’s critical to review the previous meeting’s action items, verifying that all tasks have been done and resolving any issues that have not been resolved.
Streamline Your Project Success with FoxPlan #
The success of the project is the focus of a steering committee. Finding the appropriate software and tools for project management is essential if you want to keep everyone on your committee on the same page.
Whether you run simple projects, portfolio projects or even manage the steering committee formation for your project, you probably would need the help of project management software like FoxPlan.
FoxPlan organizes all of your project’s communication on a single platform, providing you with a centralized location for all of the project’s data. Real-time reporting on FoxPlan’s Project Dashboard ensures that team members and steering committee members always have access to the most recent information.
Not only that, FoxPlan also has the advantages to help your Steering Committee to keep track of the project status in real live, manage resources, and have a monitoring and tracking feature of the budget of the project for a simple project or in portfolio scale.
Set up your project steering committee, determine its charter, and monitor project progress with a free trial of FoxPlan today! Or contact our representative for FoxPlan Live Demo and experience FoxPlan in action!
