What is the biggest problems that you have expeienced with Steering Committees?
Danie de WaalExperienced Project Management Consultant| KPMG (Pty) LtdFerndale, South Africa
My work is primarily for governmental clients, and in every instance they have a large, bloated Steercom. In most instances the Steercom seemed either to want to get involved in the day-to-day management of the project, or they simply do not care what happens to the project.
What problems have you experienced with Steercoms, and how do you think it can be solved? Saving Changes...
From a Project management perspective I think SC is all about stakeholder engagement/management and reporting. This is where organization finds ways to get involved or try to mitigate project problems. If the stage is set, Agenda clearly defined and communication kept precise such arrangements can be used as tools to give and get feedback from the organization.
But you are right, if not managed properly these meetings can be a gigantic waste of time and resources. More than often I have seen these meetings go terribly wrong, where PMO spends hours of effort generating reports/presentations etc.. and the management uses it as a stage for organization politics and much more.
I think its a very difficult task to manage a SC specially when it involves large number of people. I thinks its best the organization manages it and you play your part by contributing, raising relevant questions and getting answers or acquiring support for project objectives. Saving Changes...
Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Lack of interest in decision making. In other words, they want to hear what's going on but they aren't keen to make hard choices or take decisions. This, I think, is the worst situation for a project manager: you end up making recommendations that either aren't acted on or the steering group takes the easiest possible route each time which isn't the best thing for the project.
As for solving it, I'm not sure - steering committee education and an explanation of the cost impact of the decision delay would probably help: they tend to respond to problems framed in language they understand and cash terms! Saving Changes...
I have managed an IT project for asset management in all institutions in Kosovo. The challenge was how to standardize the naming of the assets, since institutions used their own 'naming system'. The SC had no interest to deal with such a thing so we still have different names for same asset across institutions. This impacts the quality of information provided by the system. Saving Changes...
I was fortunate enough to get in on the ground floor of an organization that was just initiating a Steercom. One of the initial steps in setting up the committee was for them to have a Charter that set the boundaries for the purpose and responsibilities of the committee and to identify the right members for the SC. As with all projects they needed to know what they were suposed to do. The first meetings were tough working with the committee members to get the right balance; when to put their hands on and make a decision and when to trust the PM in the decision making process. However with all of that said, I still believe that a Charter is the right way to go. Saving Changes...
Mohsin Mohammad MirSr. Project Manager| Polaris Consulting Services Ltd.Petalin Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
To have SC is good but only if SC does what it is supposed to do. Sometimes, SC members will try to steer project away from Project Charter, however, mostly SC members will help the project manager to resolve issues which he/she can't resolve on his own. SC should ask questions to PM but at the same time also answer PM's questions. Saving Changes...
