What is the difference between an advisory committee and a steering committee

Ideally, both designated leaders will bring different perspectives and styles of leadership to meetings. The idea is to create a balance and to keep everyone in check.

Check out our blog on producing more engaging meetings here! Steering committee meetings often require a lot of problem-solving or idea generating.

To assist this, there is a multitude of ideation devices that can be utilised during a steering committee meeting to achieve results. It can be difficult to choose the right exercise for you and your team and a lot of trial and error is required. Be sure to check out our standalone blog on producing effective, engaging meetings for a detailed approach to getting the most out of your team. Attendees of a steering committee meeting are all pre-selected.

These members normally come from persons within an organisation who have the authority and ability to make important decisions. When selecting these committee members, keep diversity in mind. Instead, senior managers or executives, important external stakeholders, and experts usually make up the committee. The particular makeup of each steering committee depends on the scope. For example, a project steering committee may involve the project manager and external stakeholders from customers.

Meanwhile, an organizational steering committee may be made up of executives, certain board members, and department heads. While the actual makeup of each steering committee may vary slightly, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind. Arguably most important, there should be a chairperson. The chairperson should be elected by the rest of the committee and should not own the project the committee is steering.

This allows for more impartial chairing. In addition, the steering committee should be made up of diverse members. Moreover, these members should equally represent the various functions the steering committee oversees. This allows for the sharing of different opinions and ideas.

In parallel, the committee must allow for open discussion so that each opinion can be heard and assessed. Finally, it must have clear goals and a well-managed agenda. When creating one, there are some challenges and potential pitfalls that leaders need to be aware of. It is crucial for leaders to have various levels of managers and executives on the steering committee. This creates a lot of positives as many voices and interests can be taken into account throughout the project lifecycle.

Unfortunately, this can also create a challenge as personality conflicts can arise since those in senior leadership may take a more active decision-making role over those that are mid-level managers.

This can create tense conflicts and competing interests. An Increase in Meetings Naturally, steering committees will want to meet to decide on project budgets, scopes, changes, and any other topic that could arise. The potential problem with this is that it could take time away from the actual work that needs to be done. Team members may have to wait longer than anticipated for decisions from the steering committee which could push the entire project past a deadline.

The Threat of Bargaining Again, many of the members of the steering committee could only be concerned about their interest. Therefore, leaders have to be sure they set parameters about how long the project will be analyzed and how many requirements and specifications will be changed or added. This needs to be outlined through the steering committee creation process. However, everyone does not have experience on the current project.

As a result, it is imperative that leaders clearly define what the role of each member of the steering committee is. This can be difficult if it is a large group of people. A Higher Probability of Group-Think Often, there is either one person or a small group of people who decide to take the lead in a group setting. They may either have strong opinions or act in their own self-interests, which makes it difficult for those who oppose them to voice their views concerning project scope or direction.

Part 3. With challenges and disadvantages in mind, leaders can make informed decisions on taking steps to create an effective steering committee. Below are steps leaders can take to create well-functioning and efficient project steering committees.

Clarify whether the committee will meet in person or whether meetings will be virtual. Make sure you allocate time to the role of managing the committee including sending out preparatory documents and ensuring a skilled facilitator who can participate in meetings.

Consider whether the project will benefit from the Steering Committee and if it is feasible that the team gain access to the proposed personnel. Check that the expertise of each committee member matches with the role proposed. Consider whether you want to attend or participate in the Steering Committee. Login Login and comment as BetterEvaluation member or simply fill out the fields below.

Management Committee, Management Group, Steering committee.