In the world of consulting and professional services, it is likely that you have worked on projects that have utilized a steering committee. A steering committee is a group of key stakeholders and decision-makers who are responsible for providing oversight, guidance, and support for a specific project throughout its lifecycle. The committee typically consists of high-level representatives from different departments of the client as well as members of your consulting team. The primary purpose of a project steering committee is to ensure that the project aligns with the organization’s strategic goals, remains on track, and delivers the intended outcomes. Further, the committee acts as a central governing body that makes critical decisions, resolves issues, and manages risks associated with the project.
With such a structure in place, it is critical that you, as a consultant, leverage the capabilities of the steering committee to their full potential. When the Steering Committee meets through the duration of a project, each event is crucial as it brings together key stakeholders to make strategic decisions and to provide guidance to the project team. To ensure the success of these meetings, you must guide the steering committee by taking several actions in advance of meetings to engage stakeholders effectively and to foster productive discussions. In this blog, we will explore the essential aspects of preparing for successful steering committee meetings.
Identifying Key Stakeholders
The first action you should take in preparing for a successful steering committee meeting is to identify the key stakeholders and establish an understanding of their perspectives and motives as it relates to your project. These stakeholders are typically individuals who have been assigned to the steering committee because of their strategic interest and ability to influence the project’s outcomes. Identifying these stakeholders is often as simple as acknowledging the steering committee members, but understanding their motives and ability to influence the project involves a thorough analysis of the project’s scope, objectives, and potential impact. Recognizing and understanding why these individuals have been assigned to the steering committee is the most important job of the consultant. To do this, understanding the personality types of key stakeholders is beneficial to anticipating how they might respond to different situations and information that you will share. Once the key stakeholders have been identified and their level of impact is understood, you can begin developing content that will be shared with the steering committee in advance of and during the upcoming meeting.
Pre-Read Content
Before engaging directly with the steering committee, you should develop and share a pre-read that provides context for the upcoming meeting. This is achieved by organizing a clear agenda and providing a deliverable with background information that gets their thoughts flowing. This deliverable prepares the steering committee for the meeting and enables them to formulate an initial point of view that will influence their ability to participate in meaningful discussions. It is essential to ensure that all relevant parties receive this information because assumptions about their level of preparedness can lead to an unproductive meeting. Preparing everyone, even beyond senior executives, is vital, as any participant could take ownership of portions of the meeting. Admittedly, it is difficult to predict how stakeholders will engage during these meetings, so establishing a level playing field through the sharing of pre-read content is imperative. With that said, you must be careful of how much information is shared in advance of these meetings.
How Much Information should be Shared?
When sharing a pre-read, striking a balance between a high-level overview and a greater amount of detail is crucial. Overloading the steering committee with excessive detail in the pre-read can overwhelm them and reduce their ability to focus on the most critical aspects of the project in the meeting. Therefore, providing enough information, but not too much, is essential to keeping steering committee meetings focused and constructive. To ensure you are effectively striking this balance, you should utilize a meeting structure that simultaneously provides high-level project updates with a report out of the most critical challenges that face the project.
Project Update
As mentioned, it is always important to provide a brief update to the committee that presents the project’s progress and any new challenges that have been identified. As an important note, this update should be brief so that you can effectively shift the focus of the meeting to seeking help and guidance on the most critical issues of the project. Updates should only take up the first couple minutes of the meeting, at which point you should shift the focus of the meeting to the top 2-3 areas where support is needed. This meeting structure allows the steering committee to concentrate their efforts on driving the project forward through meaningful contributions.
Follow-Up
To ensure that stakeholders understand the presented information, it is essential to follow up with meetings after the meeting. This step allows for clarifications, additional discussions, and updates on new information that may have arisen. This post-meeting engagement is crucial to ensure that stakeholders can act on the decisions made during the meeting and stay aligned with project goals.
Overcoming Challenges
Despite careful preparation, conflicts may arise during the steering committee meeting. When disagreements or blow-ups occur, it is crucial to handle them with tact and empathy. Step one is to make sure the involved stakeholders feel heard and that their opinions matter. Demonstrating active listening and empathy can help de-escalate tense situations and foster a sense of collaboration.
Step two involves leveraging the champion or a trusted individual from the group to provide an alternative perspective. This step can help bring different viewpoints to the table and facilitate understanding.
In step three, the focus should be on moving forward together. Sometimes, it may be necessary to table certain issues temporarily to prevent the meeting from derailing, with a commitment to revisit and address them later. If a mistake was made, it is essential to acknowledge it and take responsibility for it.
Finally, once the issues have been worked out, we can bring the group back into the meeting for resolution. This approach ensures that stakeholders feel their concerns are valued and addressed, leading to a more cohesive and successful steering committee meeting.
Conclusion
In conclusion, preparing for a successful steering committee meeting involves several crucial steps. Identifying the stakeholders, understanding their perspectives, and providing context before the meeting are key aspects. Sharing the right amount of information, focusing on essential topics, and following up with post-meeting engagements are also vital. Additionally, handling conflicts with empathy and involving champions to provide alternative perspectives are key to maintaining a productive and successful steering committee meeting. By following these guidelines, project leaders can foster collaboration, make informed decisions, and ensure the project’s overall success.
Written by: Dean McMann
About the Author: Dean McMann is a Founding Partner at McMann & Ransford with 35+ years of experience in consulting and professional services. He is a sought-after expert and speaker on topics of: B2B differentiation, professional services best practices, and overcoming commoditization. In addition to his extensive experience in the Professional Services space, Dean also serves on the board of various non-profit organizations.
