Focusing your Project Steering Committee

In the early stages of a project, the Steering Committee meetings are often focused on providing a status of progress.  When the project reaches a challenging point (cost overruns, schedule slippage, etc.), the natural reaction is to increase the status reporting, either increasing frequency and/or increasing level of detail.  This creates additional strain and increases the energy that goes into preparing these updates, rather than focusing energies on managing the project back to health. The most valuable use of the Steering Committee at these times is responding to specific needs of the project. The meetings should be centered around “asks” and the outcomes of those asks.