What does a steering committee do? A complete guide to enterprise governance
Large and ongoing projects don't stay on track on their own. A steering committee guides an organization through complex projects from start to finish, whether it's an operational transformation, regulatory compliance initiative, or business oversight of a board of directors.
Recent project management research reveals persistent challenges: only 34% of organizations complete projects on time and on budget. Additionally, 91% of project management professionals report that their organizations face project management challenges, with 44% citing a lack of resources as a top issue. These statistics underscore why effective steering committee governance has never been more critical for enterprise success.
Here, we examine what a steering committee is, what it does in today's complex business environment, and how to develop effective steering committees with the help of modern board management solutions.
What is a steering committee?
Steering committees are comprised of various people, including board officers, senior stakeholders, experts, executives, department employees and client representatives. These specialized teams serve as governance bridges between enterprise strategy and operational execution — providing expert oversight and direction.
Members of steering committees meet and collaborate to define, prioritize and control projects. They also provide guidance to the project manager on various issues while maintaining strategic alignment with corporate objectives.
What does a steering committee do?
Steering committees oversee and manage the progress of specific activities within organizations, ranging from special projects and compensation decisions to complete board oversight.
Though steering committees remain heavily involved in these activities, they aren't the ones doing the work. Instead, they collaborate with project managers to ensure designated teams complete tasks on time and within budget, often utilizing board portal software to manage corporate governance, documents, communications and reporting.
Each steering committee operates under a committee charter that details the committee's mission, roles and responsibilities, composition, and decision-making authority. Modern charters must also address emerging governance requirements, including cybersecurity oversight, Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, and AI implementation governance.
Modern steering committee responsibilities include:
- Business oversight and alignment: Steering committees ensure projects remain aligned with business objectives while meeting evolving regulatory requirements. This includes monitoring project progress against organizational goals, approving scope changes, and maintaining compliance with SEC rules, including cybersecurity disclosure requirements.
- Risk management and compliance: Under current Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) auditing standards and SOX compliance requirements, steering committees must integrate cybersecurity measures into financial controls, oversee data governance protocols, and ensure audit readiness across all project activities.
- Resource allocation and decision authority: Modern steering committees use governance platforms to make informed decisions about resource availability, allocation, and progress monitoring for large-scale projects. They maintain corporate resolution signing authority and coordinate with external advisors, including investment bankers, legal counsel, and auditors.
Types of steering committees
Steering committees can vary from organization to organization since all businesses have different needs. Here are the five most common steering committees in both non-profits and private corporations:
Executive committee
An executive committee is typically composed of the board's officers and, in some cases, the executive director. In this capacity, the executive committee acts as a steering committee because it steers the direction of the entire board and prioritizes the board's issues. They also often lead executive board meetings, set agendas, and collect reports from other committees and board members.
Project steering committee
A project steering committee focuses on single initiatives requiring close oversight — such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollouts, digital transformations, or merger integrations. These committees support project managers to ensure that projects align with business objectives while managing cross-departmental interaction and multiple stakeholder involvement.
The committee is responsible for:
- Advancing project management
- Analyzing budgets
- Identifying any changes affecting the project's original scope.
Project steering committees ensure that all viewpoints are heard and manage conflicts between stakeholders or departments while maintaining progress toward meeting benchmarks and goals.
Under current governance standards, project steering committees must also ensure projects meet enhanced documentation requirements for audit readiness and regulatory compliance, making their role more complex than traditional oversight functions.
Privacy committee
This committee ensures that the organization complies with privacy and security regulations, including GDPR and state privacy laws. The privacy committee collaborates with other stakeholders and subject matter experts to verify that the organization has adequate data privacy — a critical part of enterprise risk management.
Compensation committee
Both corporate boards and non-profits typically create a compensation committee. This committee is the authority on executive compensation and benefits packages. Members of this committee should represent a diverse set of business and industry skills while maintaining independence requirements.
Non-profit board committee
Since non-profits often have to do a lot with a little, they can significantly benefit from board committees, since they can streamline processes. Non-profit board committees generally support their boards of directors through strategic planning, budgeting, project management and more.
Challenges for steering committees
Despite their critical importance, steering committees face significant challenges in today's complex business environment.
Enterprise governance failures
Many steering committees face challenges in translating strategic initiatives into measurable business outcomes. Common failure patterns include unclear decision-making authority, misaligned project objectives with corporate strategy, and insufficient escalation processes when projects encounter roadblocks. These governance gaps can lead to scope creep, budget overruns, and initiatives that lose momentum despite initial executive support.
Technology and AI implementation oversight
Modern steering committees must navigate sophisticated new applications and emerging technologies while building greater trust in data management. AI implementation presents particular challenges, where internal audit functions provide advisory services to set up processes and controls.
Boards find themselves working to upskill as companies invest heavily in new technologies. AI-driven capabilities and opportunities are multiplying rapidly, requiring steering committees to facilitate continuous education on industry trends, technological advancements, and risk management.
Traditional operational challenges
Beyond modern challenges, steering committees still face traditional difficulties:
- The committee chair must manage many people, including those at various levels of the company hierarchy, with very different personalities and varying levels of interest in the project.
- Finding the right balance concerning the number of meetings can be difficult. Too many meetings take time away from working on the project. At the same time, not enough can hold projects up while employees await decisions from the steering committee.
- With so many people working on a project, there is always the threat that someone will put their own interests before those of the project or the company.
- Defining the roles of the project manager, the people working on the project and the committee members can be challenging, particularly when roles may differ from normal employment duties and may overlap in large groups.
Groupthink in steering committees
Regardless of group size, steering committees face the persistent risk of groupthink. Groupthink occurs when committee members avoid expressing opinions that vary from the majority, instead voting along majority lines despite internal disagreement.
When committee members succumb to groupthink, it defeats the purpose of gathering diverse opinions and perspectives. Effective chairs must actively encourage dissenting viewpoints and create safe spaces for contrarian thinking, especially when addressing technology implementations or regulatory compliance decisions.
Best practices for developing a steering committee
Modern steering committees function best when they follow established governance practices while adapting to current regulatory and technological requirements.
Train new steering committee members
Unless all steering committee members have experience on such a committee, it's best to provide them with some training and coaching. Training should cover traditional governance responsibilities plus modern requirements, including cybersecurity oversight, AI governance, and enhanced regulatory compliance.
Keep the size of your steering committee manageable
It's a good idea to keep steering committees to a manageable size. About six to seven committee members are large enough to represent all appropriate parties while remaining small enough to be efficient.
Prepare thoroughly for meetings
The steering committee chair sets the agenda and should provide a copy of it to all committee members at least seven to 10 days before the steering committee meeting. This timeframe gives committee members plenty of time to plan to attend the meeting, be ready to ask questions and participate actively.
Along with the agenda, committee chairs should attach the minutes of the last meeting, including an updated action list for completed actions and actions that are still in progress. The chair may also add a general progress report from the project manager and drafts of relevant documents that are being developed.
Modern preparation should also include cybersecurity briefings, regulatory updates, and technology implementation status reports as appropriate to the committee's scope.
Establish clear decision-making frameworks
Define measurable objectives and decision-making parameters upfront. Create approval processes for scope changes, budget modifications, and business pivots that account for current regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations.
How technology transforms steering committee effectiveness
Modern governance platforms powered by artificial intelligence are transforming how steering committees operate, moving from reactive oversight to proactive, data-driven decision-making.
Enhanced document preparation and meeting intelligence
Traditional committee preparation consumes weeks, often involving manual compilation of project status reports, financial analysis, and compliance documentation. Modern platforms enable automated document preparation, reducing traditional processes from weeks to hours through intelligent document synthesis.
Diligent transforms steering committee operations through comprehensive meeting management capabilities that streamline:
- Scheduling
- Agenda building
- Document sharing
- Minutes management.
The platform's Smart Board Book Builder pulls data from existing sources and assembles professional committee materials automatically, while AI-enabled tools summarize key insights and provide meeting analytics for performance benchmarking.
Secure collaboration and decision tracking
Technology platforms provide secure, real-time collaboration capabilities that enable committee members to work across time zones while maintaining enterprise-grade security. Access-controlled document collaboration, digital signatures, and threaded discussions keep projects aligned without compromising confidentiality.
Diligent Boards provides secure messaging, document collaboration, and voting capabilities that enable committee members to contribute from anywhere, while maintaining audit trails for regulatory review. Additionally, template support for agendas, approvals, and action items boosts productivity and helps define clear committee roles and responsibilities.
Modernize your steering committee’s operations
Effective steering committees combine well-defined charters, structured meetings, and technology platforms to deliver results. These elements ensure the right people understand their responsibilities and decision-making authority, creating the foundation for successful project outcomes.
Ready to transform your steering committee performance? Discover how Diligent Boards delivers AI-enhanced meeting management, secure collaboration, and enterprise integration that keep your projects on track and on budget. Schedule a demo to see how leading organizations are achieving measurable governance results.
