Do steering committees really steer?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the confusion among project management practitioners about the role of steering committees. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with highly experienced participants selected from a range of industries and disciplines in Queensland, Australia. Findings Six separate confusions on the role of steering committees were identified within that practitioner community. However, despite participants expressing various opposing views, they had actually come to the same working arrangements for their committees; all that was missing was a common conceptualisation of these working arrangements and consistent terminology. Research limitations/implications The paper provides clear evidence to the academic literature that confusion over the role of steering committees actually exists within the practitioner community and identifies six separate ways in which this occurs. It also identifies a problematic error in the widely used PRINCE2 governance model. Clarity in committee governance arrangements will facilitate future research endeavours through the removal of confusion surrounding committee labelling and accountability. Practical implications A committee decision tree model that guards against all six confusions is proposed for practitioner use, providing a means of avoiding unnecessary internal conflict within organisational governance arrangements. It can be used to check terms of reference of existing or proposed committees, facilitating organisational efficiency and effectiveness. The suggested renaming of project control groups to project coordination groups, and discontinuance of the practice of labelling committees that cannot authorise their decisions as either steering committees or boards, further supports this. Social implications Reconciliation of terminology with actual practice and the consequent clarity of governance arrangements can facilitate building social and physical systems and infrastructure, benefitting organisations, whether public, charitable or private. Originality/value Clarity regarding committee accountability can avoid confusion, misunderstanding and their consequent waste of time, resources and money.

The project steering committee, project governance and trust: insights from a practical case study

“…Furthermore, Elonen and Artto (2003) argue that it is often a problem that the roles and responsibilities of the steering committee are unclear. This is discussed further by McGrath and Whitty (2019), who found confusion among practitioners concerning the roles of the steering committee. The findings highlight two important adaptations in the project that addressed this challenge.…”

“…The reason for this may be that steering committees are not very common outside Nordic countries (Andersen, 2008). Another reason may be that there is confusion regarding the role of the steering committees (McGrath and Whitty, 2019). Lechler and Cohen (2009) studied the role of the steering committee in realizing values from project management.…”

Roles of project steering committees in large agricultural projects in Cameroon

“…A steering committee is viewed as an instrumental governance mechanism that adds to project governance's sophistication and subsequently forms a key success factor (Meredith & Zwikael, 2020;Drake & Bekker, 2023). Scholars indicate two intertwined motivations for bringing steering committees into existence, which included the introduction of a democratic decisionmaking process to alter the autocratic, hierarchical organisational power structure that exists in large-scale projects and the second to foster collaboration while gaining the benefit of input from multiple sources (stakeholders) in order to enhance projects successes (McGrath & Whitty, 2018;Meredith & Zwikael, 2020;Louw et al, 2021). These are not new, as Karimi et al (2000) had considered the concept of steering committees as a corporate philosophy of having the users take responsibility for planning and controlling the function of specific projects in much the same way that a Board of Directors takes responsibility for planning and controlling the entire company.…”

“…Drury (1984) had earlier suggested that 'steering' was a generic term encompassing any committee involved with projects. However, the operation of steering committees since the early 1980s has evidently been problematic, as steering committees needed a standard descriptor for project oversight for failure or success (McGrath et al, 2018). This is even more evident in agricultural projects in which the sector remains least developed in developing nations, while a large-scale project with functional steering committees seems to be the solution to success (IFAD, 2018)…”

What do project management practitioners think governance is? A study on perceptions in Queensland, Australia

“…Ninety-seven percent of project managers indicated that they report to a steering group". A further paper surveying practitioners on the subject of steering committees by McGrath and Whitty (2019) has also come to our attention. It identifies six separate confusions concerning steering committees and confirms the model developed by McGrath and Whitty (2013).…”