The role of the Executive Steering Committee on strategic initiatives is to ensure that action is taken on a timely basis, in
the appropriate part of the organization to attain the initiative’s business
goals.
It is a common misconception that the executive committee of the operating company can and should also serve
as the steering or advisory committee to the strategic initiative. A more useful approach
is to form a separate steering committee or advisory board to provide guidance and that reports
on progress to the executive committee.
This note
presents a slightly expanded view of Executive Steering Committees and
is based on American Management Systems' noteThe
Executive Steering Committee: Its Role in Successful Strategic
Projects, by Charles O. Rossotti and Fred F. Forman. It lays out the underlying
logic behind this thinking and provides a sample agenda for organizing effective executive steering
committee meetings.
