Steering committee

A steering committee is a body within an enterprise that supports the steering of its actions. Its main concern is making strategic decisions concerning future realization of the enterprise’s investment projects. It makes decisions about which of the presented projects will be realized, and which will not. It is responsible for the management and monitoring of a long-term project, which means that it controls the realization of the project at the strategic level, verifies the project’s coherence with established aims, and keeps established frames such as range, costs and deadlines. Should any changes in the project happen, they must be first presented and accepted by a member of the steering committee. Only in the case of acceptance are the changes introduced to the project. The steering committee assesses and accepts the changes by means of consensus. It deals also with coordination and coherence with other realized projects. The steering committee creates working groups and chooses experts, with whom the enterprise will work to realize the project. The manager of a project is accountable for a project in front of the committee.

The manager of the project is obliged to present to the committee regular reports from the current state of the realization and the progress made in relation to the timeline, the level of realization of the budget so far, and all other information meaningful for accurate assessment of the project. The steering committee may also give to the project’s manager some latitude concerning financial issues, such as minor spending required for realizing the project, which does not require the agreement of the steering committee. The size of margin is dependent on the manager’s experience and the trust the steering committee places in the manager.