What if My Steering Committee Won’t Show Up?

A recent discussion with a client gave me pause. They are working on a big-ticket revitalization of a significant data system for their enterprise. The goals are broad (and seemed a little vague to me), and senior management is growing concerned about the pace of the effort. I tried to tease out crisper success criteria so I could understand how this might be negotiated, but wasn’t making much progress.

I wondered aloud if a meeting with the project’s sponsor might be beneficial and was told that there wasn’t really a sponsor per se, instead a steering committee served that role. “Nothing wrong with that,” I offered, “just a little messy getting everyone on the same page.”

The client responded, “Our problem is getting the busy executives to attend our steering committee meetings. It’s rare that half of them even show up for our quarterly meeting.”

As a consultant, I sometimes bite my tongue and take a breath to avoid getting myself or my clients in trouble.

The first thing that came to mind was to suggest canceling the project at the next steering committee meeting, because clearly it wasn’t a priority for the executives. While it would likely get attention focused on the effort, I can imagine it could also be a career limiting move for my client, the project leader – so I didn't say that.

The second thing that came to mind was to suggest reaching out to the nosebleed tier of the org chart (the folks that the steering members report to) for guidance: explain the problem and ask for ideas. Again, it might address the problem but might also burn bridges with the folks on the steering committee. As a consultant, I am ok with burning my bridges to solve a problem, but my client has a long and successful career with the company, and this might irreparably damage professional relationships.

What I ended up suggesting was reaching out to the individual members of the steering committee back-channel to explain the need for more guidance than was being provided, being prepared with sample questions that need answers, such as:

• If we had the option of finishing this project by January 1, but it would cost an additional million dollars, or we could finish by March 30 with the current budget, which would you prefer?
• If we could roll out a partial solution on January 1 with the balance coming April 30, or the full system on March 1, which would you prefer?
• Would you be willing to approve removal of low priority functionality from the effort to deliver the project on January 1?

While individual steering committee members might have personal preferences when asked these questions, most would probably agree that other members might have different perspectives, and the group should discuss the issue and develop guidance for the project manager. This might encourage participation in the steering meetings.

My client is in an untenable position. Senior management is getting impatient about the lack of results, but the steering committee is not effectively engaging to provide appropriate guidance. Unchanged, this is a no-win situation. While high visibility drama and/or shaming might be tempting (and maybe effective in the short term at solving this specific problem), the career consequences for an employee are likely undesirable.

Early in my career, I thought diplomacy was a waste of time. I took a more direct bull-in-the-china-shop approach to problems like this. I got credit for solving a lot of problems, but I also burned a lot of bridges. Over the years, I’ve learned that blunt approaches to problems that don’t consider secondary and relationship consequences can create as many problems as they solve.