Presentation template for your steering committee (example)

As a project manager, there is a task that is surely close to your heart if you are passionate about your job: that of presenting the progress of the project in steering committee.

The “Copil” meeting, as we often say in short, which takes place about once a month, is a golden opportunity to share the latest progress of the project with stakeholders and highlight your team.

A good project manager knows that foresight and preparation are essential values that lead to the success and success of a Copil.

What is a steering committee?

When the management of a project presents high challenges, a complex level of technicality, or a large number of people involved, the creation of a steering committee to ensure good project management becomes the number 1 priority of the project manager.

A simple project follow-up meeting?

A steering committee meeting is much more than a simple meeting between the decision-making and operational bodies responsible for the execution of the project. In the management of transversal projects, the place of the project manager is not that of the manager. The latter cannot therefore arbitrate the priorities of resources, deadlines or quality that are not within its competence.

A relay of power in companies

The steering committee (or Copil) is therefore a component of the success of a project. It is an essential power relay whose role is to monitor a project, analyze its progress and make final decisions at the end of the meeting.

The steering committee will have to ensure that the decision-making process makes it possible to meet the challenges facing the current team and that it can respond to them within the time limit set.

How are steering committees formed?

The Copil is therefore trained at the beginning of the project by the sponsor in collaboration with the project manager. In practice, the members of the steering committee are decision-makers (shareholder, business angel, manager, etc.) capable of making the arbitrations necessary for the project management as well as business experts who have concrete experience with the project and live it on a daily basis.

The exact role of steering committee meetings

It is an ultra-effective tool for collective decision-making to give new impetus to your high-stakes projects and deal with a “hot” issue but for which you must find the key to achieving the objectives set. Note that the sponsor and the management must be informed of the Copil agenda well in advance. They should not discover the contents of current files during meetings.

The sponsor is the project manager's ally on the steering committee. On a project, he must have enough information in advance to be able to provide advice to the teams, regardless of the phase in which the project is located.

The roles are well defined, each of the actors has their own:

• the sponsor sells the project: and yes, you have to mobilize continuously!
• the members of the steering committees gave their opinion and advice
• the project manager will have to execute the decisions taken
  

What is the main challenge of the steering committee?

On a project, coordinating the steering committee therefore becomes the essential tactic to involve those who have power over resources, deadlines, quality/performance. This type of work meeting usually lasts 1 to 2 hours during which a lot of decisions have to be made.

• What direction do we want to give to the project?
• What elements do we have to make one or more decisions?
  

The conduct of a project steering committee

This type of meeting does not happen by chance. Management members will be present and it is also an opportunity to highlight yourself personally as a project manager. The steering committee is an imposed exercise with its rituals, challenges and objectives.

Two main steps within the same presentation:

- The agenda: analysis of current actions, decisions taken and decisions to be taken. This information must reach the various actors prior to the meetings.

- The minutes of the steering committee: which records the decisions taken during the meetings. It is sent by the project manager.

Our advice for successful steering committee meetings

Experience shows that stakeholders pay as much attention to substance as to form. This is why the support used is very important.

Les reporting tools and performance measurement are very useful, but when it comes time to prepare for the steering committee meeting you should pay attention to a few key points:

• Prepare yourself well: know its figures, have in mind the important stages of the project, but also the political and strategic issues relating to the project.
  

• Keep it simple: “Straight to the point” should be your motto. The steering committee is there to make decisions, not to listen to your praise or complaints. If there is a problem, address it directly at the beginning of the meeting and without detour
  

• Choose the right presentation medium: For the management of your projects to be a success, the form counts as much as the content. There are many presentation models, it's up to you to choose the one that suits you best or that will be the most meaningful for the committees to which you will have to present the progress of operations. Your dashboards should be concise and action-oriented. The use of colors is highly recommended.

• Choose the right level of communication: A manager does not want and does not have to go into detail to make a strategic decision on projects. During the week you interact with operational staff, in the steering committees you talk to decision-makers who are pressed for time. Use the same language as your interlocutors, mimicry helps to get messages across.
  

Be the ambassador of your project!

The achievements of the project team must absolutely be highlighted during these types of meetings. A successful project is a project where all stakeholders have the impression that things are progressing quickly and well.

There is therefore a performance objective that the members of the committee will pay attention to. Do not hesitate to highlight all the actors working on the project, especially the business teams.

In a project there are always some “forgotten ones”; the project manager is also there to involve all the members of his team towards the same objective.