Engineering Steering Committees: How to Run Them Without Wasting Everyone's Time

A steering committee (or "steerco") is a governance body that provides oversight, guidance, and decision-making for engineering initiatives. When run well, steering committees unblock projects, align priorities, and ensure resources match strategy. When run poorly, they become bottlenecks and theater. This guide shows you how to make steering committees actually useful.

"A steering committee that only hears good news is useless. The whole point is to surface problems before they become crises."

What is a Steering Committee?

A steering committee (steerco) is a group of senior leaders who meet regularly to:

• Provide strategic direction — Ensure initiatives align with business goals
• Make decisions — Resolve cross-team conflicts, approve scope changes
• Remove blockers — Use organizational authority to unblock teams
• Allocate resources — Approve budget and headcount requests
• Manage risk — Review status and intervene when projects go off track

Steering committees typically include VPs, Directors, and key stakeholders. They meet bi-weekly or monthly, depending on project complexity.

When Do You Need a Steering Committee?

Running Effective Steering Committee Meetings

Before the Meeting

• Send materials 48 hours in advance — No one should read status reports in the meeting
• Flag decisions needed — Make it clear what you need from the committee
• Pre-align on contentious issues — Steercos shouldn't be where debates happen

During the Meeting

• Start with decisions needed — Not status updates
• Timebox status to 10 minutes — Focus on exceptions, not reporting
• Document decisions in real-time — Assign someone to capture outcomes
• End with clear actions — Who does what by when

After the Meeting

• Send notes within 24 hours — Decisions, actions, owners, deadlines
• Follow up on action items — Don't wait for the next meeting
• Escalate blockers immediately — If something's stuck, don't wait

Metrics to Present to a Steering Committee

Steering committees don't need every metric—they need the right metrics. Focus on:

Recommended Metrics

Common Steering Committee Problems

1. Status Theater

Teams spend more time preparing presentations than building software. Everyone reports Green to avoid hard questions.

Fix: Require pre-reads, limit status time, ask "what are you worried about?"

2. Decision Avoidance

Committee discusses issues but doesn't decide. "Let's take that offline" becomes a pattern.

Fix: Require decision requests in the agenda. No decision request = no discussion.

3. Too Many Attendees

Steerco becomes a large audience, not a working group. No one wants to speak up.

Fix: Limit to 6-8 people. Others can attend as observers but can't speak.

4. Micromanagement

Committee dives into technical details that teams should own. Engineers feel second-guessed.

Fix: Stay at the "what" and "why" level. Leave "how" to the teams.

Steering Committee Meeting Template

STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - [PROJECT NAME]
Date: [DATE] | Duration: 60 minutes

ATTENDEES
- [Name, Role] (Chair)
- [Names of other members]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
AGENDA

1. DECISIONS NEEDED (20 min)
   □ Decision 1: [Description]
     - Recommendation: [Option A/B/C]
     - Trade-offs: [Brief summary]
     - Decision: [APPROVED/REJECTED/DEFERRED]
     - Action: [Owner, deadline]

   □ Decision 2: [Description]
     ...

2. STATUS SUMMARY (10 min)
   Overall: [🟢/🟡/🔴]

   Key Metrics:
   - Milestone Progress: X% complete
   - Cycle Time: XX hours (target: XX)
   - Team Health: [Green/Amber/Red]

   Changes Since Last Meeting:
   - [Highlight 1]
   - [Highlight 2]

3. RISKS & BLOCKERS (15 min)
   Risk 1: [Description]
   - Impact: High/Medium/Low
   - Mitigation: [Action being taken]
   - Ask: [What you need from steerco]

4. UPCOMING (5 min)
   Next 2 weeks:
   - [Key milestone/deliverable]
   - [Key milestone/deliverable]

5. OPEN DISCUSSION (10 min)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ACTION ITEMS
[ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due Date]
[ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due Date]

NEXT MEETING: [Date/Time]

Related Guides

• Board-Ready Engineering Metrics — Presenting metrics to executives
• RAG Status Reporting — Using Red/Amber/Green effectively
• Engineering Health Scorecard — Building comprehensive health dashboards

Conclusion

Steering committees exist to make decisions and remove blockers—not to receive status updates. If your steerco is mostly listening to presentations, something is wrong.

• Pre-read materials so meetings focus on decisions
• Limit attendees to people who can decide
• Use objective metrics from tools like CodePulse
• Document decisions and follow up on actions
• Question whether you need the steerco at all

"The best steering committee is one that works itself out of a job. If a project needs permanent oversight, something else is broken."