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**Steering Committee**  = Definition. = Steering committee is an organization which consists of a group of people who are responsible for providing guidance on overall strategic direction, determining what features go in and when, and how those features are implemented. Normally, these people are not the sponsors, but they assist to extend the strategic input and buy-in to a larger portion of the organization. =Structure. = As a rule, the Steering Committee has its own structure. In is made up of an odd number of members which are chosen to make easy the voting process and help prevent ties. However, even with the prevention, the voting system may still have ties in some cases. To avoid these undesirable moments, the Steering Committee has an appointed Chair, whose sole responsibility is to break ties among the Steering Committee. The main function of the Steering Committee is to make decisions relating to project management. Steering Committees are appointed by the Board Of Corrections (BOC), as the need arises, to carry out specified tasks and to submit findings and recommendations from that effort to the BOC. All Steering Committees are made up of professionals who are knowledgeable in the areas of activity or project they take part in. Occasionally, the role of the Steering Committee members is not well understood, often being seen as a 'control' function over the project. This is true, but it is only one of many principal roles of steering committee members. The organization is established not to alter while your project is set up to introduce change. So, the primary role of it is to cope with this conflict in goals.
 * The primary accountability of the Steering Committee is to ‘steer’ the project successfully into the organization! **

** General functions: **
   Collect and prioritize overall needs and establish a strategic plan - program    Ensure that sufficient resources are available to conduct projects    Review/approve commitments to external entities ( e.g. vendors, other agencies )    Ensure that staff is properly trained.    Select project manager and assist in staffing effort    Review/approve Project Statement    Review/approve project plan    Review/validate and approve risk analysis    Budget and establish financial reserves based on Risk Analysis Worksheet    Ensure project staff availability    Ensure that funding is available Steering Committee has to concentrate on the right issues in the right way, make decisions rapidly and easily based on a good understanding of a project, achieve more in less time and with less stress, avoid the common mistakes.
 * Concept definition: **
 * Planning: **
 * Project Start-Up: **



** Benefits: **
Steering Committee, certainly, has its own advantages. It:
 * takes control of the project effectively and securely
 * knows what questions to ask at each stage of the project
 * manages the project manager and any consultants to maximum effect
 * knows what to do when things go wrong (and how to prevent them going wrong)
 * knows what the project is accountable for (and what others are accountable for)
 * effectively ‘governs’ through to the end of the project and beyond — until the value has been realized
 * ** builds a personal competency that is becoming essential for effective, world-class executives. **

** Role of the Steering Committee: **
The Steering Committee considers deliverables from all interested stakeholders to make decisions. Policies may include, but are not limited to, program and funding priorities: ·  Set policy and establish processes ·  Develop a management structure ·  Plan or arrange for planning of all project activities ·  Produce and distribute, or arrange for production and distribution, of appropriate program and project reports ·  Develop a business plan ·  Set goals ·  Monitor activities ·  Ensure evaluation ·  Direct fundraising and maintain sustainability ·  Initiate and/or maintain a competitive RFP process ·  Oversee public relations and other communications ·  Ensure stakeholder input ·  Coordinate among all stakeholders for efficiency

http://mapguide.osgeo.org/psc.html http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/definition/steering-committee.asp http://www.skio.usg.edu:443/research/coop/ssc.php
 * References: