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Steering IS Committees Straight

"The key to setting up effective technology or IS steering committees is to know what roles those groups can and cannot play."

Adapted from a 1989 submission by Robert Reck and Virginia Reck to Datamation

The chief information officer of a medical products company has restarted an information systems (IS) steering committee every two or three years for the past decade. "We start with the right executives and make some progress, but then they lose interest and delegate responsibility for attending to subordinates not empowered to make decisions. Once this happens, the meetings are useless."

When most information systems directors form IS steering committees, they envision an ideal situation in which they convene crisp quarterly meetings with groups of senior and line executives gathered together to get smart and excited about IS. They expect such groups to advocate specific and practicable positions for their IS staffs and to approve and sponsor strategic IS projects. They imagine sessions where they discuss and approve strategies, budgets and allocations aimed at achieving greater IS-based success in competitive markets.

In reality, such visions are hardly ever realized - as the CIO of the medical products company can readily attest. Far from being a dynamic organizational force, IS steering committees are often inactive, indecisive, inappropriately staffed and, as such, more of a problem than a solution to both the IS staffs and organizations they serve.

But, the reason reality falls so far short of the ideal in many cases can be traced back to a single flaw: the failure of the IS director to properly identify the role that the steering committee should play in the organization. This mistake, in turn, often lease IS directors to take the wrong approach to forming and managing such committees.

The Right Approach

The right approach begins with an understanding of what IS steering committees should be. Simply put, an IS steering committee should be a representative group of business or line executives who meet periodically to find ways to link the IS resource to the business. The steering committee should be distinguished from an IS operating or coordinating committee, which would be made up of IS unit heads from across an enterprise, meeting to coordinate their activities or policies.

Beyond that general goal, there are four key roles a superior IS steering committee can play. They are to:

• Control and approve this IS function itself.
• Build awareness of how IS can deliver value to an organization.
• Set IS strategies that will maximize such value.
• Sponsor the IS activity within an organization.
  
  

However, who can fathom the subtle differences between one type of committee and another? Who knows enough about an organization to cast its IS steering committee in the right role? The answer shouldn't come as a surprise: the IS director must take charge at the outset.

Steering Under Control

A corporate IS director had carefully distributed his development resources among his company's various divisions. He knew, however, that nobody would be satisfied with their division's share, unless they fully understood the reasoning behind such allocations. Before announcing his resource plan to the divisions, he sought and won ratification for it from his organization's IS steering committee. Committee members paved the way for the controversial plan, minimizing criticism and maximizing acceptance of it when it was formally introduced to the divisions.

A steering committee whose purpose is to control IS operations should review, modify and sanction a host of things: budget, resource and staffing plans; major development efforts or acquisitions; shifts in strategies or tactics; and organizational structures. In a highly diversified organization, the committee also may determine which requests for IS support get top priority - acting as a buffer between organizational units competing for scarce resources from an otherwise beleaguered core IS group.

Those responsibilities can be undertaken by a committee even in an organization where the IS department itself reports to a line manager, such as a financial director. This is because the cross-functional nature of IS dictates that line managers from the various business units of the organization--an IS steering committee, if you will--should have a strong voice in the management and operations of the IS function.

An IS department ought to act as a resource to this type of steering committee. As such, the department gathers information for the committee, assembling all of the internal and external data needed to make informed decision. Such a staff relationship is particularly fruitful when the committee is recommending controversial changes. These changes are more palatable to the IS department and to business units when both have participated in the recommendation process.

Well Aware

Donald Burr of People's Express Airline cites his inattention to IS as one major reason for the decline and ultimate failure of his business. Lack of management awareness and involvement also appear to be the cause of many "runaway systems," for which costs escalate by two to 10 times original estimates and schedules slip by years.

Some of today's senior managers, unaware of the potential of information systems within their organizations, may soon become the subjects of business school case studies. To capture the maximum benefit from information systems, top executives must know how systems can deliver value to their business and know their role in defining and implementing strategic systems.

To build awareness of the importance of IS to the business, a committee must first become educated. It must learn what information technology can do for the organization, the industry in general and its competitors in particular. Next, it be coached on how to become a catalyst - one that creates an expanded, informed and active clientele for the IS department within the company.

Making a committee smart and excited about IS isn't difficult. Members can visit key vendors to view products and hear executive presentations about hardware or software. They can also participate in executive forums with their peers, discussing the role of IS in business.

Setting the Right Strategies

In a European food company, the information systems director led the steering committees from each division in a strategy-setting process. Cohesive strategic business and IS plans were prepared for the first time. In the opinion of both the IS group and the business managers, significant and competitive value from the IS resource was obtained for the first time in the company's history.

In fulfilling the third role of an IS steering committee, members set IS strategies for their organizations--not for technology's sake but for the greater good of the organization itself. For this purpose, members of the committee share their knowledge of business strategies--ones particular to their own functions in the organization as well as their views of the overall strategy for the organization itself. Committee members s also seek to understand how systems affect or are affected by major changes in a business, including the redesign of key processes within it.

Furthermore, this type of steering committee must communicate those strategic and IS changes, acting as the key link between the IS department and the business units supported by IS. The committee must make sure that the IS department has accurate and timely communications on any significant changes affecting the business. Conversely, the committee must relate all important changes in IS strategy back to the business units affected by them.

"Partnership" best describes the ideal relationship between the information systems department and a steering committee engaged in this role. Meetings should be devoted to sharing views and alternative strategies rather than to review, approval or control of IS actions. Working in tandem is particularly critical in the process of setting IS strategies. Most of the work in developing IS strategies will actually be cone by the IS department, but those strategies must be in line with the views of the IS steering committee. Therefore, it is often wise for the IS department to work with individuals from the steering committee to draft strategy prior to presentation at a steering committee meeting.

Championing Important IS Causes

The members of IS steering committee for a major manufacturer grew alarmed when they realized that one of the company's major systems efforts was in trouble. Rather than waste time by pointing fingers, the committee assumed management of the program, which today is delivering value to the manufacturer.

An IS steering committee can assume the role of champion for IS activities in a number of ways. One or two committee members may act as sponsors for key development efforts in some cases. The entire committee may champion a particularly important effort, such as the creation or enhancement of a system that crosses several functions within an organization. Committee sponsorship can also serve to cut through corporate political intrigue that might otherwise block a successful system implementation.

The championing aspect of the IS steering committee often leads it to become a bridge builder between the IS department and the business units. If the committee helps IS personnel build stronger ties with their business unit peers, it can often trade on the strength of such relationships when complaints and criticisms of the IS function become excessive. The committee also can speak on behalf of the IS department explaining information technology issues, opportunities and processes to less-informed members of management.

The preferred evolution of an IS steering committee starts from the control and approval role, moves through the awareness and strategy roles and climaxes with the sponsorship and advocacy role. The order has been rearranged in some organizations--but not without problems. Some IS directors have started committees with the goal of educating them about information technology. This endeavor is only worthwhile if such education leads to action. Strategy-setting and championship roles are difficult places to start unless the management team already understands the value and potential of IS within the business.

Control and approval as a starting point appears to be most common. In this role, managers serving on an IS steering committee are likely to obtain just enough information about the IS function to make informed decisions. But the motivation to proceed to other roles - or to sponsor other executives into those roles - is sometimes missing.

Fundamental to the successful launch of an IS steering committee is determining who should belong to it. IS directors typically set out to enlist members from the highest levels within an organization, even though seeking such upper echelon membership may not always be appropriate. The correct approach to any membership drive is first to assess the role the IS steering committee is to play and then cast about for the people best equipped to fulfill that role.

When control or approval is the role of the steering committee, its members should be managers appropriate to the decisions being made. Membership thus may be made up of those individuals who usually make budgetary and resource decisions within their own functional groups, such as business unit heads and ultimate profit-and-loss responsibility. A committee focused on building awareness should be made up of a cross section of business managers. The emphasis should be placed on those who are thought of as leaders within the enterprise. Business unit managers involved in transforming or redesigning the fundamental processes of any aspect of the organization also are prime candidates. These managers are the ones that most need to understand the opportunities that IS can provide.

Where IS strategies need to be set, members of the steering committee should come from among those business leaders who understand the business strategy and the role that information technology must play in creating or orchestrating that strategy. They should be particularly attuned to (or educated about) the opportunities for new business strategies that IS enables. Frequently, this group will be the most senior level managers within an organization.

If advocates or sponsors are sought, those mid level managers most likely to lead a key systems effort should be enlisted as members. These may be managers with a particular interest in seeing the business become more efficient or effective or managers more likely to have the time to devote to a new technology-based business initiative. If reputation and support of the IS organization needs to be bolstered, some opinion leaders respected within the business should be members.

Regardless of the roles they play, IS steering committees can - and probably should - draw on members who have differing attitudes toward technology and IS departments. There is no rule limiting committee membership to all skeptics or all technophiles. Most successful groups are made up of a mix of corporate friends of IS, benign neutrals and one or two unbelievers or even hostile individuals. A cross section of viewpoints may produce the best dialogue and results.

The rewards or recognition for sitting on a steering committee may vary from member to member. Some may join to protect the interests of their business units or to improve cross-functional communications. Others may do so to be good corporate citizens. Still others may view committee membership as a chance to gain an understanding of an area of personal interest.

The Leadership Factor

The leader of an IS steering committee has several important tasks:

• Ensuring that it's properly staffed.
• Making its members understand their responsibilities.
• Maintaining the committee's organization wide perspective.
• Conveying the importance of the committee to the rest of the organization.
  

The average IS steering committee is chaired by a member who comes from a business unit or has a line function within an organization. The IS director usually acts as administrative director of the group--organizing meetings of the committee and setting an agenda for it. Although the IS director shouldn't head up the committee, his or her relationship to it is crucial its success. And it's a relationship largely determined by the role of the committee itself.

In committees focused on control and approval, the IS director must be the consummate staff member. He or she must ensure that the right information is collected and put before the steering committee so that the best decisions and actions can be framed.

When the committee's role is to build awareness, the IS director should assume the role of primary educator for the group. He or she should plan meetings that will improve members' attitudes and skills about IS and ensure the dissemination of those attitudes and skills within the business.

For a committee setting strategy, the IS head should aim to forge the partnership between his or her department and the business units it supports. For committees engaged in championing technology, the IS chief should act as a coach - prompting, enlisting and orchestrating the right behavior from the advocates or champions on the committee.

How often, and in what manner, should IS steering committee meetings be held? The answer, again, depends on the role of the committee. If control and approval are its chief functions, the committee should schedule semiannual or quarterly meeting, usually corresponding to other business cycles. During such meetings, the committee should respond to current IS problems. Formality should characterize such meetings, with fairly rigid agenda and procedures in place.

Getting Down to Business

If building IS awareness is the chief objective, the committee should hold four to six meetings a year. These gatherings would center on specific topics, last a half or a whole day and be entertaining as well as informative.

When IS strategy setting is the primary role, the committee needs to convene two to four times a year. Timing the meetings to correspond with the overall strategic planning process of the organization is wise. Equally prudent would be to precede each group meeting with working sessions between individual committee members, who can then present a synthesis of views and issues at the formal gathering.

Advocacy committees have to be held more often, perhaps on a monthly basis, because frequently the causes such committees are championing are related to ongoing projects requiring constant vigilance. Agenda topics can include awareness building, project reviews, explanation of IS processes and decision making. Subgroups may be chartered to do tasks in between committee meetings.

Off-site meetings schedules well in advance seem to work best for capturing the attention of busy colleagues, as well as ensuring their attendance. If time permits, recreational activities can build committee rapport and communication. The best meetings also are varied, fast paced and tailored to the executives. Many managers have a nine-minute attention span. This suggests meetings built around multiple topics and a mix of presentation styles. The chairman should ensure a high level of energy from each presentation, demonstration, or discussion.

Every meeting, regardless of frequency or role orientation, must be followed by the IS director, or whoever else acts in the capacity of committee administrator. The administrator should find out what parts of the meeting were valuable and why. He or she also should seek out suggestions about the frequency of future meetings, how to improve future meetings and what to put on the next meeting's agenda.

The success of an IS steering committee often depends on an IS director's ability to recognize and deal with inevitable impediments. Committees focused on control or on advocacy may fail because the role of information technology in the business is unarticulated or not properly aligned with business objectives. Where alignment of the IS function is lacking, confusion usually reigns about whether IS is fulfilling a need and is delivering value to the enterprise. The IS director in such a setting must manage expectations and ensure a consensus about the IS function by members of sponsoring and controlling groups.

Steering Past Road Blocks

Where awareness is the primary role, a committee may fail unless the link between IS and business strategy is made clear to the constituents of business units directly affected by technology investments. Being able to apply the results of an IS-education session directly and immediately to their business work will help members of the business units reinforce the message.

A committee trying to set IS strategies also can fact major obstacles when the business strategy is unclear or when members of the committee believe in conflicting values and priorities for the business. Identifying the factors critical to the success of a business is an excellent technique to use with the steering committee to ensure that its members concur on key strategy elements and the practicality of their implementation before initiating any IS planning activities.

Would-be champions of major IS initiatives often fail because they have no clear role models. The members of a committee aspiring to sponsor such initiatives may not know how to act, what role to play of when to take action. Identifying or even providing a role model from outside the business can help alleviate this problem. An IS director working with such a committee also can improve things by openly and crisply stating his or her hopes and needs for the group in terms of behavior and actions.

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