Example of an action plan to follow up your SteerCo meetings

What is a SteerCo, and why does it need an action plan?

A steering committee (SteerCo) brings together, at regular intervals, the people who direct a company, a business unit or a major project: executives, department heads, sometimes the HR manager or a company secretary. Its role is to set priorities, arbitrate and make the decisions that determine the next steps. In some organisations the management committee plays this role; in others, each strategic project has its own SteerCo.

Whatever its form, a SteerCo produces decisions. And a decision only has value if it is carried out. Between two meetings, the directors return to their departments, organise their teams and launch the work. Without a shared document that lists what was decided, by whom and for when, three things happen quickly:

• the same subjects come back from one meeting to the next, because nobody remembers exactly what was decided;
• delays are discovered on the deadline, when it is too late to react;
• management has no overall view of progress across departments.

The action plan solves these three problems. It is the thread that connects the meetings: the SteerCo produces decisions, the decisions feed the action plan, and the action plan structures the next SteerCo. If you need a reminder of the basics, see our article action plan definition: what is it used for?

The columns of a SteerCo action plan

A good SteerCo action plan is simple enough to be read at a glance and complete enough to be followed without explanation. The essential columns are:

You can add columns for resources (budget, people, subcontractors) or for the strategic objective each action serves. Keep the list short: every extra column is one more field to update, and a plan that is hard to update ends up out of date. To check that each action is fully defined, the 5W1H method (what, who, where, when, how, why) is a useful checklist.

Example of a SteerCo action plan

The example below is fictitious. It shows the action plan of a monthly SteerCo after its October meeting, for a company that is renewing its sales tool and reducing its logistics costs. Adapt the actions and columns to your context.

At the top of the document, add the date of the last SteerCo, the list of participants and absentees, and the date of the next meeting. A reader should understand the situation in less than a minute: what is done, what is late and what needs a decision.

How to run the action plan from one SteerCo to the next

The table is only half of the method. What makes it effective is the routine around it.

1. Before the meeting. Each owner updates the status and comment of their actions. The meeting secretary sends the up-to-date plan with the agenda, so that participants can anticipate questions and prepare their topics.
2. At the start of the SteerCo. Review the action plan first, quickly: actions closed since the last meeting, actions late or blocked, decisions needed. Ten minutes are usually enough when the plan has been updated beforehand.
3. During the meeting. Each decision immediately becomes an action, with its owner and deadline agreed in the room. Reformulate the action aloud before moving on: it avoids diverging interpretations.
4. Within 24 hours. Send the minutes and the updated action plan. The later they arrive, the later the actions start.
5. Between meetings. Owners report progress or blockages as they happen, without waiting for the next SteerCo. A blockage reported early can be solved before it becomes a delay.

This routine relies on the same principles as any action plan. Our article on best practices for writing an effective action plan details them.

Common mistakes

• Vague actions. "Improve communication" cannot be followed. Write a verb and a deliverable.
• Shared ownership. "Sales and operations" is not an owner. When several people contribute, name the one who reports on progress. A RACI matrix helps clarify roles on complex actions.
• Deadlines imposed without discussion. A date that does not fit the owner's real workload will not be met.
• A plan updated only in meetings. The SteerCo then spends its time collecting status updates instead of deciding.
• A plan that only grows. Archive completed actions regularly and cancel those that no longer make sense, recording the decision. A list of 80 open lines is no longer read.
• Too many participants. Limit the SteerCo to the people concerned by the decisions. Thematic SteerCos can invite internal or external experts for a specific item, mentioned in the agenda.

Action plan and minutes: two documents, one loop

After each SteerCo, the meeting secretary writes the minutes: a record of the discussions that matter, the decisions taken and the questions raised. The action plan does not replace the minutes, it extends them. The minutes explain why a decision was taken; the action plan tracks how it is carried out.

Both documents are validated by management and distributed according to their sensitivity. Some subjects (a merger, a major purchase, a reorganisation) should not be sent to all employees: keep them in a restricted appendix reserved for SteerCo members. For a complete example of minutes, see how to take minutes of a meeting: example of an executive committee.

Spreadsheet or dedicated tool?

A table in a word processor or spreadsheet is enough to start. It is simple, everyone knows how to use it, and it can be projected during the meeting. Its limits appear quickly: the file is out of date as soon as it is sent by email, several versions circulate, reminders are manual, and consolidating the plans of several committees or sites takes hours.

A dedicated action management tool keeps a single version of the plan, shared in real time. Decisions taken in the SteerCo become actions directly, owners receive automatic reminders, and progress is visible at a glance before each meeting.