What should the IT steering committee maintain to document its decisions and actions?

The correct choice is the maintenance of detailed minutes of meetings by the IT steering committee. This practice is essential for several reasons. First, meeting minutes serve as a formal record of the discussions that take place during the committee's meetings, including decisions made, actions assigned, and any pertinent reasoning or context. This documentation becomes critical for accountability, enabling members to review past decisions and the rationale behind them, ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding what was discussed and agreed upon.

Moreover, detailed minutes help in tracking the progress of action items and project developments over time. They can serve as a reference point for evaluating the effectiveness of the committee’s decisions and strategies in future meetings. Additionally, well-documented minutes support transparency within the organization, as they can be shared with relevant stakeholders who are not present at the meetings but need to be informed about the committee’s activities.

While meeting agendas are important for guiding the topics of conversation, they do not provide a comprehensive account of what was actually discussed or decided. Lists of upcoming IT projects and communication logs with vendors may support other aspects of IT governance, but they do not encapsulate the decision-making process of the steering committee itself. Therefore, detailed meeting minutes are the most effective means of ensuring that the committee's