Develop a mission / vision statement
What is a mission statement?
It is generally understood that a mission statement is a succinct phrase that speaks to the current state of an organization’s focus, values, unique selling proposition and passion.
What is a vision statement?
Much like a mission statement, a vision statement reflects an organization’s focus, values, unique selling proposition and its passion, however a vision statement includes a powerful “why” and points towards a future state, thus giving staff and clients a “cause” to get behind.
What is a mission / vision statement?
A mission / vision statement is simply identified as a confluence of the current and future states of an organization, providing clarity and purpose around day to day operations, as they are clearly associated with the greater accomplishments associated with the future state of the organization.
Below are a few thought starters to help you formulate your mission / vision statement.
What Do You Do?
Note the products or services you offer? It’s OK to have more than one, however less is more. A great mission / vision statement is hyper focused.
What is unique about your company?
This is very important. Make sure your message is relevant, timely and creates an emotional reaction. You want your staff and clients to consider this when making decisions of where to spend their money.
What are your values or guiding principles?
Core values are vital, as they are the foundation of client and staff relations. People want to do business and work for people they agree with or have common beliefs. This shows up when you have to resolve issues with staff or clients. You must guard these values as your company goes
Focus on the Future.
Your company should always be making progress towards its defined future state. To this end, be sure you establish a very specific desired future state for your organization. This can include financial goals, however financial goals aren’t enough. Be sure to describe the benefits of the financial growth, ie. “We want to reach $3mm in revenue so we can open new locations in 2 communities in order to provide opportunities for employment to residents living in underserved areas.”
Describe achievement milestones.
Set very clear metrics that can b measured to ensure your company is on track towards achieving the described future state while it is accomplishing short term goals.
Make a difference.
Be sure to identify the impact your company will have in the communities where you work and conduct business.
The Importance of Vision and Mission Statements
Norja Vanderelst
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Strategic planning is a key function of an organization’s management that helps to set priorities, allocate resources, and ensure that everyone is working towards common goals and objectives. However, for strategic planning to be effective, there are two important tools that are needed – a vision and a mission statements. These serve as a guide for creating objectives and goals in the organization, thus providing a road-map that is to be followed by everyone.
Unfortunately, despite the importance of vision and mission statements, many organizations do not have them. In other cases, the two statements are lumped together as one or used interchangeably despite their distinctive differences. This creates a confusion in the organization that makes it harder to achieve the set objectives and goals.
In this article, we will take a look at both of these statements, the differences between each one of them, and the important roles they play in an organization.
What is a vision statement
A vision statement is used to describe the future state of the organization, i.e., what the organization hopes to become in the future. It is, therefore, a long-term goal provides direction for the organization. It also communicates the purpose of the organization to the employees and other stakeholders and provides them with the inspiration to achieve that purpose.
What is a mission statement
A mission statement describes the current state of an organization and its primary goals or objectives. It provides detailed information about what the organization does, how it does it, and who it does it for. Unlike the vision statement, it is short-term in nature. However, it is related to the vision statement in that it outlines the primary goals that will help to achieve the future the organization desires (i.e, the vision).
Importance of vision and mission statement in an organization
Both the vision and mission statements play an important role in the organization. Below is a look at these roles:
The vision and mission statements define the purpose of the organization and instill a sense of belonging and identity to the employees. This motivates them to work harder in order to achieve success.
The mission statement acts as a “North Star”, where it provides the direction that is to be followed by the organization while the vision statement provides the goal (or the destination) to be reached by following this direction.
The vision and mission statements help to properly align the resources of an organization towards achieving a successful future.
The mission statement provides the organization with a clear and effective guide for making decisions, while the vision statement ensures that all the decision made are properly aligned with what the organization hopes to achieve.
The vision and mission statements provide a focal point that helps to align everyone with the organization, thus ensuring that everyone is working towards a single purpose. This helps to increase efficiency and productivity in the organization.
The vision and mission statements are important tools of strategic planning, and thus they help to shape the strategy that will be used by an organization to achieve the desired future.
Conclusion
The mission and vision statements are very important and they can best be described as a compass and destination of the organization respectively. Therefore, every organization should develop clear vision and mission statements, as not doing so would be like going on a journey without knowing the direction you are to follow or the destination.
Published by Linkedin on January 17, 2017
Norja Vanderelst — Quote Source