Any business with goals needs a destination—the ultimate place where the business owner can see that their efforts and dreams come true And they are fulfilling the promise they made when they started the business.
The mission and vision statements are clear statements of purpose, value, and facts that explain what a company provides to its market and why. They also outline what the company will look like when it has reached its goals.
In this guide, I will roadmap how to create a compelling mission and vision statement that you can build systems and processes around and get buy-in from employees, customers, and investors.
Phase One: Blueprinting The Mission And Vision
First, Let's define a basic framework of a mission and vision.
Mission Statement: Describe your business' current purpose
Vision Statement: This represents your business' desired future and what you look like when you are ultimately successful.
There are four questions you must answer to build out your mission and vision:
1) What core values drive your business? It would be best to reflect on your business's foundation and why you started it. What drives you to do what you do every day, and what makes you the best at what you do?
2) Who are your key stakeholders? Consider who the business intends to serve and who is interested in your services or product. What makes their lives better by having you in it?
3) What change do you want to bring about through your business? You may not think of your business as a game changer in society, but the root definition of a business is an enterprise that generates profit for members of society. How will your business impact the larger society?
4) Where do you see your business in 5, 10, or 15 years? Map out the long-term trajectory of your business and ultimate aspirations. How much revenue will you generate? How many customers do you need to serve to reach that revenue?
Once you have compiled your thoughts on the above road mapping questions, you need to create a simple and straightforward statement that includes elements of each question. Your statement should be a sentence at maximum.
Avoid generic terms like best, quality, service, or leading unless they qualify for a specific context. Words like cutting-edge, industry-leading, or world-class can only be accurate if you are in one of these categories.
Phase Two: Optimizing And Fine-Tuning Your Mission Statement
In phase two, you have to test what you came up with in phase one. You can do this by eliciting feedback loops from employees and customers to ensure that your mission and vision statements are clearly understood.
Develop a feedback form from Survey Monkey or Google Forms to send to your target market so they can give unfiltered advice without you being present. Creating the feedback loop will allow them to offer advice without the pressure of having you present.
Once you have gathered feedback from your target market, create a brainstorming session. Based on the collected information, you will further iterate.
Ensure you review your mission and vision statement annually with your employees so you can help them understand the why behind their jobs.
Phase Three: Implementing and Living Your Mission And Vision
It's time to implement your mission and vision statements in the company culture. Your mission and vision are the backbone of every decision you make for the company moving forward, as well as how you will assess the performance of your team members.
There are five ways you can implement the mission and vision into your business successfully:
1) Regular discussions: Host monthly or quarterly meetings focusing on aligning your teams' activities with your mission and vision
2) Onboarding process: New employees should receive a handbook or guide showing the company's culture and what it means to contribute and be part of it.
3) Reward system: Implement a rewards-based system where employees who exemplify the mission and vision the best are rewarded
4) Storytelling: Create stories and have a wall of fame where employees who go above and beyond are recognized for their efforts for all to see
5) Feedback mechanism: Create an open source to receive feedback regularly from employees and customers to monitor how the delivery of your mission and vision is throughout the company and the marketplace
Having a solid mission and vision in place means more than crafting a well-written sentence about who you are. The mission and vision are all-encompassing; they are your raison d'être.