Vision And Mission Statements Assignment: Mission And Vision Statement

Mission and Vision Statements Explained

These statements are the words leaders use to explain an organization's purpose and direction. When expressed clearly and concisely, they can motivate your team, or the organization as a whole, with an inspiring vision of the future.

Purpose

The two statements do distinctly different jobs.

Mission statements define the organization's purpose and primary objectives. These statements are set in the present tense, and they explain why you exist as a business, both to members of the organization and to people outside it. Mission statements tend to be short, clear and powerful.

Vision statements also define your organization's purpose, but they focus on its goals and aspirations. These statements are

Do everything you can to make your statements similarly succinct – long, rambling statements can show that managers haven't made tough-but-necessary decisions.

How to Create a Mission Statement

To develop your mission statement, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Develop Your Winning Idea

First, identify your organization's "winning idea," or unique selling proposition (USP). This is the idea or approach that makes your organization stand out from its competitors, and it is the reason that customers come to you and not your competitors.

Tip:

Developing a "winning idea" is a core goal of business strategy Add to My Personal Learning Plan , and it can take a lot of effort to find, shape, test, and refine it. To start, see our articles on USP Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan , SWOT Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan and Core Competence Analysis Add to My Personal Learning Plan .

Step 2: Clarify Your Goal

Next, make a short list of the most important measures of success for this idea.

For instance, if your winning idea is to create cutting-edge products in a particular industry, how will you know when you've accomplished this goal? If your idea is to provide excellent customer service in an area, what key performance indicator Add to My Personal Learning Plan will let you know that your customers are truly

It should be broad and timeless, and it should explain why the people in your organization do what they do.

Example 1

The owner of Farm Fresh Produce examines what she, her customers and her employees value about her mission.

The four most important values that she identifies are freshness, healthiness, tastiness, and the "local-ness" of the produce. Here's the vision statement that she creates and shares with employees, customers and farmers alike:

"We encourage the families of Main Town to live happier and healthier lives by providing the freshest, tastiest, and most nutritious local produce: from local farms to your table in under 24 hours."

Example 2

Carl looks at the values that are key to achieving this goal, and considers his team's mission statement. He identifies several important values, such as challenge, dependability and teamwork. He then creates this statement that combines his team's mission and values:

"We will challenge our skills and abilities, and create a database system that's strong, dependable and intuitive, allowing our colleagues to work quickly and effortlessly."

Key