Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Developing Mission and Vision Statements (Strategic Tuesday/Process)



Hello everybody, Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, where business takes shapeIt’s Strategic Tuesday, and we are starting a new series on strategic planning and action planning.  We’re going to begin defining things such as mission, vision, objectives, and goals as well as strategic and action plans.

Today’s topic is “Developing Mission & Vision Statements.”

Mission and vision statements for a company are very important.  I do recommend, following my short blog, that you dive into more research about the subject.  There is a great deal of material and numerous examples available.  I’m sure that will help you in the preparation of your company’s mission and vision statements.

What is a mission statement?  A mission statement outlines how a company plans to get to where it is going.  It’s very important to have that sense of direction.  It also expresses the purpose of your company and outlines measurable objectives that you will use to gague success.

Mission statement is designed for the internal side of your company.  Your employees need to know where the company is going and how it plans to get there.  Also, it’s about the present.  It’s not about the future which relates more to the vision statement.  And, it provides a sense of urgency around what we need to do to make our company successful.

Let’s look at the mission statement for our taco stand.  A possible mission statement for our taco stand: “to be the best taco stand by selling gourmet tacos fast where people line up around the block to buy them.”

A vision statement identifies where a company wants to be in the future.  It communicates the purpose and values of the company.  The audience for the vision statement is the external and internal.  By external, we mean your customers.

By getting a sense of your vision statement customers are able to understand your purpose for being in business and why they should be a customer.  Your employees get a sense of how they should handle themselves as an employee and where the company is going.

The vision statement should be a compelling and emotional message.  Now we’ll look at the vision statement for our taco stand.  The taco stand vision statement is “to enhance the local dining experience by providing the freshest and tastiest tacos fast.”

If you don’t grasp the subject 100% yet, don’t worry.  Spend more time looking up mission and vision statements online and I’m sure they will become more clear.

Mission statements are about the “How,” the purpose of your organization combined with success measurements.  And the visions statement is about the “Where,” encompassing the values of your organization, what your company is about and how it gets things done.

These are two important ingredients, and in the future I want you to spend more time with this.  Develop that vision and mission statement.  Share it with your employees, share it with your customers and you will be moving down the road towards a very vibrant strategic and action plan.

That’s our Strategic Tuesday.  Stop by tomorrow for Action Wednesday.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com

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