A mission statement should very quickly and succinctly define your business, your ideals, goals and history in a brief paragraph. Sounds simple, huh? It can be far more difficult than it seems to write a mission statement, so where do you start?
Firstly look at writing your mission statement as a chance to gain some extra insight into your organization. Find out how your employees see the business; evaluate what you see as your niche in your industry. A mission statement should explore what your business does and strives for at the core of its operations. Rather than selling your services or talking about your customers, your mission statement should provide a big picture look at your business history, its ideals and its future direction. And all in 3 or 4 short sentences!
Your mission statement should be a document that is relevant to employees and stakeholders in your organization, so one way of approaching it is to simply ask your employees for their feedback. Your staff will most likely describe common ideas and express common themes about their work and role in the organization, and incorporating their ideas is a good way to achieve that bigger picture.
Some tips on questions to ask are as follows.
o What are you in business to achieve?
o How does your organization differ from competitors?
o What is the nature of your products and services?
o Who are you and your employees?
o What are the philosophies and values that guide your business?
From asking these questions you will aim to uncover the opinions of others. You want to use these responses to be able to develop a statement that will be adopted by your organization. This statement should outline why your business exists and what you are hoping to get out of being in business. You want to demonstrate how you are different to your competitor and describe your niche position within your particular industry. Finally your want to state your principles and this is particularly important as this can have the most emotional value for employees and other stakeholders.
When writing these ideas succinctly look at choosing your wording carefully. You are aiming to say the maximum amount in a very short space so you should choose words that are laden with meaning and not superfluous. At every stage remember your goal is to state your organizations nature, its values and the specific work you do. You may write only 3 or 4 sentences, you may write closer to a page. Ultimately however, a great mission statement can be a boon to your business. A good mission statement can be used to help new employees understand your organization or to motivate current employees by giving them a sense of purpose and pride in their work.
On a final note, once you have written your mission statement it can be worth reviewing it over time; by doing so you can ensure that your mission statement stays true to your organizations values and goals, both now and in the future.
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