Having a clear mission insures that your team focuses on its day-to-day purpose and does not get sidetracked by the “flavor of the day” or other distractions.
Unlike a vision (which describes a future state), a mission is a clear message that explains what your team does today. It answers three questions:
- What do you do?
- How do you do it?
- Who do you serve?
Like values, a mission helps guide the organization and keeps it “between the guardrails”. Having a clear mission helps make decisions easier since there is agreement on what the organization does. Likewise, it means you may have to forgo other “opportunities” that are not in alignment to the mission.
We work with teams to insure that their mission and vision don’t become mere plaques on the wall, but rather active guides for the organization. We accomplish this through the development of regular team communications, leadership coaching and visual tools.