A Mission and Vision Statement is an essential asset for all businesses, organisations and individuals.

Where are you going?

 Do You Need a Mission Statement?

The answer depends on whether or not the mission statement you compose has significant meaning to you, or is this just another business planning exercise in futility?

 A mission statement can guide you through good times and bad, act as a moral compass, and help you make decisions aligning with your values and goals.

The foundation stone for all strategic planning, and of course effective management of an organisation, is an agreed mission statement.

What is a Mission Statement: A mission statement needs to be a focussed account of what an organisation’s core purpose is.

A mission statement answers the question: ‘Why do we exist?’

If your organisation has not already defined your mission, now is a good time to do so.

It is important that the mission statement is incorporated into your marketing thinking, development and strategy planning. Your marketing plan will be far more effective if your chosen strategies relate to the organisations stated purpose.

Missions tend to take into consideration a number of aspects

• The vision of the organisation.
• The purpose or reason for being, of the organisation.
• The things that the organisation values, considers important.
• The long-term goals of the organisation.

Good mission statements can be invaluable if they;

• Provide a long-term perspective
• Create unity around a common vision and identity
• Make it clear to everyone in and outside of the organisation what it is and isn’t about
• Create an overall sense of purpose from which strategy and action can follow.

Write a Mission Statement in 4 Easy Steps

1. Describe What you do – No need to be elaborate, simply express what you do. I.e. design jewellery, tour theatre, promotes music.
2. Describe How you do it – This is not a detailed description of your physical operations, but a description of how you operate, this really refers to the values that are important to you and the way your organisation is run. I.e. Provide high quality products, provide superior customer service, ensure equal access for all, or encourage innovation and creativity.
3. Why do you do it– This is where you can describe the passion behind the organisation. Why does your organisation do what it does?
4. Finally Who are you doing this for? –  Closely linked to why you do what you do, can you take it one step further to say who you are actually doing this for?

3 Tests for a Meaningful Mission Statement

• Pass the Mother Test – A mission statement is a concise paragraph describing what you do and for whom. Show it to your mum (or someone you trust), if she doesn’t understand it, start again.
• Self-Igniting – Your mission is for you and your organisation, it does not have to be an earth moving statement, but it does have to inspire you.
• Value Alignment – If your organisation is creative, focus your mission on creativity; try to be what your core competency is.

Vision Statements

A vision statement should be big and bold, they are meant to inspire, energise and create a captivating picture of where you see your organisation going in the future.

What is a Vision Statement: A vision statement should be a clear, motivating message about what your organisation wants the future to look like. It provides the inspiration for both your daily operations and your strategic direction.

The foundation stone for all strategic planning, and of course effective management of an organisation, is an agreed mission statement.

What Should Your Vision Look Like?

There are two schools of thought as to what a vision statement should look like.

The Ideal Organisation

This type of vision statement describes what success looks like, what your organisation will always strive for. This needs to be realistic and ambitious, challenging but not overwhelming for the individuals who have to carry out that vision. 

This type of vision statement is useful for creating benchmarks to monitor your success; it encourages you to look at where you are now and what you need to do to fulfil your vision.

The Ideal World   

This type of vision statement provides an answer to the question ‘What would a perfect world look like?’ Alternatively, you can think about it as ‘What would a world that no longer needed our organisation look like?

8 Steps to Writing a Good Vision Statement

1. Have your Mission Statement to Hand

Your mission statement is a great starting point, clearly outlining ‘Why you exist? What you do? How you do it?’

2. Dare to Dream

Aim for the moon and there are plenty of stars to fall back on. To write a vision statement first focus on the basics of your mission statement and extrapolate: Where is your organisation going to be in 5 or 10 years from now? What will the organisation have accomplished? Forming a mental image of the future will help you to form an ambitious vision.

3. Shape your Vision

While picturing your future you might have envisioned a list of accomplishments or imagined a series of disjointed clips, to write a vision statement this then needs to be distilled into a usable form.

4. Why do you do what you do?

Your vision statement should begin with what you believe, why you do what you do – your purpose or cause, beyond what you do or make. You could try starting with the statement ‘I believe…’ or ‘I envisage a world…’ (You can always take out the opening words later). A vision statement should not be a tome, long winded descriptions are expelled from the Vision Statement. The opening of your statement should be limited to a sentence or two and capture the world you imagine.

5. How do you do it?

Once you’ve explained why you do what you do, it’s time to explain how you do it. The How refers to the characteristics or values about how you operate, and importantly why that makes you unique. These are not amorphous ideas, but should be specific and accountable. It is hard to hold someone accountable for Innovation for instance.

6. What do you do?

Finally, what are you doing to bring your vision to life?

Once you’ve articulated the Why and the How, now it is time to explain what you do – the things that you create/provide/sell that will prove you have achieved your vision.

7. Commit to your Vision

Once you have completed the written Vision you now need to turn to the actions you are going to take to realise your Vision. Are you using your vision as the basis for your organisational planning? As a vision statement provides you with a destination, all your goals and strategies should focus on making that happen.

8. Keep the Vision alive

You can tell a person your vision once, but it is likely to fade and disappear. Share it with potential partners, or staff and employees if you have them. Reinforce your vision by keeping it physically prominent, print it out and post it somewhere visible, feature it on your website, add it to your stationary, whatever it takes to keep your Vision alive, do it.

Have You Got it Right?

 It isn’t particularly hard to write a vision statement, but it can be difficult to write a vision statement that truly reflects and encapsulates your vision for the organisation. When you write your vision statement, make sure that you have picked a vision which is most important to you. If you don’t believe in your vision statement, no one will.

Top 5 Things to Keep in Mind When Writing Your Vision Statement

1. Describe outcomes that are five to ten years out.
2. Dream big and focus on success.
3. Write your vision in the present tense.
4. Infuse your vision with passion.
5. Paint a graphic mental picture of the organisation you want.

Summing Up

The difference between a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement is that a mission statement focuses on an organisation’s present state while a vision statement focuses on an organisation’s future.

The mission statement is a combination of what your organisation does and how and why it does it, and is designed to encapsulate the values that are important to you.

While you vision statement is an articulation of a view of the world that your organisation and your people are working towards, not what they are expected to do now. It should strive to inspire loyalty, hard work and innovation.

Putting your Mission and Vision to Work

Often we write lofty mission or vision statements, and then they are filed away in a folder, only to reappear once the dust has settled. Forget this and make sure the time and effort you spend in developing your Mission and Vision has not been in vain.

Your Mission and Vision statements should direct your organisational planning and be at the forefront of the minds of everyone who works with you and engages with your audiences/customers/visitors. You could go as far to make your mission or vision statements themes for marketing campaigns. If you do nothing else, your mission and vision should be highly visible in your premises, on your website, and on all your marketing materials.

You can Download this Tip Sheet and many more by visiting out site HI-Arts Audience Development.