Mission statements are exactly what they sound like. They are the thing that people will read when they are looking to apply to work for you, they are what customers see first. In a few words, the mission statement is supposed to highlight what your company is about and, on a deeper level, the atmosphere and culture of your company. Even before you sit down and start creating your business mission statement, there are several steps that need to be taken in order to ensure that you have all of the necessary elements in place and ready to go.
Form a Group of Collaborators
It may seem that a mission statement is easy to develop with very little assistance in just a few moments. However, you need to keep in mind the purpose and target objective of this statement. An effective statement will provide a brief overview of your goals, target objectives and underlying philosophies within just a few short and simple sentences, according to Entrepreneur. Creating a maximum impact with a minimum word count is a project that is more suitable for a team of people instead of just one person. Mission statements that are too long tend to get browsed over. Sometimes words make sense to you, but won’t to someone of another culture or background. Do you want your mission statement to make a global impact? Then you need to find out how your basic idea for a company culture will be received in counties that you don’t live in.
Schedule a Meeting for the Team
Developing a solid and effective mission statement should not be something that is done in passing. It is something that needs to be taken seriously by your team of collaborators, especially since it will play such a crucial role within the content of your business plan overall. Therefore, it is highly recommended for you to schedule a team meeting to formally share ideas and create this statement with your team as you would any other type of business meeting. Give everyone time to talk and set up a distinct plan and flow for this meeting. You’re going to want to take in everyone’s ideas, work on your final product, and then schedule a follow-up meeting to tweak your details. The bottom line is that you cannot rush this process. Let the creation happen naturally.
Test Team Members for Understanding
Not everyone within your team might have a clear understanding of what a mission statement is or how it differs from a well-developed vision statement or goal. Before you proceed any further with the meeting or even the preparations for the actual meeting, check to make sure everyone is on the same page in this regard.
One effective approach to take would be to share informative resources and research materials from websites like Shopify explaining the definition and purpose of a mission statement to your team members in advance for them to study. By doing so, you won’t have to waste any time during the actual meeting discussing these points and can simply test them for understanding before proceeding to the next topic on your agenda.
Research Other Effective Statements
Another important step to take before working on your own mission statement is to thoroughly study and research the mission statements already developed by other companies and firms within your industry. Focus primarily on the statements that resonate with you and your team the most, addressing real problems and major areas of consumer concern.
Find statements that are capable of immediately inspiring readers. You can get a lot of great ideas by studying these well-developed statements and sharing them with your team during the brainstorming process.
Host a Detailed Discussion First
Once you have conducted thorough research and gathered your team together for a meeting, this doesn’t mean you should immediately grab a sheet of paper and start to write your mission statement. Take time to host a discussion with your team members about their ideas and thoughts before moving forward. Make sure everyone gets a chance to contribute; the one contribution you might overlook could end up being the best one available. This will also allow you to have the chance to ensure everyone is on the same page before you go any further, answering and addressing any questions or concerns that may exist within the group.
Give Yourself Time
While it is possible for your team to develop a great mission statement right away during the first meeting, you should plan on giving yourself more time to develop and improve it before making it an official representation of your business. Whether it takes one day or one month to finish, you need to be willing to give yourself and your team the time necessary to create an effective statement for your company the first time around.