Similar to giving a story a title before writing it, have a vision statement when approaching investors. Business is a changing market; therefore, vision statements change. However, the core principals related to ethics, niche and goals are contained in the vision statement; therefore, principles remain the same and assist in directing research and quality decisions. To refresh my memory "Managing Business Growth: Get a Grip on the Numbers that Count" written by Angie Mohr, CA, CMA is a worthwhile resource.
The vision statement is a short message summing up the overall business goals of a company. Most companies sum this up in one or two memorable statements. Some companies have a whole paragraph.
A sample of a vision statement reads like:
We will always be number one in providing quality goods and customer service. Building goodwill is our top priority in making sure our customers always feel important.
The mission statement adds and extended level of intensity to the vision statement. It has specific information related to ten year goals and is changed everyone five to ten years to reflect accomplished goals and future goals. Some bulletin points from the book are:
Measurable - determine regular goals
Challenging - the goals should be realistic, but difficult to reach
Focused - goals are oriented toward operational and strategic decisions
Flexible - it is a framework not a policy
Clear - someone should be able to explain it
Appropriate - it must work with the vision statement
Mission statements are longer documents. It is double-spaced and in standard written format. It is not a complete guideline of all policies. It is an extension of the vision statement and expresses how the vision will come true or be maintained.
Use bullets to draw attention to separate issues and goals. In the beginning, find theoretical and abstract ways to answer potential or common questions. This helps establish the "rules-of-thumb" that often become the backbone of a company. Work clarifies broad statements.
The operational plan breaks down the goals in the mission statement into acceptable actions for accomplishing goals. Breaking both the mission statement and operation plan into bulleted statements helps people create relationships between the goal and actions. This makes it possible to achieve goal within acceptable guidelines.
The operational plan is similar, but not the same as the mission statement. It is less than one page and statements are brief and to the point. The difference is in how it addresses goals.
A goal is, "Least amount of employee churn in our associated industry." How you reach that goal is, "We will excel in training and keeping open communication between all employees."
Notice the mission statement of the goal encourages people to go beyond the operational plan. Human Resources may restrict hiring practices and wages could go up. Wages and benefits affect how happy someone is with their job. It places a goal into a manager's mind, but does not overtake decision making ability.
For small startup businesses this exercise creates ideas for future plans. As a company grows having more employees creates a rift between the owner and employee. Written documents are easy to reference when looking for direction. These three documents identify important concepts. However, company culture goes top-down and the owner's true personality and actions influence everyone. Achieving a truthful reflection of personal values resolves conflicts before they start.
Related Article
Primed for Change
No comments:
Post a Comment
Join the discussion by leaving a comment.