Why creating vision and mission statements should be a team building process

 By Megan Taylor

Writing the perfect vision or mission statement can seem like an intimidating and nigh on impossible task. How do you encapsulate the who, why, what and how of your organization into a brief, but bedazzled mission statement?

Is there a secret formula that will help me craft a vision statement that clearly conveys a sense of direction and purpose, inspires and motivates others, AND is short and simple enough to be memorable? This task is quickly becoming too big for just one person to handle.

So what if we have been approaching the vision and mission statement development process all wrong?

Instead of you having to write the perfect mission statement, why not ask the team to create a powerful mission statement!

Create the Vision and Mission Collaboratively 

By permitting only one person, or a small group of people, to write the vision or mission statement, it prevents the rest of the group from developing a real connection with the goals of the organization. Instead of handing the vision or mission down to employees, and expecting them to swallow it hook, line, and sinker, use this opportunity to engage in team building.

Involving your entire team in the vision and mission statement creation process, allows you to harness the collective talents your organization. By taking different perspectives, opinions, and ideas into account, your organization will be able to create a vision and mission that accurately reflects your team, and by extension your organization’s purpose, direction, and goals.

Creating the vision and mission collaboratively lets your employees know that they are an integral part of your organization and that their opinions matter. This helps to foster trust, cooperation, and respect within your team and can help boost morale!

If everyone in your organization contributes to creating the vision and mission, they will be more committed to vision and mission fulfillment and more eager to pursue the organization's goals (because they are the goals of your employees' too)! Employees that are involved in the process of vision and mission development will feel a sense of ownership and pride in the finished product. This can really motivate your team to wholeheartedly pursue the vision and mission. If setbacks occur, the group will be more willing to overcome obstacles together, because everyone is personally invested in the vision and mission.

If the organization creates the vision and mission statements as a group, your organization is more likely to implement the vision and mission as a group. Your vision and mission statements will be powerful because your words will be backed by actions!

Click here to read more about why employee involvement is so important!

So, this sounds great, but how do we implement it? 

The following list was adapted from John Gabriel and Paul Farmer's Developing a Vision and a Mission in How to Help Your School Thrive without Breaking the Bank and Creating a Mission Statement.

Gather the group

• Include all stakeholders (employees, donors, the community, etc.)
• For those who can’t make it, consider using a survey
• How to involve the whole group if you have a large organization
• Take a look at these meeting tips!

Share examples of other vision and mission statements

• Allows your team to become familiar with what these statements look like
• Keep in mind that the two statements serve different purposes
• Ask your team to answer these questions

Brainstorm

• Vision Statement
• What is our purpose?
• What should our future look like?
• Is it inspirational?
• Mission Statement
• How should we answer the who, why, what and how in our mission statement?
• What is our distinctive competence?
• Consider using worksheets to organize your thoughts
• Remember everyone’s opinion is important

Synthesize

• Collect everyone’s ideas and thoughts
• Avoid wordsmithing and focus on the content
• Don’t get bogged by down with the technicalities (length, wordage, etc.)

Reflect

• Is your vision or mission statement realistic?
• Circulate rough drafts of your vision and mission statements
• Gather feedback from all stakeholders

Repeat

• This process may, and should, take a long time, so don’t rush
• Have several meetings
• Brainstorm and then brainstorm some more
• Don’t be afraid of multiple rough drafts

"The process of creating a mission statement, often as important as the final result, may take several months; but well done, a mission statement can last for years" Francis Pandolfi

The team building process does not stop here!

Now it’s time to put your vision and mission into practice. Do not let your vision and mission statements sit on a shelf to collect dust. Live your organization’s mission every day to keep it fresh, relevant, and active!