A mission statement is a written description of the purpose, goals, and values of an organization’s operations. It provides a clear picture to stakeholders about what success looks like for your company. The goal here is to summarize in one sentence or less the reason why you exist as an entity – or what it can mean for others if they choose to support your vision
Introduction: A simple definition of leadership that I’ve found helpful when trying to better understand how we can lead ourselves through our work at Mackenzie Presbyterian Church?
Category: Leadership & Management
Introduction: “Leadership” generally refers specifically to someone who manages people (or other resources) with authority over them within an organizational setting. There are many different types and degrees of leadership – this includes everything from being designated as formal leader due caretaker/parent at church events all the way up til becoming CEO
A “communication mission statement” is a strategic business communication tool that allows companies to define their purpose and values. The mission statement can also be used as a marketing strategy.
Employees are the ones who carry out the company’s plan in any organization. As a result, encouraging excellent communication and openness within your staff is crucial to their performance. Your mission statement is a strong, uniting communication tool that may inspire and guide the company in the direction it wishes to go.
When your staff understands and lives by a well-crafted, high-quality mission statement, it shows in more consistent customer service. Without a defined statement, well-trained and motivated workers will go in the path that they (individually or in small groups) think is best, perhaps diverging from the broader strategy emphasis that leaders want.
For the last two decades, I’ve been studying mission statements and have discovered that they tend to fall into one of five groups based on both senior management objectives and employee reactions. These are some of them:
The mission statement is well-designed and generally accepted.
Senior management understands where the company is headed in category #1, the well-designed mission statement, and works with workers to keep it top-of-mind. Employees feel empowered and as though they have a clear path to follow in their job.
Let’s go back to work now that we have a mission statement.
Organizations in category #2 exemplify the ethos: “We finally have a mission statement—now get back to work.” Senior management uses this category to imply that “this mission thing” isn’t really significant.
Management believes that meeting budget is more essential than putting out a mission statement for the public and analysts. It considers the assertion to be just a collection of words that no one can really dispute with.
The employees’ response is humiliation. Only a few workers can tell you what their goal is (kind of), but they immediately acknowledge that it isn’t what they do every day, therefore it doesn’t really matter.
It’s so ambiguous that it’s useless.
“We don’t have a mission – would you consider a strategic statement, a statement of purpose, or an overall goal?” says the third category. “Specificity is simply not our thing; we like to be vague,” top management suggests here. Employees respond by merely having a hazy understanding of what is expected. They believe it is fortunate that this remark has no immediate effect on their daily lives.
There are values, but no direction.
If they’re being honest, companies in category #4 could remark, “We’re not sure who we are, but we have ‘values.’” Anything goes, according to top management, as long as the workers uphold these principles. Employees, unfortunately, are befuddled. Leaders find themselves leaking corporate assets in an attempt to establish value ideas, while the business invests a great deal of time and attention into exploring all growth options.
The overriding desire to preserve flexibility
Leaders in group #5 are likely to be led by the notion that “any statement may limit our choices, therefore we don’t have any.” With this, top management declares that it will go to whatever length to earn money, expand the business, and gain market share. Employees are left feeling powerless and desperate as a result of this strategy. Politics wins the day as company resources are thrown into every opportunity for development.
Why does a well-designed, well-implemented mission statement benefit your company?
If, and only if, a great mission statement is well-designed and executed with a single focus that elevates it above all of the company’s daily firefights, it has the unique potential to concentrate the efforts of every person in the business.
Doing “good” throughout the average employee’s day is inadequate for a company to really differentiate itself from its rivals. What one employee considers “good” may be diametrically opposed to what another employee considers “good.” Even on a small scale, this results in a scenario in which everyone is working very hard, yet the company seems to be achieving just average results.
A group of individuals exists to achieve what an individual cannot do on their own. Coordination and communication are the most urgent problems that arise as the organization develops. Coordination and communication problems are actually the ongoing battle to keep employee activity focused on the organization’s distinctive purpose, as Henry Mintzberg pointed out many years ago in his seminal work on organizational structure.
After determining what comprises the business’s competitive advantages, the execution of that plan naturally starts with a meaningful, focused purpose, based on those advantages, that every person in the organization can use to make choices.
My extensive experience helping companies in the development of successful mission statements has led me to create a five-point approach to mission statement development. The “art” of creating a quality statement should be guided by these five principles. The following are examples of mission statements:
- Short. It was small enough to put on a coffee cup.
- Simple. Everyone in the business should be able to learn and comprehend the purpose.
- Directional. It should serve as a daily guide for everyone in the business.
- Actionable. It explains what the business does and does not do.
- Measurable. For each element of the goal statement, a measure may be created.
Check out these resources for additional information on how to create a mission statement for your business, as well as mission statement examples.
A “communication team mission statement” is a strategic business communication tool. It allows the company to outline their vision and goals in a concise way that can be used for many different purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a mission statement communication?
A: A mission statement communication is a type of speech that has been used by many business and organizations. It explains what the organization hopes to achieve through their company or service, as well as how they hope to do it.
What is a strategic mission statement?
A: A strategic mission statement is a set of words used to describe what your companys goals are, and how it plans on achieving them. The goal behind the statements is to make sure that everyone knows where they stand in relation to the company.
What is a mission statement of a business?
A: A mission statement is a summary of what the organization does and how it will be achieved. It can also serve as an overall goal for all members to commit towards, especially when working on long-term projects.
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