People Strategies: Designing mission statement takes careful planning

Linda Bower is a speaker, executive coach and human performance improvement consultant in Rogersville.

Writing and living a company mission is one of the most difficult and necessary things an organization can do. It is difficult because most employees don't take it seriously. They are much more interested in the "walk" than the "talk." What most employees don't understand, is that management has to talk before it can walk.

It is also difficult because every consultant seems to have a slightly different definition of mission and different methods for creating one. The best advice is to begin with articulating definitions and philosophies about mission statements in the business' situation.

Consider these questions when writing or recreating a company's mission.

What is a company mission? Most agree that a mission is a tangible written statement that drives decisions and behaviors. It answers the question of "Why are we here."

Why have a company mission? It should give people a reason to commit to the organization, incorporate the company's core values and vision of the future.

What is the difference between a vision and a mission? A vision is a picture of the future and is often focused on a company's customers. It also incorporates core values. Yes, they overlap and many times both are necessary, but not always. When embarking on this important initiative, take time to define mission and vision for the company's situation. Decide how to use them or choose a trusted consultant.

Is the mission intended for employees, executives, shareholders, clients or all? This is probably the most important question, and company executives should answer it before any attempt is made to launch or re-launch a company mission.

The mission statement is primarily to motivate and guide executives and employees. If left there, it is a pretty simple and straightforward process to create and execute one. It is when companies choose to publish their mission statements in glossy marketing brochures that things get more complex. It puts more pressure on getting the words right and it can make the mission statement less meaningful because it is written for a larger audience.

The best way out of the marketing conundrum is to focus the organization on executing the mission statement in real company language, leaving the statement on the wall and in the brochure and say so. Pull out the most important things from the mission and incorporate them in every employee conversation.

How important is the actual statement of the mission? The statement or wording doesn't matter unless it is required for marketing purposes. What matters is the intent behind the statement and how the mission is lived throughout an organization.

What is the best process for writing a mission statement? Start at the top. Agree on why the company should have a mission, define what mission means to the company and who will use it. Most executive teams start by writing individual statements. Look for themes and then write a composite statement. This works fine if the team works well together and there is no power differential driving the group's decisions. Consultants can come in real handy during this phase.

The next step is highly dependent upon organizational structure and company culture. If a company chooses to move the mission statement out of executives' hands to employees, it can be done in a few ways.

Repeat the same process used by executives at all levels in the organization. Assign a team to consolidate the executive and individual team statements into one company mission.

Take the executive statement to the next level, use the same process as above and create an individual team mission that is aligned with the company mission.

Print the executive statement and expect everybody to understand why it is there and how to use it. This is also referred to as "mushroom management," also known as "keep them in the dark and feed them BS."

A mission statement is meaningless unless executives make a personal commitment to incorporate it in everything they do.

If not used carefully, mission statements can be employee weaponry against hypocrisy. Executives are left with little armor if they can't show how their decisions and behaviors model the company mission. Then the whole process backfires and causes company turmoil rather then company cohesion.

Human nature dictates that if executives model the mission, then everyone else will naturally embrace it.