What does your company really do? Does it aim to be a leader of quality products, customer service and innovation? But so do thousands of others. Of course, it does read nice and sounds great, but it means little to both your customers and your employees. Hence an intelligible mission statement is essential to clarify the intentions of your business. Traditionally, mission statements are a blend of realism and optimism – two terms at odds with one another. But the key to writing a good mission statement is to strike a balance between the two. It would be nice if you can review the following five tips before coming up with great mission statements for your start-up:
While it is important for the mission statements to have an optimistic spin, they have to serve a real purpose.
Four elements often found in effective statements
- Value
- Inspiration
- Plausibility
- Specificity
In a couple of short sentences, the mission statements should be able to convey the value of the company or why the brand exists, inspire and encourage the employees, sound completely reasonable and plausible, and be as specific and relevant as possible. Find a key theme for the company and make sure that each of these components revolve around it. Keep it short and sweet.
Remember: This is a mission statement, not a mission essay. The entire mission should be explained in a sentence or two. Ideally, your mission statements should also double up as your slogan. Concise mission statements are memorable and effective. So do not make it complicated, just state the purpose of your company and the reason for starting it.
Consider long term vs short term
Mission statements can be vary from one company to the other. The idea here is to choose whether you want your company’s statement to reflect its short-term goals or its long-term aspirations. Be sure to choose only one. Specificity is key to an influential mission. While short-term mission statements allow you to be more specific with your goals, they also need to be updated more often to stay relevant. If you want the statement to be a long-term reflection, use global language indicative of your company’s purpose, regardless of how much your company might expand in the future.
Test it
If you’re revamping your statement, don’t blindside your employees with the new message. Test it on them first. Distribute drafts of the mission statement to all employees and ask them if it is OK or if anything needs to be added or changed. This will help you draft a comprehensive statement and it will also make your employees invest in it as they helped form it. Your mission statements should reflect your company accurately and transparency will help create a great message.
Revisit it often
The statement cannot be made at one go many a time. It will evolve over a period of time. Usually, a mission statement is written when the company is established and then it is totally forgotten. The statement should also reflect and represent your company’s culture. It is develop an overall sense of identity that needs to be maintained and referred to. Incorporate the ideas and themes of the statement in how you run your business and be sure to revisit it regularly to make any necessary changes. No company stays exactly the same. Tweaking your statement ensures that it constantly parallels the direction of your company.
Entrepreneurial Learning
Customers benefits from your service is the best way to make a good mission statement. When you give a mission statement, understand that people should identify your organization, the purpose and value of your organization. Impress your readers by giving a right statement. If your company don’t have great mission statements, its high time to make one for your company now.
