What Is a Vision Statement?
A vision statement looks into the future at least five years and defines a desired future state – one that may not even seem possible today. An example of a vision was President John F. Kennedy’s statement that America would put a man on the moon by 1969. It sure seemed unlikely at the time, but it motivated private industry and government agencies alike to marshal their resources, lay out a plan, then coordinate and cooperate to make it happen. In fact, although President Kennedy did not live to see it, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon!

What Is a Mission Statement?
A mission statement defines what a company currently does – products or services, key business drivers (e.g. highest quality and on-time delivery), how the company competes in the marketplace, and perhaps even some corporate values (e.g. being a good neighbor in the community). It may involve some “stretch” or challenge, but a mission mainly looks from the present out only one or two years. The “stretch” should start the company moving in the direction of the mission.

What Is the Purpose of a Vision or Mission Statement?
Vision and mission statements are most commonly prepared as initial steps in the strategic planning process. The planning team develops the vision of the desired future state. Next, the mission is developed to describe current reality. The vision (what we want to become) and mission (what we are) are usually compared with a rather wide gap between present and future.

Another common application for a mission statement is the documentation required for ISO or QS-9000 certification.

How Is the Vision Statement Prepared?
It may be best to use the scenario approach. With dimmed lights, the group members close their eyes and imagine that they have been abducted by aliens and taken to another universe – and now they are returning after five years of absence. They are asked to imagine walking back into their facility for the first time in five years. What do they see? What are people doing? What is the general mood? What does the place look like in terms of furniture, equipment or processes? What is different from the last time they were there (five years ago)? What products or services are now available? Who are
their customers?

Many other similar questions are shared with the group to help participants envision how their organization could look in the future. Group members are asked to write three to five-word phrases, describing what they see, on sticky notes. After about five to 10 minutes, most people will generate many ideas. The sticky notes can now be grouped on large sheets of paper with topics (e.g. products, quality, cost, delivery, safety and environment, human resources). Once all the quality related ideas are posted by the word quality (and similarly for the other topics), the group is broken up with volunteers to distill the multitude of ideas into thoughts. An example might be: “XYZ’s primary emphasis is on producing the highest quality products – our customers expect no less and we hold ourselves accountable to produce no less.” These thoughts are then woven into a vision of the future.

How Is a Mission Statement Prepared?
A similar process is used to develop the mission statement. Instead of the scenario process, however, participants list phrases describing the current products and services, key business drivers, how the company competes in the marketplace and corporate values. Thoughts are grouped as before, then are developed and woven into the mission statement.

How Does this Fit into Planning?
After developing the vision and mission, the planning team may next conduct what is referred to as a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Strengths and weaknesses comprise the internal analysis, which usually involves identification of strengths and weaknesses by functional area or department. Opportunities and threats comprise the external analysis, which usually involves identification of opportunities and threats by external factors (e.g. economy, labor, technology, governmental regulation).

SWOT Analysis

Next, the gap between vision and mission, plus the weaknesses and threats are analyzed.

Brainstorming is often used to list preliminary, broad objectives, which, when accomplished, will close the gap while addressing the weaknesses and threats. Objectives are the answer to the question, “What needs to be accomplished?” The next step is to identify one or more strategies for each objective. Strategies are the answer to the question, “How is this to be accomplished?” For each strategy, one or more SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented and Time-based) goals are identified to support each strategy. For each SMART goal, a champion or leader and target date are selected.

The strategic planning team is wise to seek input at each step from others in the organization. Drafts might be publicized with the opportunity to make suggestions. When the final plan is completed, it is shared with the whole organization. By involving the whole organization, the probability of buy-in is greatly enhanced. After communicating the plan to all in the organization, follow-up meetings are scheduled for each member to report progress against SMART goals. This is the time to celebrate successes, but equally important, it is a time to identify barriers blocking completion of a goal.

The follow-up meetings are essential to success in implementing the plan. When all is said and done, the quality of the plan is meaningless – rather, it is the successful implementation that makes the difference between another year of business as usual and a leap toward the vision. Initially, the meetings should be held frequently – weekly or at least bi-weekly. The meetings assure people will be held accountable for the goals they helped to craft. In addition, by spending time on this vital function, management shows that the strategic plan is truly a high priority for them as well. As the group gets comfortable with the process, the follow-up meetings will take less time and can be held less frequently (e.g. monthly or quarterly).

Examples
The following examples are included to illustrate creation of vision and mission statements.

Vision
XYZ, Inc. is committed to seeking growth and prosperity by achieving a sustainable competitive share of our industry in the international marketplace and world economy. We will strive to reach our goals by meeting the needs and expectations of our customers with continuous improvements in quality, productivity, value, new product offerings and customer satisfaction.

It is our intent to develop quality partnerships with our employees, suppliers, customers and the community in which we operate. We wish to continually set standards of excellence, both personally and professionally, which exemplify our dedication to our goals and to the fulfillment of this vision statement.

Mission
XYZ, Inc. is dedicated first and foremost to the production of the highest quality products to meet the needs and demands of our customers while achieving an acceptable return on investment. This will be realized both internally and externally by continuous communication between management, employees, suppliers, customers and community, and by ongoing improvement of processes, systems, equipment and use of human resources.

We intend to expand our presence in the marketplace by the development of new products in our (list of major product) lines as well as by exploration of other opportunities for growth when presented.