A company mission (or simply "mission") expresses the heart and soul of a company, in one or two engaging and incisive paragraphs. Your corporate mission gives you the ability to offer the world a compelling image of your company. To begin, give yourself time to reflect and seek inspiration, and to choose what content to give to the statement. Write a draft, and then have other people help you perfect it. Read on if you want to know more.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Find Inspiration
Step 1. Ask yourself why your business is on the market
This is the fundamental question that will define the tone and content of the "mission". Why did you start your business? What goals do you set yourself? To begin the brainstorming session, think about the main goal of the company. Here are some questions you can later ask yourself about it:
- Who are your customers, or the people you want to help?
- What role does your company play in its sector?
Step 2. Identify the distinctive features of the company
The tone of your corporate mission should reflect the corporate style and corporate culture - its "personality," if you prefer. Reflect on how you want your customers and other companies to see you, and write down the traits that you believe best represent your company. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is yours a traditional company, or is it oriented towards an innovative and avant-garde corporate style?
- Do you want to give space to irony and fun in your company, or would it be unprofessional?
- What could you say about the corporate culture? Is there a strict dress code and formal rules of conduct, or can employees come to work in blue jeans?
Step 3. Identify the characteristics that distinguish your company from others
The corporate mission does not have to be "unique" or surprising, as long as it clearly expresses your goals and your style. But if you're looking to do something out of the ordinary, this should be leaking from the corporate mission. Is there anything that somehow makes your company special? Write it down.
Step 4. List the concrete goals of your company
Ultimately, your business mission should include one or more goals. What's your long-term plan? Which is the short-term one? What is the most important thing you are trying to do?
- Your goals can focus on customer service, control of a certain market, improving people's lives with your product, and so on.
- Keep your company's "personality" in mind when writing your goals. Company and objectives must be in harmony.
Part 2 of 3: Write a draft of the mission
Step 1. Define your company against an achievable goal
Now that you are full of ideas, it's time to choose the most interesting ones, to express the deep nature of the company and what it offers. Write a sentence that expresses what your company is and what it proposes to do.
- From Starbucks. "Our Coffee. It has always been and always will be a question of quality. We put all our passion in finding the finest coffee beans, in careful roasting, and in improving the lives of the people who cultivate it, respecting the values human beings. Ours is a profound commitment, a job that never ends.
- From Ben and Jerry's: "The Mission of the Product: to make, distribute and sell totally natural and best quality ice cream and preparations with a continuous commitment to use healthy and natural ingredients and to promote procedures that respect the Earth and the Environment."
- From Facebook: "Facebook's mission is to empower people to share, and to make the world more open and interconnected."
Step 2. Add concrete and quantifiable elements
Stay away from high-sounding statements inspired by an idealism that has no roots in anything concrete. Missions that seem to come out of a corporate mission generator leave customers indifferent and completely miss the mark.
- Instead of writing "We aim to make the world a better place", write which customers you want to help. Review the previous points for concrete examples.
- Instead of writing "We will continue the product innovation process to make it competitive", refer to a product you are developing.
Step 3. Show personality
Use language that reflects the characteristics and style of your company. If it has a formal and traditional style, the language you use should have these same qualities; if it is informal and ironic, you can use a more creative language by highlighting this corporate characteristic. Review the steps above to get some ideas.
- The choice of terms to be used is important, but the structure of the mission can also contribute to achieving the result. Some companies start with a word that alone encompasses the entire business mission, followed by a sentence or two to process it.
- Evaluate the possibility of dividing it into several smaller and more distinct missions. What is the mission in terms of products? And in terms of customer service? If you want to focus on a specific area that is particularly important to your business, move on.
Step 4. Eliminate the unnecessary
A mission with too many adjectives can be incomprehensible. "We all, collectively, aim at the synergistic enhancement of tools for future generations on the basis of a multimedia personalization of customer service". Thing?! When writing your mission, carefully choose words that have meaning for you and your company. Remember that the purpose of the corporate mission is to communicate the truth about the company. Write what you know!
Step 5. Don't write overly long text
Your business mission should be clear and concise and, more often than not, no longer than a short paragraph. This will make it easier to remember, copy and show others. Don't get caught up in a long-winded company mission that you wouldn't be able to remember if someone asked you. At best, your mission will become your slogan.
Part 3 of 3: Conclude the Company Mission
Step 1. Involve the other members of the company as well
If there are employees, they should have their say about it. Make sure it accurately reflects the vision these people have of the company. If when you read it to your employees, they look at you perplexed, you are probably off track.
- That said, it's hard to write something, like a corporate mission, when too many people have their say. There is a need to change it completely, unless others think it is not well done or it is not sincere.
- Have someone re-read it to avoid grammatical or spelling errors.
Step 2. See what it feels like
Publish it on your website, print it on brochures, and find other ways to share it with interested parties. What reactions does it provoke? If you believe you have good feedback, your mission serves its purpose. If, on the other hand, people seem confused, it's time to review it.
A corporate mission should lead people to ask themselves questions; it should intrigue them and inspire them to learn more
Step 3. If necessary, update it
As your company evolves, so must the corporate mission. Avoid in all ways that it may seem dated or that there is information that is no longer relevant to the current situation. You should review it at least once a year; you don't have to start from scratch, but it's a good idea to evaluate if it still expresses the heart and soul of the company.
Advice
- A school, a church, a non-profit organization or a foundation needs a clear and effective Mission as much as a commercial enterprise.
- Make sure you believe in your own Mission. Otherwise your colleagues and your customers will immediately perceive it.
- Look at other companies for inspiration but be careful not to copy - the Mission should be about your company, not someone else's.
- Everyone involved in the organization should have the opportunity to make a contribution to the corporate mission.
Warnings
- Don't be passive like "horse-drawn carriages" that went bankrupt for failing to adapt to rapid and sustained change - not having taken advantage of the new opportunities given by "horse-less carriages" to move towards a new purpose, a new vision and mission.
- Make sure the Mission is not limited or too extensive in what it represents. It should be realistic but motivating, being at the forefront of the vision of tomorrow.
- Try not to say the obvious or brag about how big your company is.
