How to define your company's Vision, Mission and Values

(so that they're really useful)

Companies need vision. And they need to be able to define their Vision, Mission and Values so that these elements work together. But simply put, this is something many companies (even international powerhouses) could do better. Part of the problem is that they don't know how to define each of these key words.

Are your company's Vision, Mission and Values separate in their definitions and roles? Do the Values conflict with each other? Does everybody in the company share and understand them? Eye for Image often offers guidance to companies who need to redefine their Vision, Mission and Values. Below is a taste of some of the advice we offer.

Vision
In almost any company, it is worthwhile for management (at the very least) to share a common picture of what is expected to happen in relevant markets over the next five to ten years. Once agreement has been reached on the broad trends and perspectives of interest, everyone can be on the same page - and better act as a coordinated team.

This is the stuff of a useful "Vision" for the company. Like the word itself, this is about seeing into the future. We suggest that your management team considers defining "Vision" to describe the battleground of the future. Communicating this Vision to employees and other audiences will help them to decide whether their efforts are correct given the road ahead.

Mission
Once this Vision has been agreed upon, it is time to define your company's role within the world of the future just described. In this world, there will be various companies performing different missions that enable them to operate profitably. For example, one might be the value provider (low cost/price). Another might be the provider of the widest range.

A "Mission", as the word itself denotes, can be compared to a combat mission - a specific task that a group of people set out to achieve.

Values
Exactly how you achieve your Mission can be divided into two major elements: values, which describe the underlying principles for your behaviour and should remain relatively unchanged; and strategies & tactics, which describe paths to take and which naturally change over relatively less time.

Values are a set of rules to live by, based on your beliefs about how a company like yours should be. If they are to guide your people in executing their tasks, then Values need to be very clear in their expression. Words such as "high quality" or "best possible" are not particularly useful because everyone defines quality in a slightly different manner.

At the same time, your Values should not conflict with each other. What sort of Values should you choose?

 

Human	Machine
Passion	Attention to detail
Creativity	Hard on facts
Honesty	Accountable
Learning culture	Highest standards
Risk-taking	Efficiency

It is worth asking whether you can or should encourage such a mixed set of Values if you want to be successful...

"If you try to be something to everyone, then you are nothing to anyone"

Excellent performance is usually the case when a person or company or brand has a specific personality. Great opera singers are often difficult to work with. Great artists may never turn up on time. Great sportspeople may not be able to write without grammatical errors. Your company should, at the very least, have a personality/set of values that hangs together and that is custom-tailored to your Mission.

Vision, Mission and Values in action
Do your Vision, Mission and Values reach your employees? Ask yourself this...

• Can all your employees use the Vision to work out what directions they should take when trying to come up with new ideas that your customers will love?
• Are they able to consult the Mission to figure out which of the ideas fit with your company's market role/positioning?
• And are they able to refer to the Values for input - on quality, price level or thoroughness of market research - before a decision to go ahead can be taken?

Next step?
If you would like help with this process and its elements, as described above, please contact Eye for Image to schedule a meeting. We would be happy to provide guidance for writing or reworking your company's Vision, Mission or Values.