A wisely crafted vision statement can help transfer
the company’s goals to employees and management in a single sentence or a
couple of lines. It’s a tool that helps inspire strategic decision making and
product development for upcoming years. It should be the framework for the strategic planning of a company.
Vision statements are aspirational; they outline
the most important goals for a company, though in general they don’t sketch a
plan to accomplish those goals. They allow employees to develop business
strategies to attain the identified goals. It describes what a company is aiming
to build and works as a benchmark for your future actions.
A vision statement needs to expound where the
company wants to be in the close future, it may also have some excitement and
motivation to it. Vision statements are future-based and are intended to stimulate
and give direction to the employees of the company, rather than to customers.
The vision statement should answer the question “Where do I see my business
going?”
A vision should be a blend of both aspirational
and concrete goals. While the mission helps to clarify the “what” and “who” of
a company, a vision adds the “why” and “how”.
It’s key to identify some core values that have
been brought to the organization and then ask “What are we doing that aligns
with these values? Where are we not aligned with these values as we grow over
the next 5/10 years?” Founded on the answers, ask what success will look like
if you accomplish those things, this answer should shape your vision statement.
Another tactic when designing a vision
statement is to envision that the company will be appearing in a magazine in 5
or 10 years. A short article should be drafted out describing the business in
this expected future. What has been its biggest triumph? How many employees
does it have? How does this company compare to its competitors?
Vision statements should expanse the
imagination while providing direction and clarity. A good vision statement
should set priorities while stimulating employees to grow. It should be
compelling not just to the high-level execs of your company, but to all
employees.
When
writing a vision statement, your mission statement and your core competencies can be a valuable starting point for
articulating your values.
A ‘golden rule’ when crafting the vision
statement: It should require effort to create, but should not require effort to
understand. According to Forbes,
some questions to help create your company’s vision statement would be:
- Does it describe what the company does? It shouldn’t, instead describe the resultant outcome.
- Has it gone beyond simple? If so, re-write. Keep it simple.
- Is it easy to recite/explain? The least complicated the best.
- Did you sleep on it? If you think you’ve got the vision statement aright away, stop and re-think about it.
Some examples of vision statements would be:
· Instagram
“Capture and Share the World’s Moments”
·
Linkedin
“To connect the world’s professionals and make them more productive and
successful.”
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