Mission & Vision Statement Criterion and Comparison

Analysis into the mission and vision statements is critical due to the significant impact they may have on the strategic planning process.

They provide direction and the means to reach the business’ long term goals. It’s important to know the critical criteria for each statement to best develop them to achieve success. I’ve determined Expressive, Concise, Possible, Inspirational and Memorable criteria aid in the best possible mission statement. Meanwhile Descriptive, Daring, Purposeful, Inspirational and Memorable will formulate the most effective vision statement.It’s noteworthy to understand the similarities and differences of these two statements to prevent confusing them with each other thereby ensuring the most effective mission and vision statement. Mission & Vision Statement Criteria and Comparison A business’ mission and vision statement is at the very foundation of their strategic planning process.

Strategic planning identifies where the business wants to be at some point in the future and how it is going to get there (McNamara, 2009). The mission and vision statement provide a written compass to the roadmap for the strategic plan.Putting down in as few selective words as possible while still encompassing the essence of the business communicates to both the target market and employees what the business is about and how it’s getting there. Therefore, it’s imperative to understand how to write an effective statement.

Each has their own unique purpose but work in concert with each other. Jennell Evans, President and CEO of a workplace performance improvement firm named Strategic Interactions Inc. , has reported she has found the two statements mistaken for each other and/or they were very uninspiring, confusing and forgettable (Evans, 2010).Ms.

Evans continues to say mission and vision statements should be clear and deliberately written because they are fundamental and valuable for any organization to have a strategic plan as a roadmap for success. It is important to develop a plan around a clearly defined and well written vision and mission because both serve important, yet different roles as core elements of a strategic plan. Mission Statement A mission statement defines the purpose of an organization or the present state.It explains what a business does, who the target market is and how it accomplishes this (Evans, 2010). A clearly defined mission statement also helps employees understand company-wide decisions, organizational changes and resource allocation, thereby lessening resistance and workplace conflicts.

There are varying opinions and ideas of what criteria and approach make up the best mission statement. Entrepreneur online recommends answering a variety of questions about your business coupled with specific guidelines to formulate an effective mission statement (Entrepreneur, 2003).Another more traditional approach is to use specific criteria to formulate the statement such as Informative, Simple, Memorable, Achievable and Employee Bu-In as published in an article on Chron’s website (Smith, ND). I prefer the latter since it allows the creator to formulate a wider range of questions during the process. Whichever approach and criteria used; mission statements ultimately communicate the purpose of the organization.

I’ve selected Expressive, Concise, Possible, Inspirational and Memorable as the criteria I think yields the best mission statement.Expressive: A mission statement should clearly communicate the overall goal of the business. It should answer the What, Who and How questions pertaining to its purpose. A “telling” mission statement is especially critical for unique businesses where the purpose is not readily apparent.

After reading a mission statement, the reader should not have any questions or doubt about the purpose of a business. -Concise: A mission statement should provide a lot of information clearly in as few words as possible. It should be direct, to the point and carefully worded to convey its communication effectively.It should be simple and to the point since too much detail may dilute the overall meaning. Effectively choosing the right words and constructing the flow of ideas in the right sequence will lead to an effective statement about the business’ present state. -Possible: A mission statement should be achievable without neglecting the challenge of setting high aspirations.

This requires a careful balance of the present purpose of the business and striving towards a future end state or goal. A business must not be consumed with the present at the expense of the future.Ultimately to meet a long term goal or vision, the mission statement must incorporate the steps that will lead the business down the future’s path. -Inspirational: A mission statement should inspire its target market and employees alike. It should contain a message that encourages consumer/client participation and employee buy-in simultaneously.

The statement should garner support far and wide to ensure both present and future success. -Memorable: A mission statement should encapsulate the prior four criteria leading to a communication that is the very essence of the business, easily recalled and thought provoking.Then it will influence the target market and become a motivational factor for employees. If a mission statement is memorable it will become synonymous with the business itself. These five criteria will aid in creating a mission statement that is the foundation of an effective business strategic plan. The resultant mission statement will work in concert with the business’ vision statement to produce the direction and tools to achieve its long term goals.

Vision Statement A vision statement defines an optimal future state a business want so achieve over time.It provides guidance and inspiration as to what an organization is focused on achieving in five, ten, or more years. The vision statement functions as the "north star"; it is what all employees understand their work every day ultimately contributes towards accomplishing over the long term (Evans, 2010). It is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that makes it easy for all employees to repeat it at any given time. An effective vision statement answers the question of where the business will be down the road.I think the necessary criteria for an effective vision statement are Descriptive, Daring, Purposeful, Inspirational and Memorable.

-Descriptive: A vision statement must be a single sentence or phrase that is simple, short, clear and easy to understand. It must remove any doubt about where the business is to reach in a specified time frame such as 5, 10, 15 years… as decided. The prediction where it will go in the future must be clear and depend on the fact. -Daring: A vision statement should show a willingness to take risk in determining where to go in the future (Aun, 2010).It must be forward looking and forward thinking in terms of a desired end state that albeit achievable is equivalent of crossing the finish line at the end of a marathon.

It should challenge the business to aspire to something greater. -Purposeful: A vision statement should show determination or resolve in achieving its goal. It should be deliberately worded in a way that envisions employees as building blocks of the organization rather than laying stones. It should also be deliberately written in such a way that every employee in the business can imagine the way points along a timeline necessary to reach the end state.

Inspirational: A vision statement should inspire. It should contain a message that encourages participation and makes personnel want to contribute to reaching the goal. The statement should garner support far and wide to ensure success. -Memorable: A vision statement, similar to the mission statement, should encapsulate the prior four criteria leading to a communication that is the very essence of the business, easily recalled and thought provoking. If it is memorable it will become synonymous with the business itself and motivate the employees in achieving a greater aspiration.These five criteria will aid in creating an effective vision statement.

A vision statement that will provide the end state for the mission statement to work towards and together they will define a business’ strategic planning process direction. Comparison Mission and vision statements share some commonalities but are also separate and distinct from each other. Both vision and mission statement are market oriented and they focus on customer satisfaction as well as the organizational competitive advantage.In addition, criteria for both mission and vision statements put emphasis on employee motivation for effective productivity and competitiveness within market place (Write Academic, 2012). Inversely, criteria for a good mission statement focus on addressing the present needs of a business. On the other hand, a vision statement focuses on where the organization should be in future in order to guide management in making decisions that lead towards implementation of business future objectives.

Additionally, a good mission statement is based on present company’s competitive advantage, unique skills and resources while a good vision statement aims at provoking excitement and emotions in employees to create enthusiasm and challenge employees to creatively engage in organizational development. In light of these commonalities and despite these differences, both work in concert together to be the foundation of the strategic planning process. Conclusion Mission and vision statements provide the strategic planning process its future direction and the present means to achieve success.Considering the significant impact they play, it’s crucial to define each and identify the important criteria before developing each statement. The mission statement focuses on present state of the business while the vision statement acts as the “north star” guiding management decisions.

In this way, the mission statement is the mechanism used to reach the vision statement. Ultimately these statements provide direction and the means to reach a business’ future goals.