Why you need a clear vision, mission and values

What comes first?

First things first, in what order do you write them? Setting the order requires an understanding of their purpose.

1. A vision statement outlines the future of your business – essentially, where it’s going and what it wants to achieve and contribute.
2. A mission statement describes what your business will do to achieve that vision.
3. Core values define how you will behave during that process.

Essentially, your vision provides direction, your mission creates focus, and your values define behaviour.

1. Gather management, staff, shareholders and external business advisors together for a business vision workshop.
2. Start by considering your overarching purpose and why the business matters to staff and customers.
3. Identify your long-term goals and aspirations.
4. Summarise 2 and 3 into a clear and concise statement, written in plain English and easily interpreted by someone outside the business.
5. Implement your vision across the business by displaying it publicly, in staff common areas, your code of conduct and other key policy documents.
6. Review and update it on an ongoing basis.

1. Interview your team to answer key questions like what is our business? Who is our customer? How do we best serve them?
2. Hone in on the key ideas, focusing on words that inspire and excite you.
3. Use these words to form your mission statement, ensuring it is written clearly in present tense with a powerful and emotive tone.
4. Finalise the statement and incorporate it into key operational documents to ensure your everyday activities align to your business goals.
5. Review and update it on an ongoing basis.

1. Gather management, staff, shareholders and external business advisors together for a values creation workshop.
2. Seek inspiration from other companies you admire – identifying which values do and don’t resonate.
3. Reflect on the beliefs and principles that matter to your business. For SMEs, a company’s core values will often reflect the business owner’s personal values.
4. Together, brainstorm your business values across common categories like customer service, sustainability, social equity, teamwork and culture.
5. Review your list and prioritise the top 3 – 5, ensuring a good mix of principles, beliefs and standards of behaviour.
6. Translate your values into a set of actions, ensuring the values are easily understood and applied across your business.
7. Review and update your values on an ongoing basis.

• Irreverence - We take our business seriously but not ourselves. We respect our customers, our partners and each other.        
• Ownership - We take full responsibility for our business and treat it as our own.
• Egalitarianism - Everyone has the same opportunities, rights and privileges. Self important people don’t fit in. There is no “us and them”.