Most organizations have documented mission and vision statements – and for good reason. Mission statements, in particular, describe the organization’s purpose through well-defined goals and values. Want to take it a step further? Encourage each department to create a team mission statement and align everyone around a unified purpose and direction.
Mission statements require careful, thoughtful consideration. A team mission statement sets the agenda, functioning as a north star, a guiding light directing each team member toward a common goal.
Author and businessman Stephen Covey said it best:
A mission statement is not something you write overnight. But fundamentally, your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values.
Well-constructed mission statements assist teams when:
- Setting agendas
- Building forecasts
- Collaborations
- Project management
- Reporting
- Assigning new responsibilities
What goes into creating a mission statement? How do you create a team mission statement? And what are some mission statement examples you can use as inspiration? Read on or jump to the most appealing section to find out:
- What is a Mission Statement
- Difference Between Mission, Vision, Goals and Values
- How a Mission Statement Works
- Advantages of a Mission Statement
- What is a Good Vision Statement
- How to Write a Good Mission Statement
- Mission Statement Examples
What Is a Mission Statement?
A corporate mission statement is a brief description that summarizes the purpose of the company’s existence. It alludes to the company’s corporate culture, defining shared goals and values that drive companies to achieve growth.
A team mission statement is very similar. However, unlike the corporate mission statement, a team mission statement defines the team’s purpose with more narrowed goals and values.
Your team leader, director, or VP may seek input from each team member to create the team mission statement. Collaborative construction of the team mission statement ensures every team member agrees with the purpose, the shared values, and the general vision the team defines on a path to success.
Difference Between Mission, Vision, Goals, and Values.
Your corporate or team mission statement isn’t the only method to instill structure in your organization. There are also vision statements, goals for the organization, and the values each team will embody while conducting business.
These terms are often used interchangeably, but their meanings differ. Make sure that your team defines each of these terms in concise statements. You want to create clarity and consistency across the organization.
- A mission statement defines the team or company’s purpose. The mission statement is a brief synopsis describing what your team will collectively work to accomplish. Team members may refer to their mission statements if or when they’re uncertain about newly assigned tasks. The mission statement helps team members realign themselves around the team’s core purpose.
- A vision statement is an aspirational future a company or team strives to achieve. Unlike a mission statement, which embodies how teams conduct themselves, the vision statement describes an idyllic outcome. Vision statements should tap into shared emotional desires among team members. If everything proceeds perfectly, your vision statement could become a reality.
- Goals are long-term outcomes your team aspires to achieve. Unlike mission or vision statements, goals describe very tangible desires. Common examples are profitability, brand awareness, exceptional customer service, employee satisfaction, or market share. Defining your team goals creates alignment around shared desires that you can use as milestones to flourish.
- Values are a series of shared guiding principles or fundamental beliefs. Shared values help each team member complete their work ethically and responsibly to achieve team goals. Examples include integrity, accountability, perseverance, compassion, and discipline. Values help define corporate culture, assisting hiring managers with talent recruitment and allowing managers to promote team members who best embody the shared cultural values.
How a Mission Statement Works.
The purpose of a mission statement is to create focus and structure within a team. Mission statement examples encompass the corporate vision, goals, and values. Team members refer back to the mission statements for clarity as they work to improve productivity or efficiency.
The mission statement applies to all corporate stakeholders regardless of their titles or roles. Therefore, think of the mission statement as a rule book to which all members of the organization are accountable, such as:
- Employees
- Managers/Directors
- C-suite executives
- Shareholders
- Suppliers
- Distributors
- And even customers
The mission statement defines what the team does, how the work gets done and, most importantly, why. This is key to creating an organizational structure. Structure and organization allow teams to execute tasks with precision and efficiency in pursuit of shared goals.
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Project management and documentation help you communicate clear, structured, and accessible tasks to all team members. Transparent guidelines enable every team member to effectively and efficiently contribute to the team’s pursuit of the shared mission, vision, goals, and values.
You can use project and task management tools to create working processes that make collaborative teamwork a success. Learn more about how to get collaborative teamwork right so that you can achieve the goals of your mission.
Advantages of a Mission Statement.
A team mission statement benefits organizations in several ways. Here are some of the most prominent advantages of a mission statement.
- Hiring managers hire the best talent whose values align with those of the team. A clearly defined mission statement articulates the desired values in new recruits. As a result, the best hires get made, improving team productivity while reducing turnover rates.
- All team members align around one shared direction. Mission statements provide a documented summary of the team’s purpose. A collective goal creates alignment as each team member agrees to work together.
- Team members refer to mission statements to realign themselves. Sometimes, stress causes team members to lose focus or question their roles. During these times of crisis, team members can refer back to the mission statement and realign themselves with the shared team mission and values.
- Mission statements set performance standards for all team members. As organizations work to achieve their goals, all team members must perform at a certain level of excellence. Mission statements help every team member understand what’s expected of them so they can excel in their role.
What Is a Good Vision Statement?
Creating a viable team mission statement requires alignment with the company vision statement. Whereas a mission statement is more detailed, reflecting the shared goals and values of the organization, a vision statement is more concise.
Mind mapping exercises help jumpstart and organize creative thinking. Use MindMeister to build a collaborative vision statement workflow and document your efforts with MeisterTask.
Begin by listing out several ideas of what your organization wants to achieve. Trim down those concepts into one or two key objectives that best represent your organizational desire to make a difference. Keep your vision statement clear and easy to understand so that everyone on the team knows how best to fulfill their purpose.
Document your mission and vision with MeisterTask’s Vision and Mission Note Template. All you need to do is fill in the template and invite team members to make their contributions. It’s easy to share, structure, and finalize!
How To Write a Good Mission Statement
Every company and every team is unique. There’s no single cookie-cutter way to craft a mission statement in a diverse global landscape.
However, a handful of underlying principles help answer how to create a mission statement. Follow these five concepts to help write an effective mission statement for your team.
- Provide clarity on your team’s purpose. Internal and external stakeholders must understand what your team does before they can trust you will provide real value. Your mission statement should explain to people outside your team the value of your service or contributions.
- Describe your shared team values. Values represent your promise to uphold a certain standard of care while delivering your service. People who connect with your values form an emotional bond with your team, brand, or services. Your mission statement should allude to your team values so that those emotional bonds can develop.
- Connect your team’s purpose to your core values. People won’t form those emotional bonds without help. You must show how your services will improve their livelihoods and fulfill those expectations. As a result, your mission statement must explain how you’ll realize your purpose while staying true to your values.
- Make it clear who you’re servicing and why. Mission statements should be clear, concise, and transparent. You need to convey in a few short sentences what you’re offering to do, who your service will benefit, and why it ultimately matters. Follow that structure while writing your mission statement to be as clear and concise as possible.
- Keep your mission statement free of fluff. Remember that your mission statement summarizes your team’s purpose. Keep hyperbolic language out of the mission statement so that it professionally summarizes your purpose.
Improve your mission statement creative process with task and project management software. Add MeisterTask to your mission statement workflow today.
15 of the Best Mission Statement Examples.
Now that you understand the purpose of a mission statement and how to distinguish a mission from a vision, goals, and values. It’s time to create your team’s mission statement.
What are some mission statement examples to use as inspiration? These are 15 of the most prominent mission statements from leading global brands to help you get started.
1. Life is Good: To Spread the Power of Optimism
There are thousands of t-shirt companies, but Life is Good has distinguished its products with a compelling mission statement. Their mission is to help people feel more optimistic whenever they read one of their t-shirt’s funny or uplifting slogans.
Examples of their t-shirt slogans include “Seas the Day” or “Forecast: Mostly Sunny.” You can’t help but smile and feel more positive when you see one of their uplifting shirts.
2. Patagonia: Use Business to Protect Nature
Patagonia’s mission is to give back to the environment. Their founders believe in creating environmentally sustainable products that can last a lifetime and be recycled. It reduces ecological footprints by conserving the planet’s limited resources.
Patagonia believes so passionately in their values that it donates a percentage of its sales to global environmental causes. If your team is passionate about giving back, use Patagonia as an example to create a mission statement that makes a difference.
3. American Express: Become Essential to Our Customers
American Express prides itself on its customer service. Therefore, promoting their service as essential for their customers is an excellent mission statement.
The mission statement extends to the values of teamwork and celebrating employee excellence. Empowering employees to feel good about their contributions directly feeds into the quality of service delivered to customers.
4. Warby Parker: Impact the World with Vision, Purpose, and Style
Some mission statements use precise language to communicate their values. Warby Parker is a perfect example of a brand that conveys its vision and goals as a business.
The more detailed parts of their mission statement allude to their innovative business model. If your team’s goal centers around innovation, Warby Parker shows how to craft an innovative mission statement.
5. Honest Tea: Promote Great-Tasting, Healthy, Organic Beverages
Health-conscious brands are very upfront about the quality of their products and the purity of their ingredients. The name Honest Tea summarizes the company, and its mission statement reinforces a commitment to provide healthy organic products that taste amazing.
Modern consumers seek out brands that prioritize organic natural ingredients over artificially enhanced products. If your team delivers a similar type of service, use Honest Tea’s mission statement as a template to transcribe your purpose.
6. IKEA: To Offer Functional, Low-Cost Furnishing Products
IKEA’s leaders dream big, and that dream is to make fashionable home furnishing products that are affordable for everyday consumers. It’s hard to find fault in a mission statement that places the needs of its customers above anything else.
IKEA includes the phrase “as many people as possible” in their mission statement. A simple statement makes all the difference by conveying that they are a global brand that wants to help everyone it can reach.
7. Nordstrom: Offering Customers The Very Best
Nordstrom aspires to create the best customer shopping experience possible. Their mission statement alludes to the quality, value, and selection of their products, but it’s the commitment to their customers that shines through all their positioning strategies.
Exceptional customer service is what any Nordstrom shopper can expect upon walking into one of their stores. The company prides itself on hiring customer-first associates who are always happy to lend a helping hand.
8. Cradles to Crayons: Providing Children With Essential Items
Cradles to Crayons helps children from impoverished backgrounds acquire resources so they can thrive. Their more detailed mission statement includes the terms “provides,” “low-income,” “with essential items,” “to thrive,” “at home, at school, or play.”
It’s apparent who Cradles to Crayons services, why they provide their support, and how it ultimately helps children in need. It’s a prime example of “the rule of 3,” showcasing why families should turn to their organization when in need.
9. JetBlue: To Inspire Humanity — In the Air and On the Ground
An airline helps people soar the skies and travel to exotic destinations. Therefore, a mission statement that celebrates inspiring journeys helps JetBlue form a special connection with its customers.
JetBlue lives up to its mission through colorful marketing campaigns and partnerships with charitable organizations. Their mission is to serve as an inspiration for humanity, and the fulfillment of that purpose strongly resonates with global travelers.
10. Workday: Our Core Values Drive Everything We Do
Sometimes, a mission statement is very transparent in promoting corporate values. Workday is a prime example of this approach, and its mission statement lists all the cultural values it embodies as a business.
Their values include employee recognition, customer service, innovation, integrity, fun, and profitability. When people see the Workday brand, they immediately know what to expect.
11. Tesla: Accelerating The World’s Transition to Sustainable Energy
Electric cars are an innovative solution to greenhouse gas emission challenges. Tesla is at the forefront of this shift to more sustainable vehicles, and their mission statement reflects its leadership in this transition.
Including the phrase “sustainable energy” in their mission statement describes how their mission goes above and beyond the automotive industry. Tesla strives to make sustainable energy products more appealing and more accessible.
12. Invisible Children: Local Peacekeeping, End Violent Conflict
Some mission statements spell out their end goal so that there’s no mistaking the organization’s purpose. Invisible Children makes it clear that they strive to end the conflict in central Africa that disrupts the lives of millions of innocent children.
They may be a non-profit, but Invisible Children’s mission goes above and beyond the need for corporate profitability. They collaborate with peacekeepers who want to help families live free and fulfilling lives. There’s no greater mission than one that seeks to help others in need.
13. TED: Spread Ideas, Foster Community, Create Impact
TED stands for “Technology Education and Design.” Using the simple acronym, TED uses its platform to educate audiences and help people live more enriching lives.
Knowledge is one of the most valuable commodities, and TED aspires to share knowledge with as many people as possible. Their mission revolves around the idea of spreading knowledge and empowering communities so that positive impacts are achievable.
14. Microsoft: Empower Every Person to Achieve More
Microsoft has been one of the most globally recognized brands for generations. It creates products that individuals and organizations use for creative or business purposes.
People have used Microsoft products to achieve desired results for years. Therefore, their mission statement celebrates the achievement of those results.
15. Disney: Entertain and Inspire Through Unparalleled Storytelling
Disney is one of the most celebrated entertainment companies on the planet. Their mission is to deliver exceptional entertainment experiences through the power of remarkable storytelling.
When people think of the Disney brand, they think of entertainment, education, and excitement. People feel inspired by the power of Disney, and it’s no secret that the corporate mission statement represents their desire to deliver just that.
FAQs
How Long Should a Mission Statement Be?
A good mission statement is clear and concise. It can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a paragraph. Generally speaking, your mission statement should range between one to three sentences.
What Are the 3 Parts of a Mission Statement?
A mission statement should communicate what your team does, what values you represent, and how you will work to achieve them. Your mission statement should convey to internal or external stakeholders what they can expect from your team. Clear expectations allow stakeholders to evaluate how you fulfill your mission so they can form emotional bonds with your business.
How Do You Write a Powerful Mission Statement?
Impactful mission statements express the business value, an aspirational vision, a plausible mission fulfillment plan, and specific milestones for success. Powerful mission statements provide crystal clear clarity about what to expect from your team’s performance.