To compose or edit
a mission statement:
[Note: Function is available only to unit’s formal leader. The counter indicates number of characters entered; 2000 is the maximum allowed.]
To post a comment
about a
More about “mission
statements”:
Effective organizational planning rests on good "mission statements" as a foundation. A good statement focuses attention, challenges attitudes, introduces alternatives, and addresses existential issues. It captures the attention of stakeholders (common crisis, threat, opportunity), unfreezes attitudes and behavior patterns (creating cognitive dissonance), introduces or fosters change patterns (by introducing benchmarking and other comparisons), and refreezes new attitudes, behavior patterns (reinforcement theory). The entire organization needs a mission statement; each distinct unit within the organization needs its own congruent mission statement—both to satisfy SACS criteria and to enable effective management of the organization.
A mission statement is "...an enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes one business [or unit] from other similar firms [or units]."[1] Most importantly, a mission statement should include language to help discriminate the work of one unit from another. It should show how a unit is distinctive; what advantages it offers to clients in contrast to services offered by competitors. In short, how is this unit different from others with which it competes and better for clients? (The mission statement should be reflected directly and fully by specific functional tasks listed in the “Functional Task” window of the Strategic Planner.)
Three common mistakes in crafting mission statements are:
1.
2. Boundry Hopping: statement avoids identifying firm boundaries around units’ legitimate functions, claiming to do work really belonging to other units within the parent organization.
3. Functional Fallacy: statement contains barrage of fine, feel-good jargon bearing no particular relationship to the actual functions performed by the unit. (Reading the statement does not lead to understanding what unit really does.)
Without a stated mission widely understood, forces of fate subject units to drift and erosion of purpose—eventually warping the overall institution. Units limp along and conflict with one another, attempting to do and be everything for everyone, with no limits, no parameters, and no focus of attention. Lacking focus, energies are dissipated over more functions than can be adequately served. Operating with finite resources, units drift to support an unrealistic number of functions--each laboring and anguishing under a starvation diet. In time, lack of a focused purpose and the collapsed consensus kills all pretense of excellence. Excellence itself can survive only in a unit committed to a strong, focused, and well stated purpose.
Good mission statements improve a unit’s:[2]
1. sense of purpose
2. communication
3. decision-making
4. resource allocation
5. evaluation
6. marketing
What resources does a "mission statement" shape? Just about everything! It will affect who gets to use the university's stuff to do which activities and for what purpose? Understanding of community needs, environmental threats, situational opportunities, strategic planning--all are determined in the shadow of a sound mission statement. Eventually the budget, space, staff, time, students, curriculum, pedagogy -- every component of the organization -- will all be affected and determined by the mission statement.
Five Tests of a great mission statement:
1. Written with less than 100 sharply focused words (so everyone knows it--clearly). The Tests: Can stakeholders selected at random across campus recite a unit’s mission statement on request? Are the recitations fully congruent?
2. Describes the specific major functions a unit does (identifies, therefore, a distinctive core competency in your unit different from every other unit on campus) The Test: Is it clear what functions your unit does and does not do or provide? (If you cannot satisfy this test, maybe your unit does not need to exist.)
3. Identifies for whom these functions are done (specify a specific market or beneficiary of your work). The Test: Exactly which clients does your unit serve and not serve and why? Who exactly benefits directly from your work? Do stakeholders in the University generally understand, agree to, and expect this service from your unit?
a. How does the unit fill the functions better than others? (competitive advantage)
b. Why does the unit exists? (an existential issue)
To craft your mission statement, use precise, exact statements of measurable activity! Avoid vague generalities and the un-measurable. Address functional benefits to users or stakeholders rather than descriptive attributes of the unit itself. Think about the organization from the perspective of its primary beneficiaries who have alternatives available, rather than an insider with a vested interest in the unit.
Who should develop the statement? The statement you develop likely will depend on how it is developed. Characteristics of the social groups framing the mission statement may be critical. In crafting mission statements, many approaches have been used. For example:
1. Administrative Mandates: Leaders (or owners) tell the unit what its mission is.
Advantages: Efficient, focused, fast
Disadvantages: May foster rebellion &/or passive resistance; may not
be believed
2. Task Force: A small group with a formal mandate is appointed to study the context, develop a mission for the whole, and check with & spread it to others.
Advantages: Efficient; focused, relatively fast; strong chance of
creativity and innovation
Disadvantages: Lacks grass-roots commitment; may be superficial
& imperialistic when rushed.
3. Stakeholder Groups: A larger "Noah's Arc" committee including all vested interests (employees + beneficiaries + outside colleagues) is identified to mold a consensus about organization's mission.
Advantages: Widely inclusive; strongly legitimating; high credibility
Disadvantages: Functionally fragmented; limited perspective lacks
production focus; members not work-related; may be self-serving or
turf-protecting; unlikely to sponsor change or innovation
4. Production Unit Groups: Folks working together in an organizational unit are charged to determine the mission of their own work
Advantages: Fosters work-related consensus among insiders, strong
task commitment possible
Disadvantages: Time consuming; less innovative; producer perspective
limits client focus; omits key stakeholders; maybe self-serving or
turf-protecting
5. Survey Technique: A survey is developed & administered to interested persons; results used to determine current state of mission
Advantages: Widely inclusive; objective; fosters analytical rigor;
source of great reports or publications
Disadvantages: Mechanical; neither consensus nor commitment is formed
among stakeholders; unlikely to lead to change or innovation; more difficult to
exert leadership or influence outcome
6.
Advantages: Widely inclusive; analytical rigor; develops consensus;
can influence change and innovation
Disadvantages: Mechanical, slow, redundant; drains energy; commitment
may not be fostered
So, who might participate in crafting a unit’s mission statement, besides the obvious leader and/or employees of the unit? Consider including each of the following other stakeholder groups:
1. Service recipients-- Current & past students
2. Student services providers-- Enrollment mgmt., basic skills staff
3. Resource providers-- Business / personnel staff, vendors
4. Facility maintainers- -Computer service / custodial/ maintenance / safety
staff
5. Student supporters- -Housing / counseling / health/ bookstore staff
6. External university advocates- -Employers, churches, politicians. civic
leaders
Ultimately, based on the mission statement alone, what place would you expect the unit to hold in the popular mind of a reader with no other information about the unit?
A unit’s mission statement may be either typed or copied and pasted into the window opening under the “mission statement” button on the main menu of the Strategic Planner. Once entered, the “update mission statement” button must be pressed to save the statement in the database. It is important that the unit leader’s supervisor signal approval of the final wording of the mission statement by leaving an appropriate comment on the comment window. In the event that the supervisor does not approve the mission statement, it must be re-crafted until approval can be secured and evidence of the approval recorded in the “comments data file.” Other interested stakeholders may leave comments as well.