Do your research first
Sanderson’s decision to nix the old mission statement didn’t happen overnight. He was at Transplace for approximately two-and-a-half years before he decided it was in need of an overhaul.
Similarly, he says you shouldn’t rush to make revisions. Before you
even begin to brainstorm, you should engage in a few exercises to
help determine whether or not your mission statement is in need of
a tune-up.
First, Sanderson says to put it through the laugh test: “If you read
it, do you start laughing? Do you say, ‘That’s not our company?
What does that even mean?’”
Though Transplace’s old statement still makes him chuckle to
this day, Sanderson isn’t suggesting an ill-fitting declaration should
have you doubled over in laughter. Rather, is your mission statement so misguided that you shake your head incredulously every
time you read it?
For a more objective exercise, Sanderson says you can review
four key questions every mission statement should answer: Who are we? What do we do? For whom do we do it? Why do we do it?
“If you look at your mission statement in that context and it does-n’t lend any insight into those questions, then that’s a pretty good
indication that you need to rework it,” he says.
But just because you need to rework it doesn’t mean you should
immediately begin to do so. Sanderson says you should do a little
research first.
“The first thing is probably to read a couple of articles on different perspectives,” he says. “Get some different perspectives on
what makes a good mission statement and what’s a bad one.”
Consult examples in the process. Sanderson says a simple Google
search will give you plenty of statements from companies both inside
and outside of your industry. Seeing the final products of your competitors can prove especially useful. Use them as a point of comparison to differentiate your mission for potential customers.
Looking at those examples will also help you gauge an appropriate length. The last thing you want is to overwhelm constituents
with a novella. A good mission statement should be short enough
to remember but long enough to answer those four key questions.
“You can have a full-page or three-paragraph mission statement
that tries to get to many of the fine points of all the type of services that you offer,” he says. “Try to keep it short enough that it will
resonate with people, and they’ll remember it and the key aspects
of it. If you write too much, you risk having people pick up on the
wrong pieces of it as being the most important elements.”