Define your mission
March 2024
Having a team mission is super important because it gives everyone a common goal to work towards. It’s like having a team purpose that makes everyone on the team excited and motivated. This shared mission helps everyone make decisions together and work better as a team. It also makes the team a happy and positive place to be, boosting everyone’s mood.
Having a clear team mission is like having a cool and exciting roadmap that guides the whole team in the right direction.
With that in mind, let’s get on with it!
Why is this important?
Not having a team mission can be a bit like wandering without a clear destination. Without a common goal, everyone might be doing their own thing, and it can get confusing. People might not be on the same page, and it can be hard to make decisions together.
This lack of direction usually leads to confusion, lower motivation, and a not-so-happy team atmosphere.
A team mission is like a compass that points everyone in the same direction, and without it, things might feel a bit lost or scattered
How do you create discover your team mission?
Creating a team mission involves both making it up and discovering it.
At first, the team talks and decides what their mission should be, thinking about their values and goals. But sometimes, the best mission comes from understanding who the team really is and what they want to achieve. This understanding comes from looking at how the team works together and what they’ve done in the past.
A team is formed of many different people, and everyone can and will bring something different to the discussion. That’s why it’s important to synthesise initial ideas into simple sentences. That way, you are able to remember the mission clearly. But, how do you go from a general idea with multiple point of views to a small sentence?
Synthesise
There is an exercise from frog that can help with creating those sentences. The idea is to work in time boxed periods to reduce and refine your mission step by step. It goes like this:
Start reducing the mission in 16 words during 16 minutes. The template goes like this:
Our mission is to ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ (6 words)
in order to ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ (6 words)
for ____ ____ ____ ____ (4 words)
Discuss between the team if everyone agrees on the result or if something is missing. When everyone is happy, move to the next step.
Reduce the mission to 8 words in 8 minutes. The template goes like this:
Our mission is to ____ ____ ____ (3 words)
in order to ____ ____ ____ (3 words)
for ____ ____ (2 words)
Repeat the discussion and get to the final part, four words in four minutes (I sometimes allow five or six words):
____ ____ ____ ____ (4 words)
In less than one hour, you create a simple mission that reflects your team ideas and goals. Some example of possible results:
Our mission is to PROVIDE CLEAR, SMOOTH, AND USEFUL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
in order to HELP EVERYONE SUCCEED IN THEIR WORK
for EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CUSTOMERS
Our mission is to CREATE GREAT EXPERIENCES
in order to HELP EVERYONE SUCCEED
for ALL CUSTOMERS
EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS THROUGH EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES
or
Our mission is to ACCOMMODATE ANY CUSTOMER MODEL THE COMPANY OPERATES ON
in order to INCREASE THE GLOBAL MARKET OF OPERATIONS
for THE BUSINESS
Our mission is to PROVIDE FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS
in order to OPERATE GLOBALLY
for ANYONE, ANYWHERE
BUILD FLEXIBLE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS
Keep in mind that the mission objective is to keep your team aligned, so the simpler your mission is the better.
That’s all!