Creating missions and objectives

The mission and objectives of an organization are the touchstones around which everything else revolves.  Before we get into a discussion on creating missions and objectives, we must first differentiate between them.  The mission of an organization is its essence, its purpose - it's the core business of the organization.  The objectives are what is to be accomplished, the intent, the goals.  Think of objectives in terms of the objective lens in a microscope or telescope; it gathers light coming from the object being observed (the mission) and focuses the light to produce a real image (the goals). 

To begin, the mission needs to be defined by what success looks like.  Once success is defined and clear, it needs to be articulated so that there is no room for interpretation.  Let's use a military analogy as an example.  The mission of any nation's military is to win wars, that's what the organization is about, that is their core, their essence.  So a country's military mission may be to "defend the country from its enemies by fielding and maintaining a fighting force that will win all engagements, battles, and wars."  That's a solid mission with no ambiguity; one doesn't have to guess as to its meaning.  With the stated mission of the military force in place, the country will inevitably have multiple objectives on the world stage that further define the military's role under the auspice of its mission.  Here are examples of what a country may be trying to accomplish with its military force:

• Maintain a well trained army, air force, and navy that can project power on short notice.
• Defend allies and alliance partners against aggression by common enemies.
• Defend trade routes and commerce that are in the country's strategic interest.
• Use its infrastructure and logistics capability to offer humanitarian aid where needed.
• To follow the civilian government's commands and never act on its own authority.
• To affect foreign policy decisions through the threat of necessary and appropriate force.

The list could go on and on, but these are good examples of how a military's mission can be activated.  A business or non-profit organization can use the same methodology to define its mission and objectives.  Its mission may be to "make the best widgets in the marketplace and sell them at a price that is fair for the customer and profitable for the company."  It could accomplish this through various objectives:

• Recruit, train, and retain the most competent workforce in our industry.
• Offer widgets that are of higher quality and of better value than our competitors.
• Run the company openly and honestly with the highest degree of diligence possible.
• Use our resources effectively and always create value while eliminating waste.
• Treat our employees, customers, and partners with the utmost of respect.
• Be a good corporate citizen and neighbor, always giving back to the community that we serve.

And so on and so forth, you get the picture.  The objectives will become far more specific and detailed as they propagate down line through the organization into functional levels.  As long as each division's, group's, unit's, and team's goals and objectives are in concert with the organization's, there will be consistency in purpose.  One note, the objectives should use the old SMART principle (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely).  If the objective is too broad, there is room to misinterpret.  The objective must become part of the key performance indicators for the team, so it must be quantifiable in a way that makes sense.  An unobtainable objective is a disaster waiting to happen and will result in morale problems.  The objective must be relevant to the organization's objectives and the team's function.  The objective must also have a definitive time frame in which it's to be accomplished and it must sync with the organization's time frames.   

This exercise can be done from the bottom up if needed.  For example, a manager takes over a failing business unit that seems out of sorts and is not performing well.  The first task of the manager is to assess how the team matches up against the organization's mission and objectives.  If there is dissonance, it's probably due to misaligned goals and, subsequently, misaligned talent.  The manager can then sit with the team and realign team goals and objectives to fit the mission and objectives of the organization and the division or group that the unit is part of. 

An organization will shift focus from time to time to meet external demands, this is normal and necessary.  The mission and objectives need to shift also.  No organization can survive and thrive by blindly sticking to an outdated business model, to outdated products, to outdated processes, or to outdated resources.  It must continually evolve to stay competitive.  It can do this by maintaining a mission based on capability rather than circumstance.  Regardless of where the market takes the organization, it can stay current and competitive if its core mission is rooted in capability and competency.