How to write a mission statement

1. List the organisation's core competencies;

its unique strengths and weaknesses.

2. List the organisation's primary customers,

internal or external, by type, not by name.

3. Review how each customer relates to

each of the organisation's strengths. Ask

them if possible.

4. Write a one-sentence description of each

customer/strength pairing.

5. Combine any that are essentially the

same.

6. List the sentences in order of importance

to the organisation's vision, if one exists.

7. Combine the top three to five sentences

into a paragraph.

8. Ask your customers if they would want to

do business with an organisation with that

mission.

9. Ask your employees if they understand

and support it and can act on it.

10. Ask your suppliers if it makes sense to

them.

11. Incorporate the feedback from customers,

employees and suppliers and repeat the

process.

12. When you have refined the paragraph into

statements that clearly articulates the way

the company wants to relate to those it effects,

publish it to everyone. Post it on the

wall, email it to everyone, etc.

Source: Strategic marketing planning, South West Arts Marketing, April 2002