A clear vision of the project can determine the success of any project. It provides direction, sets goals, and even anticipates problems. Even though most companies understand who they are and where they are going, when the time comes to write down their ideas, issues happen.
A project vision statement is a foundational business document that explains how your organization will perform in the future. To further understand its importance, we’ve prepared a helpful guide explaining the purpose and mission of the project vision statement.
What Is the Purpose of the Vision Statement?
This document identifies the future goals of your organization. The company’s vision must align with its core values, culture, strategic planning, and mission. Along with the project charter, a vision statement is a document that launches a project.
If necessary, you can revise, review, or return the project vision statement. However, any changes must be minimal since the vision statement directs the company’s strategic plan, so it needs to be reviewed in detail. This is a living document that leads a company to its next innovation.
Considering companies have unique core values, we have different types of vision statements. For instance, a motivational vision statement will motivate your employees and attract new talents to the company.
People like to work in an organization whose business vision matches their personal values. A powerful vision statement will help your business differentiate itself from others. While all companies want to generate profit, you can always create a special vision statement that your employees and customers will love.
It’s quite easy to get stuck with the details of your mission statement and the daily challenges of running a company. For that reason, you require a long-term vision statement that guides your efforts and helps with long-term planning.
How To Write a Project Vision Statement?
Once you understand a project vision statement, it’s time to write one. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to list ideas that make sense to you. Instead, you must find the best way to get the message to your team. It would be a good idea to prepare a business case as well, which will justify undertaking a project.
To inspire action in your team, consider the following points:
Easy to understand and concise. Your project vision statement should be easy to understand and easy to remember. Make sure it’s clear and short, without any gray areas, for your team to interpret it in their own way. If your team members can easily remember the project vision statement, they are more likely to follow it.
Don’t overstep limitations. A vision statement should define the end goal and additional criteria to make your project successful. However, you shouldn’t follow one specific path to reach your end goal. Focus on multiple paths to accomplish desired results and inspire action from your team and stakeholders.
Consider the future. When writing this document, your focus should be on goals you want to achieve within a specific time frame. Instead of thinking about things you want now, focus on things that will happen in 10 or 20 years and establish goals on where you want to be. This will drive you forward and help you get results within a specific period.
Make it challenging. Your project vision statement should set goals your team is thrilled to accomplish. Also, goals need to be challenging and long-term, not what should happen shortly. Your team will be excited to work on possible projects in this case.
Don’t be too specific. When writing this document, leave some room for changes. You can’t possibly know what will happen in 10 or 15 years, so keeping your project vision statement slightly vague means it won’t become inapplicable along the way.
Write something about your company. The best project vision statements are about who you are as an organization, your team, and who you wish to become.
Project Vision Statement Examples
The following examples prove that the project vision statement actually works.
Nike
Nobody considered sneakers to be a fashion accessory in the past. They were just a piece of sports equipment you would use when running or going to the gym. However, Nike saw an opportunity and created a product to motivate and inspire people. They address everyone as an athlete in a clever marketing trick.
IKEA
IKEA has done something remarkable and created budget-friendly furniture that will fit everyone’s lifestyle.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s offers the best fast-food experience while making every customer happy with their services. They have a vision constructed as a checklist and try their best to provide premium quality, cleanliness, service, and value.
This company wanted to offer the world’s information in one click. In recent years, they shifted their business policy from a corporate code of conduct to a more pragmatic one.
Nowadays, people use Facebook to connect to friends and family or to discover the world and share their experiences. Even though this social network struggles with a bad reputation, it still tries to connect with people rather than alienating them.
Coca-Cola
Their vision was to create a drink that would refresh body and soul. Aside from its signature red can, Coca-Cola promises to quench your thirst.
ActiveCollab
Project Management Mission Statement
When building a company or working on a business plan, a mission statement should be one of the first documents you create. It’s the base for your company values, value proposition, slogan, vision statement, and everything else.
But what is a mission statement? This is a document that describes the purpose of your organization. It explains what companies do and is a crucial part of their business culture. A mission statement is always short and written in the present tense, expressing who you are, what you do, and how you do it at the moment.
While a mission statement is an internal guide for an organization, it also needs to be appealing to customers. The main difference between a mission and a vision statement is that a mission statement focuses on the present, while a vision statement focuses on the future. Even though they are different, these two documents complement each other, which is crucial for strategic planning.
What Is the Project Scope Statement?
A project scope statement is a document that outlines all the elements of the project scope, along with acceptance criteria, project requirements, and project assumptions. Your stakeholders and team members will use the project scope statement as a guideline to accurately measure project success.
This document is a part of the scope management plan, which is a larger document that includes procedures, rules, and strategies to manage your project scope.
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