How important is a vision for the business?

I think there is a lot of lip service about vision and values in business. I am not sure if our vision has the impact to draw everyone in and commit to it. And with changes happening how can you keep everyone heading in the same direction?

When the vision is strong enough, it actually pulls people forward, like a current. People need a big picture – strong images of the future and this is what can make one organisation become more successful than another.

1. Present a powerful vision with clear goals

The vision is the big picture of where we want the business to be in the future. Senior managers need to spell out the vision for their people… and break it down into manageable goals and steps for everyone to follow – like a blueprint. The goals can be made realistic in conjunction with a review process of work already being done. Goals can include targets for achievement and key improvement strategies. So at the same time as building goals, the key performance indicators need to be decided so performance against the goals and vision can be tracked.

Having an agreed big picture helps to create harmony between different teams within an organisation, and can even help have an aligned path for contractors and suppliers for your business. Clients can benefit from knowing your vision.

2. Personalise your vision

It’s critical for everyone to see how their own jobs connect to the vision.

So the manager needs to help their team see how to translate the vision into specific team and individual goals. Everyone needs to feel they are contributing. Managers can do this by painting a great picture, telling a story, involving their people.

3. Align people to changing vision

It’s a challenging time right now because business is changing and visions need to be adjusted to accommodate tough times, natural disasters and downturns of any kind. It might also for some businesses be a time of growth. Whichever way, when there is change there is adjustment and there is a need for far more communication than usual. When you start to change things within a business, most people will either fight against it or they’ll question it. As a manager, you need to know how change is impacting people. You need to tell people what’s going on and in many cases engage them in the process. You need to communicate the changes in a way that benefits everyone and productivity. When times are tough everything needs to be running as smoothly as possible.

To see a video on Vision and Values, click here.

Eve Ash is author of Rewrite Your Life! and Rewrite Your Relationships! and producer of the DVD Leadership Sins, a 2009 release from the DIFFICULT PEOPLE & SITUATIONS series by SEVEN DIMENSIONS www.7dimensions.com.au

For more Eve Ash advice, click here.