How Can I Make Vision and Mission Workshops Engaging and Inspiring?

Workshop Activities for Vision and Mission Statement Building

I am looking for activities that can be conducted in a workshop for building vision and mission statements for any organization. These activities should create interest and make the participants more involved. I also plan to show an inspirational video at the beginning to energize the group.

Kindly help me with the activities and videos.

Thanks and Regards,
Anagha

Let me share my experience of creating our vision, mission, and values system for my organization. We avoided an outdoor location or a setup in a big hotel and all those things. We arranged a meeting of all our decision-making senior staff, including our MD. I suggested to my MD to present his view of his vision, mission, and values as perceived by him. It was a PowerPoint presentation of an hour where he shared how MVV (Mission, Vision, and Values) is not only an image of the company to outsiders but also a goal-setting methodology for insiders.

Next, we created teams and asked them to create an MVV presentation of what they perceived of the organization. We met once again to see and brainstorm the presentation and identified key items that should be a part of our MVV. It was a successful event as our staff felt that the MVV was a part of what they look up to. We had some staff even telling me that a particular term was picked from their presentation.

You can try the same. You can use this link Lead India - The Tree - YouTube. It is a very nice video on how one's goal can move the whole world.

Dear Anagha,

There are a lot of misconceptions about vision statements, mission statements, and organizational values. You need to create an in-depth study and prepare a suitable presentation. Next, organize a brainstorming session on designing vision and mission statements. Ultimately, arrive at a better vision and mission statement.

Questions for Jhuma Tiwade

@ Jhuma Tiwade: You have done a good exercise on MVV. However, have you audited this exercise? Can you provide instances where top management lived by the values? Do you have examples of top management making decisions consistent with the mission statement? Can you share an example of top management deciding to achieve the vision?

I ask these questions because in one of my training sessions, an HR manager from an IT company participated. The company was mid-sized. They conducted a similar exercise and displayed all vision and mission statements on wall plaques.

The company faced an attrition problem. To address this, management decided to conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS). In the survey, an employee responded, "Do some introspection. What are you doing to achieve the organization's vision or execute the organization's mission? You do nothing and just ask for our opinions!"

It is evident that the management faced embarrassment. Therefore, living by the organization's values is not easy; it requires a lot of courage.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."

Thank you very much for your inputs. I will definitely follow the guidelines suggested by you and will ensure that the MVV workshop is successful.

Warm Regards,
Anagha