Most business owners establish a vision when they form their company. They keep that vision in their mind’s eye but don’t always share it with the rest of the team. It can often feel like a company vision is for the CEO alone – and not shared with all employees.
At the end of the day, a vision is often left sitting on a board somewhere, in a business plan, or in a business owner’s mind. It’s not often executed or even supported by all staff.
If you feel your vision for your company is important, it’s time to get your team on the same page and working toward the company vision.
Challenges to Accomplishing a Company Vision
Most business owners encounter the same challenges in realizing their vision for the company. These challenges are:
1. The vision-making process is not collaborative
Often, a company owner is creating a vision by themselves. They may include a few other executives, but the vision-making and the goal-setting processes are usually not collaborative. This often hinders the realization of the vision right at the get-go.
2. The vision is stated once, and then the team returns to normal daily activities
Telling your staff that you want to accomplish a particular vision is great. But after the goal is created, everyday activities must grow your company into the vision. From that perspective, if there is no actionable way to get to your dream, then it’s not realistic.
3. There are no processes for accomplishing the vision
If you want to achieve the vision you have set for your company, there needs to be a process to get there. Developing a vision as a lofty goal with no systems or structures for achieving it means that your team will not realize the dream.
4. There are no metrics for tracking whether the vision is being realized or not
Most metrics monitor day-to-day vital statistics. They tell you if your marketing plan or sales agenda is working. They let you know that your company is solvent – or not. However, if you are serious about achieving a vision, there needs to be statistics that measure if your team is accomplishing it or not.
You likely know the challenge or challenges that your team is facing. Below is a brief “how-to” for solving them.
How to Get Your Team Working Toward Your Company Vision
Are you serious about realizing your company vision? Then here’s what you need to do:
Establish your company’s vision as a team
You likely have a vision that you came up with at the company’s inception. However, if no one has been explicitly working toward that goal, then it’s time to get a fresh look at the direction in which your business is headed.
Gather a team of people who represent the various departments. Then, collaboratively hash out a vision for the company. What does the overall goal look like? How does each department contribute to this goal? What metrics would monitor the accomplishment of this goal?
Get consensus on the vision and then move forward to the next step.
Set up milestones
You want to accomplish the goal your team has set. So, how do you and your staff know that you are all getting there? These are the milestones that need to be established.
A milestone could be anything from establishing a wind farm in each state to power your company buildings to achieving a financial goal. It could be accomplishing specific sales numbers over six months or increasing the percentage of online services.
Establish the milestones that will mark your path as your team reaches toward the company vision.
Integrate your vision into business processes
It’s time to put your vision into action. How can you systematize achieving a long-term company vision? How will you incorporate it into everyday processes and procedures? The best way to do so is to take the milestones you have established above and create business systems around accomplishing them.
When you break down the task of achieving an overall vision into successively smaller steps, it takes a lofty goal and shows the whole company how to accomplish it. As you systematize based on the milestones listed above, you will see the vision reflected in each task and aspect of your business.
Celebrate your accomplishments and review failures
Take time each year to review the progress your company has made toward the overall goal. Has your team accomplished the goals you all set? Where did things go astray – and where did the goals get made?
While you should correct any mishaps, be sure also to celebrate all that your company has accomplished. It’s easy to focus on the negative, but the positive gains you have made are worth acknowledging and commending.
Are you ready to turn your company vision into systems that will take you to your goal? Contact Business Success Consulting Group today!
