The auction rooms for the goods owned by now bankrupt companies are filled with fancy posters of mission statements. Mission statements were a fad of the 90′s and have had their day.
Don’t know what I am talking about? Here’s the sort of thing that companies enjoyed to hang on their walls – “To deliver the best possible service, in the most efficient time to our customers in the best possible blah blah blah”.
The first problem with mission statements was that they were so filled with generic rhetoric that they could have been written about any company. They sat proudly on the wall as if someone knew what they meant and as if someone cared. They looked great and looked purposeful.
Management fell in love with mission statements. After they had been to a management seminar, managers became convinced that a mission statement was the key to success “Our employees need the statement. They give everyone a purpose. They make sure that we are all working for the same goals”. What a bunch of rubbish that all turned out to be.
I was in a medium sized corporation and I was horried to hear one day that the CEO had decided that not only was it important for us to have a mission statement, but it was important that the employees decide what it was going to say!! Umm, that to me said “Hey, I don’t know where this ocmpnay is headed so you tell me!!!”. So, at the annual conference we were all split into groups to decide that the mission statement for the company should be. Then, we were all going to get together at the end and combine the best ideas from each group.
You can guess what the mission statement became. Yep, a generic waste of time. It of course was full of “best service”, “customer focus”, “striving to achieve” etc. I think there was even a bit of environmental consciousness thrown in!
If you’re looking for direction, then the direction in a company comes from the top – from the CEO. Mission statements are no subsitute for strong leadership. What the company is about can usually be summed up in a few words. Where a company is going is best articulated from the General down through to the troops. Hanging a sign on the wall just aint going to cut it.
If the rank and file of the company doesn’t know why we’re here and where we’re going and what part an individual plays in the overall plan, then the captain isn’t doing his job. Mission statements are dead.
Fortunately now I work for a bus hire company and we’re small enough that the liklihood of someone deciding we need a mission statement is low. Bus hire companies aren’t immune though – I will always be on the lookout for the warning signs and tactfully defuse anyone who has been to a management seminar pushing mission statements!
By: Robert Gower
Posts Tagged ‘Environmental Consciousness’
Mission Statements Were a Marketing and Management Fad
October 16th, 2009Project and Program Managers’ Environmental Responsibility
September 7th, 2009Global warming and environmental consciousness is a worldwide concern that encompasses all industries — project management included. With the ongoing debate over balancing technological success with environmental health, project and program managers are called to take action. The question, however, is how. How can project managers go green?
Project and program managers are all responsible for “delivering the goods” — for delivering the products of their projects and programs on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards. For programs, “delivering the goods” also entails the broader aspects of delivering on certain strategic goals within their organization. So, where does environmental consciousness fit into this scheme of “delivering the goods” for their projects and programs?
Here are a few things that can be readily incorporated into the thinking and actions of project and program managers, and how environmental consciousness can be incorporated into any project or program – easily and inexpensively – regardless how the discussions on the issue end up.
1. Establish best practices for recycling. It is usually quite easy to appoint someone at each location to take on this small but significant responsibility.
2. Consider the environment in all decisions. In checklists and meetings, discussions and briefs, papers and documentation, it is not much more effort to include environmental considerations.
3. Practice good conservation of heat and waste management, just as everyone would or should in our homes. This can be facilitated by appointing one team member at each location to take responsibility.
4. Incorporate environmental considerations into any product design. Major changes often spring from one very simple question. Making this a standard item for consideration can have a definite impact on achieving “green design”.
5. Consider the end game on the product of the projects, such as “Will something need to be thrown away?” Doing a little brainstorming about this, perhaps at the same time other considerations are being discussed, can add a little “green consciousness” to everyone’s awareness.
Project and program managers’ ultimate goal is to achieve the results intended and to make sure they are documented correctly. However, it is notable that it is just as easy, if not easier, to execute on these responsibilities and still at all times maintain the highest level of accountability related to the environment. In so doing, project and program managers can leave the political debate to others, but be good “earth citizens” and make a collective contribution to environmental preservation.
By: John Reiling
