Back to the Future – Video Series

Back to the Future!

Welcome back to the working smarter, not harder series. In our first segment we talked about needing to understand our current ways of working, or as I call it, our current state, which highlights why and where we are working harder.

The next critical step is to go back to the future. What do I mean by this? Look at your current vision and mission statement for your organization. The majority of companies have these statements. They’ve spent countless of dollars, time, energy and effort creating these vision and mission statements and once done, they get filed away in a binder or posted on a wall that everyone walks by but never sees. And even if someone did stop to read it, it would sound very obtuse and really wouldn’t pertain to that person’s job anyway.

The end result: as quickly as the mission or vision statement is read, it’s forgotten.

This is a huge contributor to why we are working harder in today’s business world and why we’re just so busy. We’re busy with projects that may not be directly getting us to the organization’s future it so desires. Have you ever been at work and wondered why you are doing a project or task? You just can’t see where it fits in? We’re busy with many make-work projects that keep us busy on that hamster wheel versus actually getting us to the company’s overall vision or goal. We’re not making daily decisions based on a vision or mission statement.

The mission and vision statement should be the company’s rallying cries of getting everyone to work together. So what can you do?

First, if you don’t have a vision statement and/or a mission statement, get one.
Second, if you have a vision and or mission statement-revisit it, make sure it is relevant, and that it inspires people.
Third, start making daily decisions based on it.

Every major project or item of business should always go through the Vision/Mission litmus test….

Does this ‘insert relevant item’ help us achieve our Vision/Mission.

If the answer is no, don’t do it! This one question alone will stop the busy work and halt the working harder ways in the organization. In summary, by having a clear destination that is understandable and making major decisions with it will put you on the path of working smarter.

Watch all of Adriana’s BizTV Canada videos

Do you know our company’s mission and vision statements – do they help you work smarter, not harder? Feel free to leave a comment below or shout out to us on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, you could always write your own blog post on the subject and share it with us… We’d love to read it!