How can we define a Vision that will focus us all on achieving great things in the future?

The word 'Vision' is used to mean a variety of things but in essence it expresses:

• How an organisation intends to change in future, in order to meet the needs of its stakeholders
• What things it will achieve, by a specified future deadline

This is sometimes expressed as Vision and Goals.

Creating a challenging, viable and meaningful Vision for the future is the primary task of the collective leadership in any organisation. It must drive all of your activities; be distinctive - not able to relate to anyone else - and capture the particular skills, experience and opportunities that make you unique.

We don't propose here to set out what sorts of things in should contain - there is no one formula - but rather discuss the management process by which you might develop it.

• Agreement of processes and assignment of roles - plus ensuring a level of trust and a move away from 'silo' management in the team
• Review environmental factors / Stakeholders/ Competitors
• Review the strengths of the organisation
• Discussing future scenarios, future vision, strategic objectives

The above you could achieve with 2 or 3 days intensive work, intervening periods of analysis, several follow-up days, then ongoing meetings. The role of a facilitator, as well as ensuring a rational, ordered process, is to ensure that managers focus on common-sense questions. It is common to get wrapped up in jargon. Questions like - 'what do our customers want from us? Where are we failing to deliver? How are things going to change? What must we achieve - these are the things the group must focus on.

Case Studies: Developing Vision

A newly created department needed to establish its operations. We helped them to undertake a 'visioning' exercise, to build a picture of the department in the future. This was achieved over a series of several events - essentially three on-site meetings. What emerged was the need to change the department's perceived role, and status, from that of a 'service function' to one of a 'partner' with other groups in its Division. They analysed the current barriers - many were identified with themselves and their staff groups, some also were the imperatives of maintaining current work - and the environment of their internal customers. This helped them to formulate a clear strategy for change, covering the following two years.