Project Vision Statement

Abstract/Summary

A Vision statement is a description or declaration of what an organization/project team wants to obtain or accomplish in the future. A Vision statement is used as a road map for projects, pinpointing where it should be heading and what the ultimate goal and vision is. It can be a guidance for employees, as well as give inspiration and motivation. Typically, a Project Vision Statement is part of the earliest phases of a project. Often is part of the Conception and initialization phase. A Project Vision Statement should be: concise, clear, oriented towards the future, time-bound, hold many possible solutions, challenging, motivating and inspiring. In this article an example related to the NASA Apollo program is presented, as well as an example from the American automaker Tesla. All organizations and projects can use and benefit from having a vision statement. There are several benefits from having a vision statement. These include motivation and guidance of project teams, as well as inspiration for both internal and external project stakeholders. It is however important that the Project Vision Statement is communicated to all members of a project, as well as changes made to it while the project is underway. The briefness of the statement also means that it does not contain details about how the project is planned, the teams working on the project or how the project is financed.

The Big Idea

A Project Vision Statement is a description or declaration of what an organization/project team wants to obtain or accomplish upon the completion of a project. While the vision is the grand idea, the vision statement is a clear and concise announcement and description of the big picture. It usually consists of only a few sentences, but still highlights the goal. The purpose of a Project Vision Statement is to show the direction of the project and the desired outcomes. Furthermore, is it to inspire the project team working on the project, as well as the projects different stakeholders.

Application

According to the PMI standard, there are 5 phases of project management (ref). These include:

• Conception and Initialization
• Definition and Planning
• Launch or Execution
• Performance and Control
• Project Close

A vision statement is usually made during the very early stages of a project, in the Conception and Initialization phase. This is applied as early as possible, in order to create a common focus and define the end goal from the beginning.

When creating a project vision statement there are some elements that should focused on. These include making the project vision statement:

• Concise and simple

The statement should be brief and it should also be easy to remember and repeat

• Specific and clear

The vision statement should define and be centered around the end goal and the criteria that will make the project a success

• Time bound

There should if possible be a time horizon/frame for when the desired goals should be achieved

• Oriented towards the future

The statement should oriented towards the desired future state and the benefits that will come from achieving the presented goals

• Challenging

The end goal should be challenging and difficult to obtain

• Engaging and inspirational

It is important that the vision is meaningful and inspiring for all stakeholders involved in the project

Though many vision statements do not necessarily incorporate all of the points, they must be kept in mind, in order to develop a powerful vision statement.

However, an example of a project vision statement which aligns with all of the above described points, is from John F. Kennedy’s speech to congress on May 25, 1961:

"…this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth”

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-2-1.html

This statement gave rise to the Apollo program, which in 1969 put the first man on the moon, with the Apollo 11 mission.

- All of the key points

There are many examples of vision statements made by companies that through projects, programs and portfolios aim at achieving their overall vision for the future. “Accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible” – Tesla (ref) This was Tesla´s vision statement until 2016, when the company shifted towards other sustainable energy focus areas than just transport. These included the company’s Powerwall and solar roof tiles. https://www.tesla.com/about Often several concepts of vision statements are made before the final version of the statement is chosen. Furthermore, the vision and thereby the project vision statement might change in the middle of the project, as discoveries and new insights are made. Therefore, the vision statement might need be altered along the way.

Following the vision statement a mission statement can be made, which can be broken down into different smaller targets and objectives.

Limitations

Even though a vision statement is great for providing motivation, direction and definition of the desired outcome of a project it has its limitations. As a vision statement is often very brief it does not give a detailed description of many important aspects of a project. It does not explain the project time schedule, budget requirements, team responsibilities and so on. The project team thus, needs to understand the elementary and fundamental processes and activities required to achieve the projects end goals.

It is also essential to the use of a vision statement that it is communicated to the project team members, so that they are aware of it and can work in the direction of the presented vision. It is also important that the vision makes sense to the employees and is incorporated in the activities and processes that are carried out by the project management and so is not forgotten or is abandoned underway.

Projects that alter their vision statement midway might have also have difficulties if the new vision is not communicated to all project team members and stakeholders. It is therefore essential that these are aware of the changes and agree with the new vision statement for the project.