Team Work Exercise: Mission and Goals

Exercise Purposes

• To clarify and define the problem or problems that it will address; and
• To develop a mission statement to guide your work in the coming months and specific goals that will promote the fulfillment of your mission.

Exercise Instructions

• Articulate clearly the problem or problems your team needs to solve. Your team should clarify the reason for your project and the strategic issues you are addressing.
• Write down three statements that describe the problem (or problems) that brings you to the table.
• For each statement, explain why you believe it is a problem and what data or information is available to help define the problem.

Your statements should not contain a solution for each problem noted; rather, they should simply identify the problem itself. An example might be, “The jail is overcrowded.” This does not tell the team why it is overcrowded, or what we need to do in order to reduce overcrowding. It simply states the problem as a fact. Another example might be, “We have high return–to–prison rates for parolees.” Again, this problem could be caused by any number of different factors. We don’t know yet what we need to do about it, we only know that the rates are high.

• Go around the room and have each member read one of his or her problem statements and briefly describe the information or data that supports this. Note these on a flipchart. Continue going around the group until all problem statements are listed. Once all the problems are listed, conduct a group discussion to determine the (two or three) problems your team will be working to address. What are the most critical problems that you have identified? Are there some problems that must be solved before others can be addressed? You must collectively decide which of the suggested problems are the most appropriate or most critical to address. Agreeing on the problems to be resolved will provide the specific focus for your mission, and the work that will be done by your team. 
• Consider parameters for your mission statement, such as a time frame, that might help your team to stay on track. Teams usually find it very useful to develop time–specific missions.
• Combine the problems and time frame into a clear, cogent mission statement for your team. Your mission statement should help your team to focus its efforts, be energized about its nature and purpose, and organize its work time. It is sometimes useful to begin team meetings by reviewing your mission statement, as this will help team members to stay on track with their work activities and discussions. Every member of a team should be able to articulate its mission and explain how accomplishing this mission will help the team move in the direction of its vision.
• Once your mission statement is completed, imagine how your system or work activities will look after the problems addressed in it have been resolved or overcome, and your mission has been achieved. Focusing on an end result will help your team with the next part of its analysis – identifying the critical goals that must be accomplished in order to complete your stated mission. Take several minutes to articulate the specific goals that you believe must be completed in order to achieve your mission. If your team’s mission statement has more than one part, you will likely want to develop goals for each part.
• Go around the room and have each member share the goals that they have generated. Continue going around the group until all goals are listed.
• Spend a few minutes summarizing and synthesizing the goal statements.

For each goal, identify the tasks that will need to be performed in order to accomplish it. As you identify these tasks, you will need to determine what must be done, who will do it, when it will be done, and what resources are needed.