Dear All,
This whole vision / mission thing is kind of the stuff I do at work most days so I couldn't resist posting.
Reading through today's emails I would say the people who are crying out for the Vision / Mission are absolutely right. These are the most important things for any organisation to sort out.
Why?
Here are two example Mission Statements off the top of my head:
1. "Our mission is to sustain a small school with a close knit community of around 30 families, providing our children with a secure and safe start to life up to the age of 14."
2. "Our mission is to build a Steiner School for the 21st Century. Our school will be abundant in Music, Craftwork and language. The building will be modern, yet cosy, abundant in natural materials and light. It will be environmentally efficient. It will provide education for 300 pupils up to the age of 18. It will attract families from all over the Southeast and will be a beacon for those searching for an alternative to the state system."
Is it clear that the actions we take to achieve Mission number 1 would be completely different to the actions taken to achieve Mission 2?
In every successful enterprise there is a clear structure, direction and strategy. EVERY decision follows on from this. No action is undertaken without first referring to the Vision and Mission to check on its relevance.
So we work out a Vision and a Mission, how then do we achieve it?
Most successful organisations will put in place a Business Plan, revolving around the Mission and Vision. But that doesn't sound very Steiner, so let's call it a Development Plan!
Different organisations do it different ways, but here's an example of how this would be set out - It's not a definitive list - there may well be other relevant chapters. Also - I'm coming from a business background, not a Steiner background so I talk in business terms. But that doesn't mean these can't be adapted to fit the Steiner framework.
A million different definitions, but here are the ones I like working to:
a. The VISION defines our long-term dream, our values, how we would see the school if we had an infinite amount of time and resources. Don't be hampered by reality. It should not necessarily be achievable. That may sound ridiculous, but the objective is for our vision to always be just slightly out of reach. It's what we constantly strive to attain, and it becomes our raison d'etre.
b. The MISSION says what we are or what we stand for and what we intend to accomplish by what time. It should be challenging but inspiring and achievable. It should require little or no explanation and, in my opinion, it must steer clear of management jargon at all costs!
And neither of these should necessarily be pages and pages. The shorter the better in fact.
It doesn't really matter which is which or what order they go in - as long as they combine to get across the key message and raison d'etre for the school.
c. Objectives - What are the three most important things that need to happen over the next 1-3 years. This is where everyone talks smugly about SMART objectives but they do make sense: It will be Specific about what has to happen; it will be Measurable to ensure it has happened; it will be Achievable; it will be Realistic with the resources at our disposal; and finally, it will be Timebound - when will it be achieved by.
Bad example of an objective: "We want the school to get bigger"
Good example of an objective: "We will increase school numbers by 40% within 3 years"
Here we get down some admin stuff such as legal description, then make note of the history, current status and any future goals of the school. Then here comes probably the BIGGEST ONE - The organisational structure of the school.
It seems that at the moment everyone is trying to do everything in no particular order. Has anyone heard any of these statements recently:
Sound familiar to anyone?
OK - let's get this clear - I'm not saying there should be a top-down hierarchy. I know Steiner doesn't work that way, but most successful organisations need a structure. And there is a structure (of sorts) to Alderbridge already. It's just that no-one really knows what it is.
Who's in charge of the really deep and treasured part, probably the most important, the most sacred job - the anthropsophical development and direction of the school? Who is best suited to oversee the marketing plan? The sales plan? Who makes the final decision to knock down the lot and start again? To sell Bridge House? To change location? To take over St Luke's? To stay where we are? Well, I hear that under a Steiner system that it's a collective responsibility. However - at the moment Collective Responsibility seems to mean No Responsibility.
Where do parents go if they have an issue? The trustees? Ann?
What are all the different Groups I see listed on the school notice board? Who runs them? What do they achieve? What should they achieve? How do they fit with the overall structure of the school? I don't really know the answer to any of these questions and we've been in the school over a year now.
It needs to be clarified and written down so that the collective responsibility can take effect.
I know many of these items have been talked over and raised as issues already. Now we just need to work it out and write it down.
An in-depth description of Steiner modus operandi, values, teaching methods etc. This will form the core reference point for much of the marketing plan (below). Imagine this all written down. Need a catalogue written? No problem, crib the text from the Development Plan. Need a leaflet? Ditto. Need text for a magazine advert? You guessed it! - The Development Plan has it.
Much as we might not want to admit it - we exist within an industry - the Education Industry. If anyone doesn't believe it's an industry look up www.bettshow.com. It's important for any succcessful organisation to have an awareness of the industry they operate in, how they fit in and how it works.
Know your enemy! If we want to attract parents away from other schools, we need to let them know the things that are better about ours and why they are better. Again - an immediate source of marketing material once finished - no need to continually re-invent the wheel.
Who is our target market? How many target markets are there? Just saying any parents in Berkshire / Hampshire isn't good enough. Specific Specific Specific. The better you describe our target market the easier it will be to find them. What age are they? What do they do for a living? What shows do they go to? What values do they hold dear? What magazines do they read?
Now we've done all the hard stuff. Only now can we get down to the day to day art of selling. It's a nasty word but it's got to be done to keep the school alive and to thrive. What are the school's sales targets, how do these sales targets relate to the School's objectives. What's the pricing strategy of the school. Is it OK? Does it need to change? Does it put parents off? Attract parents? We can only answer this if we've done the rest of the plan.
What physical Sales Activities will the school undertake? Will we have door to door salespeople, will we have parents picketing state schools? Will we use a telesales company?............ I don't know but if we've done all the previous bits of the Development Plan then we'll work this bit out quite quickly.
It's sometimes a blurred line between sales and marketing but it's there. I generally find Sales is stuff that involves people speaking to people while marketing is more like stuff that people see or read.........
What's the Overall Marketing Strategy? What's the branding strategy? What Marketing Materials do we need: Brochures? Flyers? Posters? DVD? Website? Newsletter? Eshots? Do we need a PR Firm? Press Releases? Do we offer a month's free trial period? Do we buy a Popup display stall for taking to events? What is our overall fundraising strategy? What events will we go to?
This is the part that most people are focussing on right now and it's the bit that should be done LAST. There are hundreds of ideas that could be implemented. We need to get them all written down , agreed upon, prioritised and ONLY THEN can you ask people to undertake the ones agreed to offer the highest impact.
A look at the physical aspect of the school. List the buildings. List the repair work needing done. The equipment we have. The equipment we need. The equipment we need to get rid of. What are the class sizes? Number of Teachers? Number of classes we want?............
Cashflow Forecasts, Profit & Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets for the next three years. Very important - if the plan isn't working then the figures can generally tell us and help us take corrective action.
This document will not be chiselled in stone. It is a fluid, working document to be re-visited, monitored and updated as required. If something isn't working then we find out why not, learn the lesson of why it didn't work and take corrective action to do it better.
It will not necessarily be written in the above order - as we write one section, we may realise that another section needs to be re-visited. The document will evolve. And it will not have all the fine print. For example - if the plan says we need a brochure, it won't write the brochure for us. All the actions included in the plan need to be listed and then given out to the right people to manage: Vision leads to Mission. Mission leads to Objectives and Objectives lead to Actions.
At no time in my career have I ever found that by doing the same thing that hasn't worked before, but only doing more of it - results in a different outcome, yet that is what appears to be happening here. A new approach is needed.
A lot of this work has already been done. For example maybe the vision for the school is "Alderbridge School, where Learning is a Journey, Not a Race"
Nick has put a lot of thought into and written an excellent description of the values of the school, this would easily form the basis of the "Product & Service Description" section
It sounds like a big job, and it is. I think this process would take 12 - 14 hours in total, maybe longer, and would need all interested parties present to make it valid. But if we did it there would be a bible for the school, a sense of accomplishment, of direction, of strategy, of knowing where and how things fit, a collective responsibility - powerful things could happen..........
This is how I think we could do it differently.
Thanks,
Graham (Maisie & Bobby's Dad)