Vision

What is the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement?

This page covers the differences between a vision statement and a mission statement, and in what circumstances you might use them.

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a forward looking statement defining the aims, focus areas and goals of a project.

What is a Mission statement?

A mission statement is a statement of what work part of your current operation needs, but unlike a vision it does not need to consider the future.

Why give your team a vision or mission?

Providing the team with a vision or goals for the project they are working on gives them an understanding of the aims of the project. A vision also provides them a framework to help prioritize their work on the basis of how close a particular task or feature is in meeting the vision or goals of the project.

Vision statements are suitable for new projects

For new projects where you have long term goals, providing your team with a vision statement helps them to be forward-looking in their planning and understand how their current works fits into the long-term goals.

Mission statements are suitable for legacy projects

Legacy projects are better defined using mission statements. This ensures that the team and your users understand what is on task for your project and helps to enable your team to make the legacy project sustainable and scaleable.