My new book, The Productive Biz, has just been published and it includes a massive library of resources to help you implement the 7 Keys to Running a Productive Business. You can get your copy on Amazon today or start with a free Sample which is the whole of Key 1 with free resource in a Google Drive folder. Keep reading because this is not just a book promo but a chance to discover how to Live your Mission through KRAs with Goals!
At a Glance:
- Learn how to Write Your Mission Statement using a 4-step outline that will make it easy to write and ensure it is comprehensive.
- Learn how to Identify Your Key Result Areas using a 3-step process that will give you 6 critical areas to live our your mission.
- Learn how to Create Your Goals for KRAs using the SMART goal framework or a super useful question to guide your thought process.
Living Your Mission Through KRAs with Goals
The first key to running a productive business is to Live Your Mission. Your Mission is lived through your Key Result Areas by achieving your Goals and Planning your business. This is about figuring out what your business is all about. And by business, I mean your whole business – not just what you do in some areas of the company, but in every area. For me, a productive business is one that creates a better future and that involves radical change both internally and externally.
1. Write Your Mission Statement
Creating a Productive Business starts with writing a mission statement to describe the kind of business you want to be and the difference you want to make in the world. During my training of thousands of leaders across the continent of Africa, I adopted a four-step process to writing a mission statement based on answers to four questions. As you work through the questions, be sure to complete each step of the process either with a pen or your keyboard.
Step 1: What must we BE to succeed? The first question forces you to start with your “being” rather than your “doing”. As you answer this question, think about the kind of business you want to run Choose a noun that describes what you want to be. Imagine the best version of your business. Keep it as short as possible – use a single word, or a hyphenated phrase or, at most, three or four words.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Descriptive Noun is:
Step 2: What must we DO to succeed? The second question focusses on what you must do as a business to live out the noun you chose in the first question. Write down three ways in which you will impact people to bring change in the world using verbs – i.e., action or doing words.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Verbs of Impact are:
Step 3: Who will we target? The third question is all about the different groups of people that your business will impact as you live your mission. Make sure that it is as broad as possible. Try and end up with 3 groupings of people that cover all your target groups.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Target Groups to impact are:
Step 4: What will the result of our impact be? The final question deals with what you believe your impact will accomplish in the people you target. Here you are describing the change you want to see in your target audience.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: The Result of our impact will be:
The next part of this process is to move towards writing out your mission statement in one sentence using as few words as possible. Take the words or phrases you identified using the four questions and add them to the following sentence:
We are _____________________ (descriptive noun) who _____________, _____________, _____________ (verbs of impact) to _____________, _____________, _____________ (target groups) so ____________________________ (result of influence).
Now you are ready to write your mission statement in one sentence, memorise it, display it and connect with it every day as you run your business.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Mission is…
Well done if you followed my process so far – you have a clearly written and powerful mission statement to direct your focus as a business owner or leader. Now it is time to take the next steps…
2. Identify Your Key Result Areas
The second step to living your mission is to identify the Key Result Areas (KRAs) through which you will live your mission. Your Key Result Areas are the areas you must focus on and track to achieve our mission. Here are 3 steps to take to identify your Key Result areas:
Step 1: List Possible Areas To Focus On. Do a brainstorm of all possible areas that are important to your business. Consider your product, staff, customers, revenue, processes, etc.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Possible Areas are:
Step 2: Select Six Areas To Focus On. This step will give you a manageable set of Areas to focus on as you live out your mission. Go back to the list of possible KRAs in Step 1 and narrow the list down to no more than 6 key areas you need t focus on to be successful as a business – make sure they cover your whole business.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our 6 Key Result Areas are:
Step 3: Write Descriptive Statements For Each KRA. The descriptive statement describes the condition we must reach for each Key Result Area to be considered operational and working well.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our 6 Key Result Areas are described as:
In my book I also describe how you should do a SWOT analysis on each KRA, identify critical issues for each KRA and create an action plan for each KRA. The Sample Chapter will walk you through these additional steps and it will also give you sample statements, KRAs and Goals from three different businesses!
3. Create Your Goals for KRAS
The third step to live your mission is to create your goals. Now that you have defined the KRAs you will focus on for your business you need to create goals for each KRA. You could use the SMART goal approach and create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely or you can create goals by asking yourself: “What is the most important thing we could do this week to have the greatest positive impact on this KRA.” While many goals may come to mind, you should limit yourself to just a few important goals for each KRA. With your mission statement in mind, look over the work done in Step 2 for each KRA and create 2 goals for each key area.
—> It’s Your Turn: Complete the sentence: Our Goals for our 6 Key Result Areas are:
Note: This is an excerpt from my new book, The Productive Biz.
My book includes a Bonus Step which is to Work your Plan using a Business Planner that has 8 sections: Mission, KRAs, Goals, Priorities, Projects, Tasks, People and Habits so you can track your progress.
Order My Book for More Like This!
The Productive Biz is filled with practical tools to shape and run your business using 7 Keys that defeat the 7 Giants stealing your productivity (visit the book’s website to meet the giants). Each of the keys contains proven strategies, with clear steps to take to implement them, plus a set of resources in a Google Drive folder to make it all work in your world.
Here is what you get:
1 Book: around 60 pages in A4 format if printed out.
1 Workbook: a fully interactive journey for screens or pens.
1 Folder: a Google Drive folder with 69 assets to add endless value.
9 PowerPoint Presentations: one for each key and the intro and outro too.
Get it with all these Bonuses for just $9.99 on Amazon as an eBook!
BUY NOW!
I believe that this process for developing and living your mission will be of great help to you and that you will invest in your future by buying a copy of my book!
Oh, you should definitely consider working with me this year! Let me be your productivity coach in your personal life or your business life! I am not cheap but affordable and can promise results based on testimonies from over 100 clients. Click HERE to book a free discovery call with me and we can talk about my 9-week coaching journey and see how we can make it happen. Act today and cast a vote for the kind of person you want to be!