Page 27 - Becoming a Successful Manager

18 KNOWING THE TERRITORY

• I get paid to help everyone understand how we can work
together to achieve our department’s objectives.
• I get paid to ensure that we are all clear about our roles
in upholding the ideals and standards that define our
department.

Frame this reminder, and make it visible in your work space for all
to see. (See the Appendix for reproducible text.)
Just as fertile soil is essential for a crop to grow, a fertile depart-
mental culture is a basic requirement for people to be productive
and cooperative. This serves as a reminder of what it takes to cre-
ate and sustain that culture.

Creating a Departmental

Mission Statement

Your company probably has a mission statement that conveys the
purpose of its business and how it intends to accomplish its objec-
tives to all of its employees and to the world outside. Essentially,
this statement is the company’s constitution.

Although this document is useful, it is also beneficial to create
a departmental mission statement that embodies your ideals—
those you would like your employees to embrace. Whether you’ve
inherited the department that you are managing or are respon-
sible for forming a new department, enlist the help of your staff

to develop a mission statement that reflects both your and their
ideals, needs, and styles.
To be meaningful, the department’s mission statement should
answer the following questions: