By: Ashley Viens, Director of Operations, Ascension Innovation Management

So you’ve written down your Vision for the whole company to read, you’ve chosen the core Values that best represent your company, and you’ve shared both with the team to inspire and encourage them to achieve amazing things with their work. What’s next?

Chances are, you’ve recognized some gaps in your business systems, as team members and clients have come to you when they experience frustration or friction while working with your company. That’s good news! It means you’ve received honest feedback and have done some of the hard work to figure out where you need improvement.

But just how do you go about achieving these goals and fixing the weak points in your work processes? Do you have the best tools, technology, and systems in place to get things done? Or are you stuck, not knowing where to start?

In the third installment of our V2MOM series, we dive into the first “M”, Methods, and why having the right methods can propel your company toward success.

Methods — How will you achieve it?

Simply put, methods are the steps your company or team needs to take in order to bring your vision to reality. Now’s the time to create an action plan, to lay out the steps you’ll take and the tools you’ll use to reach your goals. You know the “why” for your business, now it’s time to outline the “how”.

“A mere 7 percent of employees today fully understand their company’s business strategies and what’s expected of them in order to help achieve company goals.” That’s a pretty depressing statistic! What on earth are the other 93 per cent doing with their time in these companies?

Remember the welding company we talked about in our first V2MOM article? Carefully consider what particular actions you need to take to accomplish your company’s vision. Prioritize the methods you plan to take, and keep things simple and clear.

For example, in order to get this company off the ground, you would need to purchase welding and safety equipment, storage space, a truck and maybe a trailer, and possibly rent an office. You’ll need to reach out to family, friends and colleagues to promote your company, set up a website, and hook up a phone line. You would need to decide if you wanted to simply work on other people’s projects, or if you wanted to do your own original work.

To sum up, methods are small steps to help you stay focused on your path to success. They’re the way to take your big, beautiful company vision and execute it with simplicity, purpose and precision.

What methods does your company use to achieve success? How do you inspire your employees to confidently pursue your company vision?