Vision and Mission Statements for Your Dental Practice

The new year is an excellent time to set goals for your dental practice and reevaluate or solidify your mission statement.

What are your core values? What do you want to let patients know about your practice? Your mission statement is a great way to express what you’re about to your patients quickly and concisely while also giving your team some common values to focus on.

Take a look at your current mission statement. Does it still hold true to your beliefs? Maybe it’s time for an update? Or perhaps you’ve never written a mission statement, and it’s time to think about your vision for your practice.

Whatever the case may be for you, here are some things to think about as you create your mission statement.

The Difference Between Dental Vision and Mission Statements

When you’re thinking about your mission statement, you’ll want to start with your vision. While these two things often overlap, your vision is actually different than your mission.

Your vision tells your team and patients where you hope to see yourself in the future. It can help you set your goals and give direction to your team. Think of it as your picture of tomorrow.

Your mission, on the other hand, focuses on today and is more informative for your patients. It tells them what your practice is doing to reach the vision. It can be related to your goals, but it’s also a clear definition of how you will reach those goals.

Crafting Your Vision

Picture five or ten years into the future. Where do you see your practice?

Think about who plays a role in your vision. You may want to include your team in creating it since every member needs to be involved in making it happen.

Open up a discussion with your team about how they can incorporate the values included in the vision in their day-to-day tasks, and reward those who do.

Make sure to keep your vision concise. Just a few sentences should do. Also, keep your vision statement somewhere that’s visible to your team as a visual reminder of your practice goals.

Creating Your Mission Statement

When writing your mission statement, think about what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to get there. Keep these things in mind:

• Keep it concise. This is not the time to write an essay. State your mission clearly in just a few sentences.
• Think long-term. Your mission statement is your map for meeting your goals.
• Don’t limit yourself. Dream big and plan for more significant goals.
• Include your team. Ask for everyone’s input on your practice mission statement.
• Be prepared to change. Just like your practice, your mission statement will always evolve. Make a point to review it each year to ensure it’s relevant to your current goals.

Set Your Practice Up for Success in 2021

A vision and mission statement are just a couple of tools you can use to set your practice up for success. Check out our other recent blog posts for additional ideas.