The terms “vision” and “vision statement” are frequently used by businesses and corporations, and can have a lot of similar meanings.
Essentially though, a vision is a picture of your ideal destination; a description of what you want your practice to become. A vision answers questions like these:
- Imagine it’s five years from now, and we have made all of the changes needed to become the practice we want. How is our practice different from the one we have today?
- How productive and efficient are we as a team?
- What level of service do we provide?
- What kind of attitude do we have when we show up?
Unlike corporate vision statements which are often created solely by the leaders of the business and which are often meant to be shared with customers and stakeholders, a vision for your veterinary practice is different. It’s not something the practice owner or manager creates in a vacuum, and it’s usually not even something that is shared with clients. Instead, it’s created by everyone in the practice and it’s there for your team. It works as a reminder of what you and your team want to accomplish together, and the commitments you’ve made to one another about how you’ll do that.
Here is an example of a vision statement crafted by a veterinary hospital I worked with in the past.
We want to build a culture where we work hard in a busy but fun environment. We want this hospital to be a place where we are positive and energized as we continue to make a difference, learn and grow and deliver amazing care and service.
We want to work together as a team, assume the best about others around us and care about how we individually impact the team and the culture. We want to show up at our best each day and feel rewarded by the difference we make in the pets’ lives and in the lives of the people that trust us to care for those pets.
We believe creating this kind of culture matters for our patients, our clients and for each other and we are each willing to work every day on becoming a team member that helps us move steadily towards this vision of the future.
As you can see, this vision uses the word “we” throughout because it represents the thoughts, hopes, and ideas of the team as a whole. It articulates what all of the employees in this practice are working to achieve and the commitment they’ve all made to each other.
Drafting a vision like this one is the first step to completely transforming your veterinary practice and creating the kind of culture you want and need to succeed. But why is it so important? And, why do you have to involve your employees in creating it? We tackle these questions and others in the following modules.
