"vmost" tool for aligning strategy

In the routine day-to-day activities it is easy to lose track of your original business strategy. Your strategies become redundant, vision and mission lose relevance, tactics may not lead to the results you want-and you may not even realize that you've inadvertently changed direction. VMOST tool helps avoid this by checking whether the five VMOST elements – Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics – are in alignment. It helps you re-connect to your vision, throw up problem areas you need to address and helps create and evaluate plans. 

Understanding the VMOST Tool

1. Vision – This is your organization's purpose, in terms of its values or how it goes about doing business. It should inspire staff, and help customers understand why they would want to use the company's products or services.
2. Mission – This is also your organization's purpose, but expressed in terms of key measures that must be reached to achieve your vision.
3. Objectives – These are specific goals that you must meet to achieve the mission.
4. Strategy – This is the overall plan you'll follow to meet your objectives.
5. Tactics – These are specific sets of actions needed to execute your strategy.

Looking from the top down, you need alignment because a clear vision drives the mission – which, in turn, lets you set your objectives or goals to achieve that mission. You design strategies to meet your objectives, and you implement your strategies with specific tactics or activities. Looking from the bottom up, your tactical actions should fulfill your strategies, which help you meet your objectives, which help you accomplish your mission, which, in turn, helps you realize your company's overall vision.

Use the Tool

Step 1: Choose the scope of your analysis. Do you want to assess how well your whole organization's day-to-day activities contribute to its vision? Or do you just want to focus on your own contribution, or that of your team? 

Step 2: Collect the five sets of information for the scope you chose in Step 1:

• Vision statement.
• Mission statement.
• Key objectives.
• Strategy document.
• Tactics used to deliver that strategy. 

Step 3: Answer the following questions:

• Do the key measures in your mission statement fit the values described in your vision statement?
• If you achieve the objectives, will the measures in the mission statement reach the levels described in the mission statement?
• Does your organization's strategy support the achievement of the objectives?
• Will your tactics deliver the strategy?

If the answer to every question in Step 3 is yes, you can be reassured that you, your team, or your entire organization – depending on your scope from Step 1 – contributes to your overall vision through your day-to-day activities.

However, if you answered no to any of the questions in Step 3, you need to adjust or redefine one or more of the VMOST elements. For example, if the tactics will not deliver the strategy – and if no tactics you can identify will deliver the strategy – you'll need to reconsider everything else.