Communicate the Mission to Keep Customers in Mind

Originally published in Forbes Tech Council

As you build out your company’s product, it’s important to always keep your customers in mind. But for developers who don’t interact with them on a daily basis, keeping the needs of your clients in mind can be tough.

Mission as a Decision Framework

Your business should have a mission and the IT department should have a mission as well. That mission should include creating a great product that customers enjoy using.

If you know your department’s mission and values, it’s easy to check the “will X help us meet our mission?” box.

This sounds simple, but it’s powerful. When a developer is deciding between two implementation approaches, or wondering whether to add a feature, or questioning if a shortcut is acceptable - having a clear mission gives them a framework for making that decision.

Without a mission, decisions get made based on what’s easiest, what’s most interesting technically, or what the loudest voice in the room wants. With a mission, decisions get made based on what serves the customer.

The mission doesn’t have to be elaborate. “Build tools that save our customers time” or “Make complex things simple” can be enough. What matters is that it’s clear, it’s communicated regularly, and it’s actually used as a decision-making tool.

When your entire team is aligned around the same mission, you spend less time in meetings debating priorities and more time building things that matter.