Vision Planning Step 1 – Examine your values 
The first step in the vision planning process is simply to develop a list of key "values" for the group involved in the BAM project. Values are the characteristics we use to gauge the "rightness" and direction of our activities. Things like ethics, honesty, quality, etc. are typical values.
Remember that there are values involved in many aspects of our lives.
- Spiritual values – influence our daily lives as we keep Christ in our work and activities
- Family values – affect our closest personal relationships
- Work values – make a statement about how we apply work ethic to our actions
- Education values – influence learning in our organizations
- Personal values – show who we are in terms such as honesty, integrity,…
You can easily engage your team in the process of creating this list of values. In your vision planning meeting, have each member develop an individual list of their own values. This will take about 10 minutes. Then have each member select the 3 or 4 they consider most important. Each member can discuss his or her 3-4 top values. Consolidate these on a flip chart. This is a list that you want in front of the group, as they work on the development of their vision. It is a guage, or touchstone, to keep things headed in the right direction.
Examine your list of core values in relation to the purposes and plan for your BAM project. Ask yourself a couple of key questions:
- Are these the values that are essential to project success? Why or why not?
- Are there any values missing that might be critical to the project? Explain these. For example, if your project involves a school, make sure that educational values are included in your value set. This might encompass or include values such as “learning by doing,” “quality and honestly of presentations”, and more
- How will you cultivate key values within your team?
This process of identifying values is a simple step, but it is important. If we begin to form a vision plan that is not congruent with our core values, that could be a serious problem.
Next time we look at creating a “picture” of the ideal for our BAM project.
Blessings,
Larry
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