Why We Conducted This Study
At AchieveIt, we’re dedicated to helping organizations turn their strategies into action. That’s why we created the 2025 State of Strategy Execution Report—to uncover the biggest challenges, trends, and opportunities in strategic planning and execution.
To compile this report, we surveyed over 250 leaders from various industries, including private enterprises, public organizations, government agencies, healthcare, and higher education institutions. These leaders, ranging from directors to executives, shared their firsthand experiences on what drives strategic success—and what holds it back.
Download the full 2025 State of Strategy Execution Report here.
In this blog, we’ll break down the key themes that emerged from our findings and provide actionable takeaways to help your organization improve strategic execution. The six pillars we’ll explore are:
- Alignment & Leadership – A strong vision and engaged leaders are key to keeping teams aligned and driving strategy forward.
- Collaboration – Breaking down silos and working together fuels innovation and leads to better results on strategy.
- Accountability – Clearly defining roles and ownership helps teams move faster and stay focused on their goals.
- Progress Tracking – Keeping an eye on real-time updates and key metrics ensures things stay on track.
- Continuous Improvement – Regular check-ins, ROI assessments, and updates to planning cycles keep long-term success in focus.
- Data & Technology – Leveraging technology and data-driven insights improves alignment, decision-making, and execution.
1. Alignment & Leadership: Strategy Starts at the Top
A strong vision lays the groundwork for any successful strategy, but it takes an engaged leadership team to bring it to life. Leadership must do more than set the direction. Leaders need to actively communicate, reinforce, and adapt the vision throughout execution. Without a clear and well-communicated vision, teams can lose focus, priorities become misaligned, and progress slows. Leaders play a crucial role in keeping everyone aligned and moving toward shared goals.
What the data says:
- 91% of leaders cited a lack of strategic vision as a key reason plans fail.
- 68% of leaders believe their teams are not fully aligned with the organization’s strategic direction.
- 74% of respondents said a lack of cross-departmental visibility hampers execution.
Actionable Takeaways:
Define and Communicate a Clear Vision
A well-articulated vision ensures that every team member understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture. Regular updates through town halls, leadership messaging, and strategy-focused meetings help reinforce this alignment by breaking down long-term goals into actionable steps. Reinforce the vision consistently through town halls, leadership updates, and internal newsletters. Ensure leaders articulate how each initiative connects to the bigger picture so employees feel invested in the strategy.
Engage Leadership in Execution, Not Just Planning
Leaders should be actively involved in execution, removing obstacles, providing guidance, and celebrating milestones. Their engagement fosters trust and accountability, ensuring teams stay focused and motivated. Leaders should provide real-time guidance, remove roadblocks, and celebrate key wins to foster enthusiasm and commitment.
Break Down Silos
Encourage collaboration across teams by fostering a culture of transparency and shared objectives. Cross-functional meetings and integrated communication tools help keep everyone aligned and prevent duplication of work. Encourage open communication between teams through cross-functional meetings and company-wide strategy discussions. Creating shared objectives across departments strengthens alignment and collaboration, ensuring everyone is rowing in the same direction.
2. Collaboration: Break Down Silos to Drive Execution
Great strategies don’t happen in isolation. The best organizations create environments where teams collaborate effectively, share insights, and work toward common objectives. When silos exist, execution slows, innovation stalls, and misalignment becomes a major barrier to success.
What the data says:
- 77% of leaders said silos create barriers to achieving strategic initiatives.
- 79% of failed strategic initiatives can be attributed in part to poor collaboration.
- 32% of leaders reported that their goals don’t align with departmental objectives.
Actionable Takeaways:
Facilitate Cross-Functional Strategy Sessions
Bringing together different teams for open, structured strategy discussions fosters alignment, sparks new ideas, and removes bottlenecks. These sessions encourage transparency and collaboration, helping teams break out of their silos and find creative solutions together. When departments openly share challenges and insights, they build stronger connections and contribute to a more cohesive execution of strategic goals.
Encourage Shared Objectives
Teams perform better when they’re working toward shared goals rather than competing priorities. Aligning departments around common KPIs ensures that everyone is working together, rather than in isolation. Recognizing and rewarding collective achievements strengthens a culture of teamwork and makes it easier to drive large-scale initiatives that require cross-departmental effort.
Utilize Collaboration Tools
Collaboration isn’t just about meetings—it’s about equipping teams with the right tools to work together seamlessly. Strategy management platforms, shared dashboards, and real-time communication apps keep everyone informed, aligned, and moving forward. When teams have easy access to updates and shared data, they can make better decisions and avoid unnecessary delays.
3. Accountability: Establish Clear Roles and Ownership
When responsibilities are vague, execution suffers. Clearly defined roles ensure that initiatives move forward efficiently, and teams stay accountable for their contributions.
What the data says:
- 95% of leaders say that clear accountability improves strategic plan completion.
- 81% of organizations report that unclear accountability causes delays in execution.
- Teams with clear ownership are nearly twice as likely to meet deadlines and achieve project goals.
Actionable Takeaways:
Assign Ownership for Each Strategic Initiative
For every strategic initiative, there needs to be a clear owner who is responsible for driving execution. Without a designated leader, projects can stall or lose momentum. Defining ownership ensures accountability, streamlines decision-making, and creates a direct point of contact for problem-solving. When expectations are clear and measurable, teams can stay focused and move forward efficiently.
Implement Structured Check-Ins
Checking in regularly isn’t just about getting updates—it’s about keeping projects aligned, identifying potential roadblocks early, and making necessary adjustments. Structured check-ins create space for teams to discuss progress, troubleshoot issues, and ensure everyone is working toward the same strategic goals. These meetings should be productive, solution-oriented, and designed to keep momentum strong.
Celebrate Progress and Address Execution Gaps
Acknowledging progress is just as important as meeting the final goal. Recognizing milestones, whether big or small, builds morale and reinforces a culture of accountability. When execution gaps appear, leaders should take a proactive, solution-focused approach—identifying challenges, offering necessary support, and making course corrections without assigning blame. This keeps teams motivated and fosters a positive, high-performance work environment.
4. Progress Tracking: Ensure Goals Stay on Track
Consistent progress tracking helps organizations stay agile, adapt quickly, and ensure alignment with strategic goals. Without proper tracking, teams may struggle to measure success and make necessary adjustments in real-time.
What the data says:
- 66% of leaders believe that regular check-ins significantly increase goal achievement.
- Only 56% of organizations use KPIs or metrics to track progress.
- 79% of companies relying on manual data collection say it slows their ability to respond to strategic shifts.
Actionable Takeaways:
Standardize Progress Review Cycles
Establish a predictable cadence of progress update requests to analyze updates, spot trends, identify issues, and make informed decisions. Regular check-ins keep execution aligned with overarching strategic goals. Establish structured monthly or quarterly updates that include key stakeholders, data-driven discussions, and clear action items. These reviews should be proactive and solutions-focused, not just a formality.
Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Benchmarks
Develop clear KPIs to measure both short-term progress and long-term success. Ensure all metrics are accessible and consistently reviewed to drive meaningful improvements. Align KPIs with strategic objectives to measure progress effectively and quantitatively. Develop both leading and lagging indicators to capture immediate performance signals and long-term results. Keep metrics clear and easy to interpret.
Automate Update Collection and Reporting
Use digital tools to streamline progress tracking and reduce manual workload. Automating update collection allows for real-time insights that empower better decision-making. By leveraging technology to streamline progress updates, you can minimize errors and enhance visibility. Invest in real-time dashboards and workflow automation tools to provide instant access to key metrics and ensure teams make informed, timely decisions based on accurate information.
5. Continuous Improvement: Optimize for Long-Term Success
The best strategies evolve over time. Regular evaluations, ROI measurement, and strategic updates ensure that an organization remains agile, responsive, and positioned for sustained success.
What the data says:
- 82% of organizations that evaluate their strategic plans annually see improved goal achievement.
- 73% of organizations that consistently refine their execution processes report higher success rates.
- Organizations that update their plans yearly are 7 times more likely to foster teamwork and alignment.
Actionable Takeaways:
Conduct Regular Strategy Evaluations
Regular reviews help refine strategy based on real-world performance. Gathering insights from stakeholders ensures continuous alignment with company goals. Identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments. Encourage teams to reflect on successes, challenges, and lessons learned to refine future strategies.
Integrate ROI Measurement
Establish financial and operational metrics to gauge the success of initiatives. A well-defined ROI framework enables organizations to make data-backed adjustments to their strategic plans. Balance this across strategy execution by setting clear success metrics and tracking both financial and operational impacts. Move beyond cost-cutting measures to include productivity gains, customer satisfaction, and long-term growth.
Create a Feedback-Driven Culture
Encourage teams to share insights and lessons learned. Building an open culture where feedback is valued fosters innovation and continuous improvement. Open cultures are built by encouraging employees to share insights and recommendations on what’s working and what’s not. Leverage this information to make informed adjustments and continuously refine execution strategies.
6. Data & Technology: Leverage Tools to Drive Execution
Technology is a game-changer in strategy execution. Real-time data, automation, and always visible insights improve decision-making, enhance efficiency, and help organizations stay aligned with their strategic goals.
What the data says:
- 63% of organizations using technology for strategy tracking feel more confident in their long-term alignment.
- 87% of organizations say real-time data monitoring directly improves execution.
- Companies using real-time dashboards are 10 times more likely to improve their strategic outcomes.
Actionable Takeaways:
Adopt Real-Time Dashboards
Dashboards aren’t just for tracking numbers—they’re powerful tools that provide leadership with a clear, real-time picture of execution progress. When done right, dashboards help teams quickly identify trends, spot potential risks before they escalate, and make informed adjustments on the fly. A well-integrated dashboard should offer key performance insights at a glance, ensuring decision-makers have everything they need to keep strategy execution on track.
Use Automation and Public Visibility
Automation and visibility aren’t just buzzwords—they’re game changers for improving execution. Automating repetitive tasks frees up time for teams to focus on high-value initiatives that drive real impact. Meanwhile, having information publicly visible to applicable parties internally and externally displays the importance of strategy, refocusing priorities and commitment. When used effectively, automation and visibility help organizations stay ahead of challenges and make proactive, data-backed decisions.
Invest in Data Literacy and Training
Data is only useful if people know how to interpret and apply it. That’s why investing in data literacy is essential. Providing regular training, workshops, and user-friendly analytics tools empowers employees to confidently make data-driven decisions. When teams are comfortable working with data, they can extract meaningful insights, track progress effectively, and contribute to the overall success of the organization. A data-driven culture leads to smarter execution, better strategic alignment, and more impactful outcomes.
Final Thoughts: From Strategy to Impact
Strategic success isn’t just about creating a beautiful plan or setting ambitious goals—it’s about ensuring every individual and team is empowered to execute. The most effective organizations build a culture of alignment, accountability, and continuous improvement, leveraging technology and data to drive smarter decisions. For them, execution isn’t a one-time effort, but an ongoing process that requires agility, collaboration, and clear measurement.
As Joe Krause, SVP of Strategy Consulting at AchieveIt, noted: “Strategic planning isn’t just about setting goals—it’s about ensuring every team is aligned, engaged, and moving in the same direction.”
To take your execution to the next level, download the full 2025 State of Strategy Execution Report for deeper insights and best practices. Learn how AchieveIt can help your organization stay on track, enhance visibility, and turn your strategic vision into measurable outcomes.
Let’s turn your strategy into accomplishments.
