Secrets of Successful Strategy Implementation

We know that local government and public sector organizations that follow through on their strategic vision reap significant benefits—everything from providing better services, to optimizing resources, to building trust with their communities. However, it’s a poorly kept secret that many organizations fail when it comes to strategy. In fact, some studies suggest that as many as 90% of organizations fail to execute on their strategies successfully.

This is a sobering statistic, particularly in an era where almost every organization is encouraged to view a strategic plan as a key driver of success. But having a strategic plan is not the same as carrying out effective strategy implementation. Many organizations invest significant time, money, and resources developing a strategic plan, only to fail at embedding it into daily operations and decision-making.

If you’re one of those organizations looking to move from planning to action, don’t worry—you’re not alone. In this article, we’re sharing the secrets of successful strategy implementation and the tools and technology that can help you translate vision into measurable results.

Let’s get started.

Strategy Secret 1: Going From Planning to Action Requires Different Skills

Do you have a strategic plan but feel unsure of how to move forward? That’s a common challenge—and it’s often the first hurdle in strategy implementation.

Many of our Envisio customers begin right here, and it’s easy to understand why. There’s no shortage of firms, consultants, and technologies to support strategic planning, but there are far fewer resources dedicated to turning high-level goals—such as “be more diverse” or “make our city more sustainable”—into actionable steps with relevant performance measures. Those steps are the backbone of strategy implementation, helping you track progress and demonstrate impact to stakeholders.

At Envisio, we believe developing an operational or action plan is just as important as creating the strategic plan itself. Successful strategy implementation requires a completely different skill set from strategic planning—skills like translating priorities into measurable performance indicators, breaking big ideas into smaller, achievable tasks, and ensuring leadership drives engagement from the top down.

Want to dig deeper into the difference between planning and doing? You can learn more about why you need both a strategic plan and an action plan here. But for now, let’s move to…

Strategy Secret 2: You Need to Get S.M.A.R.T.

We talk a lot about the S.M.A.R.T. framework at Envisio because it’s one of the most reliable ways to turn intangible, broad strategic goals into actionable steps that drive real strategy implementation.

Here’s an example from our implementation specialists.

Strategic Priority: Designing our community for people, not cars.

Strategy: Convert more miles of existing roadways to “pedestrian and cycle-friendly standards.”

Action: Achieve a 10% increase in the miles of current roads with sidewalks and bike lanes that meet standards defined in the Active Transportation Plan.

By applying the S.M.A.R.T. criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—we transform a vision into a clear, trackable component of strategy implementation. This approach ensures every action ties back to the bigger picture while still being concrete enough to measure and report on effectively.

Strategy Secret 3: Successful Strategy Implementation Starts at the Top

Again and again, our most successful customers tell us that leadership buy-in is non-negotiable. Engaged, committed leaders are the catalysts for strategy implementation. They help keep the plan visible, ensure it’s reflected in budgeting and resource allocation, and reinforce its importance across the organization.

Engaging employees is equally important. Organizations that connect staff to the strategic plan see higher productivity and reduced turnover. By involving employees in shaping the plan, maintaining open communication, and making strategy part of everyday conversations, you build a culture of shared responsibility for successful strategy implementation.

To keep employees engaged over the long term, tracking and reporting must be straightforward—and ideally, rewarding. This is where a strategic software partner like Envisio makes a difference, giving teams clear visibility into their contributions and progress.

Strategy Secret 4: Measuring and Reporting on Performance is Crucial

A core part of strategy implementation is performance measurement—knowing exactly where you stand against your strategic priorities. Without measurement, it’s impossible to evaluate progress or adjust course effectively.

When implementing strategy, it’s just as important to know what not to measure. Unnecessary metrics drain resources and clutter reports without driving real progress. By focusing on meaningful measures, you can deliver clear insights into resource allocation, program effectiveness, and service quality.

Measurement alone isn’t enough—you also need to communicate your results. At Envisio, we recommend using a public-facing dashboard to share progress with residents and stakeholders. This tool keeps strategy implementation transparent, builds trust, and turns abstract goals into visible achievements.

Internally, a regular performance reporting cadence—quarterly or monthly—helps keep all teams aligned. The key is consistency. Reliable, timely updates strengthen accountability and keep strategy implementation moving forward, even when external conditions change.

Strategy Secret 5: Leverage a Technology Partner

Implementing a strategy is complex, but the right tools can make it far more manageable. A dedicated strategy implementation platform like Envisio streamlines planning, performance tracking, and reporting—helping organizations stay on track without overloading staff.

Real-World Example: How the City of Corona Powers Strategy Implementation

A great example of technology-enabled strategy implementation comes from the City of Corona, California, whose public dashboard offers a transparent, data-driven view of their strategic priorities. One of their key focus areas—“Enhance City Strategy”—shows how a dynamic planning process, grounded in performance measurement, can guide budget decisions and operational priorities.

Their dashboard outlines specific actions, performance indicators, and progress updates that keep strategy implementation visible for staff, leadership, and residents alike. They’re working on leveraging tech to keep their Strategic Plan revised every four years with input from multiple relevant parties. They’re also using an open data portal to increase transparency and resident engagement, which complements their dashboard efforts nicely.

By tracking each initiative with clear metrics and updating progress in real time, Corona ensures their strategy implementation stays on track and aligned with community needs. Their example demonstrates how a public-facing dashboard not only enhances transparency, but also provides a framework for evaluating success, making budget decisions, and engaging leaders in the process.

Get started on your strategy implementation!

A well-crafted strategic plan is only the starting point. The real challenge, and the real opportunity, lies in strategy implementation. By translating high-level priorities into actionable steps, engaging leadership and staff, measuring what matters, and leveraging technology to track and share progress, you can transform your plan from a document into a driver of measurable change.

The organizations that succeed are those that treat strategy implementation as an ongoing, organization-wide commitment. They make their plans visible, tie daily work to long-term goals, and use data not only to report results, but to adapt and improve.

At Envisio, we’ve seen firsthand how public sector organizations can move from planning to action—and sustain momentum—with the right approach and the right tools. Whether it’s building a performance dashboard, creating SMART actions, or streamlining reporting, we’re here to help you turn your strategic vision into real-world impact.

Book a demo with our team today, and start building the foundation for successful strategy implementation.

Mary King

Mary King is a professional writer and researcher based in Toronto. She comes to Envisio with a Masters Degree, where she researched the relationship between the disappearance of urban public spaces, and high level decision-making processes in local governments.

For nearly a decade, Mary has worked as a community organizer, promoter, and supportive researcher in a variety of nonprofits and think-tanks, and her favorite area of focus was in connecting local artists with marginalized youth. Since 2017, her writings and research on policy, local governance, and its relationship to public art and public space has been presented at conferences internationally. She has also served as both a conference chair and lead facilitator on professional and academic conferences across Canada on how to better bridge academic research with local change-agents, policy makers, artists, and community members.

Envisio’s mission of excellence and trust in the public sector maps onto Mary's interest in local government and community mobilization. She loves working at Envisio because she cares about having well organized, strategic, and transparent public organizations and local governments. Mary is also a creative writer and musician and has been supported in her practice by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her stories can be found in literary journals across Canada.

More By This Author