What are the biggest frustrations you have as a revenue operations manager?

I think my biggest frustration is generally around "time in the day" and "goal post-shifting without proper foresight."

With these challenges, you have to focus on what you have control over. Unfortunately, I have not been able to figure out how to add hours to the day, so instead, I have to drive clear prioritization and delegation (and sub-prioritization throughout the team) to make sure that we are focused on the right outputs at the right time to drive business value. This also requires the necessity of being able to properly set expectations with stakeholders as to why their request is being de-prioritized, etc.

What I have found is that if you as a RevOps leader are organized around what you are focused on, delivery dates, and prioritization it becomes an easy conversation with stakeholders when you look at stack ranking against capacity - but if you are not able to properly communicate and articulate roadmap/prioritization it makes it harder to justify why.

Businesses change - but ensuring that Revenue Operations is not at the tail end of the shift is critical. We talk a lot about Revenue Operations getting a seat at the table and it's important to remember that seats are earned and not given. However, having foresight into what business decisions might cause an impact before the decision is made allows Revenue Operations to properly work through requirements and timelines necessary to set expectations upfront with business leaders. This is where having clear roadmaps, prioritization, and timelines are very helpful.

Instead of saying "This is going to be a lot of work" be able to articulate why it is a lot of work (remember who your audience is - if technical or not) and why the work is critical to the success of the project and by doing this what has to change due to the capacity of your team.

I have yet to work on a team that is not operating at full capacity - so if something comes in - something has to come out (or more resources are needed).

I prefer to frame the challenges I face as a Revenue Operations manager not as frustrations, but as crucial considerations that influence how I allocate my time and resources over the coming months. A common issue is that Revenue Operations teams are often under-resourced relative to the size and needs of the organizations they support. It can take years to build a team with the capacity and expertise needed to scale operations effectively alongside rapid business growth.

• The ongoing challenge is aligning the needs of the business with the capabilities of my team, deciding which initiatives are most critical for short-term success while planning for long-term scalability. This often means making tough decisions about prioritizing tasks that will deliver the highest value. Invariably, the needs of the business will outpace the capacity of the team at times, necessitating a strategic evaluation of what's truly essential.

• The most successful Revenue Operations leaders excel in articulating the business value of expanding their teams. They effectively communicate the potential risks and opportunity costs of understaffing to stakeholders, ensuring that resources are allocated to support growth adequately. This isn't unique to Revenue Operations—every functional leader must assess whether their team can meet the business's needs and advocate for the necessary resources to succeed.

This aspect of the role requires a nuanced understanding of how to balance immediate operational demands with strategic investments in team capability. It involves ongoing communication with other leaders to align on priorities and ensure that the Revenue Operations team can continue to support the organization's growth and adapt to changing market conditions.