For many new Revenue Operations (RevOps) leaders, a common misstep is either not having a roadmap or letting it collect dust after the first quarter. In a function designed to bring structure and focus to cross-functional execution, this is a critical oversight.
As a RevOps leader you have several tools in your kit that will help you succeed:
Role charter: what the heck does RevOps even do?
Roadmap: where the heck is RevOps going?
Team tenets: what are our operating values? on what ethos do we do what we do?
OKRs and Goals: what are our team’s goals for the year?
Plan and Target: what benchmarks do we need to hit? These are naturally goals.
Operating model: what is the MATH of what we plan to accomplish? How many leads? How many deals? How many wins? How many renewals and expansions?
Data dictionary: make sure we’re all keeping track of the score and we know how points are put on the board
Prioritization methods: in a world of many priorities, what will you decide to work on?
Investment cases: in a world where you have constraints, when and how do you advocate for support?
Communication: I don’t even teach this in my class but I should. How do you effectively communicate and be persuasive?
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So this week I’d like to talk about Roadmaps. If you don’t control your roadmap.
Trust me.
Someone else will. They will own that roadmap of yours and you won’t own your time.
Roadmaps
Dont’ recreate the wheel here. Product leaders have been doing this well before RevOps did it. Steal it.
Here’s a Product example of a roadmap:
What I like about this is it creates a sequence of events. It also shows concurrency with projects. The color coding does a nice job of conveying criticality to the business.
When you build your RevOps Roadmap make sure you think about the rocks in a jar.
There are only so many rocks you can have in your jar. I’ll repost what I wrote in January:
The Story of the Professor and the Jar of Rocks
One day, a professor stood before her class holding a large, empty glass jar. Beside her were three containers: one filled with big rocks, another with small pebbles, and the last with fine sand.
She began the lesson by filling the jar with the big rocks until no more could fit. Turning to her students, she asked, "Is the jar full?"
"Yes," they replied.
The professor smiled and picked up the container of pebbles. She poured them into the jar, shaking it slightly so the pebbles settled into the spaces between the big rocks. Again, she asked, "Is the jar full now?"
The students, catching on, hesitated but replied, "Yes."
The professor then picked up the container of sand and poured it into the jar. The fine grains trickled into every remaining gap, filling the spaces between the rocks and pebbles. Once more, she asked, "Now, is the jar full?"
This time, the students laughed and said, "Yes!"
The professor nodded. "This jar represents your life—or, in a business context, your time and resources. The big rocks are the most important things: your goals, priorities, and relationships. The pebbles are smaller tasks and responsibilities that support your big rocks. The sand is everything else—distractions, minor details, and unimportant tasks."
She continued, "If you start by filling the jar with sand, there won’t be room for the pebbles or the big rocks. The same is true for how you spend your time. Focus on the big rocks first—what matters most—then fit the smaller priorities and, if there's room, the distractions."
A student raised their hand. "What if we don't have room for everything?"
The professor smiled knowingly. "Then it’s time to reevaluate your rocks."
Don’t take on more than you can chew
If you’re a team of one and you sign up for 5 major initiatives this quarter. You will fail. Or flail.
Rightsize what you “fund” with your time and resources. Be realistic about what you can take on.
In January I wrote about roadmaps but remember, a roadmap is a living-and-breathing document. Meaning, the roadmap can change at any time.
Why a Static Roadmap Fails
RevOps leaders operate in a dynamic environment where:
New information surfaces constantly
Priorities shift in response to executive input or market conditions
Initiatives don’t always go according to plan
Just as a product team iterates on its roadmap based on learnings and feedback, a RevOps team must do the same. A roadmap should be a living, breathing communication tool — not a one-time deliverable.
A Repeatable Quarterly Roadmap Process
To drive consistency and transparency across stakeholders, consider this three-month cadence as a model for your team:
End of Current Quarter (Last 1–2 weeks):
Finalize and review current quarter initiatives
Confirm priorities for the upcoming quarter
Communicate the status of ongoing initiatives
Proactively manage risks and flag delays
Month 1 of New Quarter:
Close out remaining deliverables
Celebrate completed work and recognize team efforts
Allow time for the team to reset
Communicate the shift to new strategic priorities
Begin intake of new cross-functional requests
Month 2:
Score new initiatives using a tool like the Effort-Impact Matrix
My previous article on prioritization methodologies. I highly suggest a weighted scorecard version of an Effort-Impact Matrix
Conduct scoping exercises to define level of effort
Begin stakeholder alignment and resourcing conversations
Month 3:
Finalize prioritization
Begin sequencing and capacity planning
Prepare for next quarter’s roadmap review
Repeat the process
Hands-on keyboard work is the LEAST amount of time for a project
As a technologist when I hear a business problem I immediately think about how much time it will take me to build such-and-such within Salesforce or other platform. But rarely do I factor in how much time it will take me for the ENTIRE project. Going back to my days in consulting here’s a classic project management framework:
Requirements gathering
Design
Build/configure
Test
Deploy / Go Live
Hypercare / Ongoing support
Build/configure is just one of the six phases! So if you say it’s going to take 10 hours for this project. Then you should try a big fat multiplier. Double or triple it. The amount of time you spend in requirements gathering, testing, and support will surprise you. Always buffer time.
Lessons Learned in the Field
As someone who’s seen these pitfalls firsthand, here are a few principles worth internalizing:
Understand Capacity: Taking on too many initiatives — especially high-effort projects — without clear resourcing leads to burnout and credibility loss. Be realistic about your team’s bandwidth.
If Dan on your team is a Salesforce admin but you need some Marketo support. You’re not likely to get fast and reliable results out of Dan are you?
If Mike on your team is the data scientist but you need help building a pitch deck, then that’s probably not the tree you want to bark at.
Know which team members can take on which initiatives.
Remember the project tradeoffs between price, speed, and quality. Very rarely are you able to achieve maximal marks on all three.
Own the Roadmap: If you don’t actively maintain your roadmap, others will make decisions for you. Use your roadmap to frame tradeoffs and investment needs. It’s your best defense against ad hoc project overload.
Communicate Often: A roadmap isn’t just for planning — it sets expectations with leadership and signals to your team where the function is heading. It’s a unifying tool that creates shared accountability.
Be Transparent About Risks: If your team is falling behind, call it out early and build mitigation plans. Silence or avoidance erodes trust — and trust is foundational to the RevOps function.
Anchor to Cadence: Establishing and following a monthly and quarterly rhythm instills operational rigor and predictability. It helps your team and stakeholders stay focused and aligned.
Communicate that your roadmap has changed. Snapshot it. You should have Roadmap-Q1 and Roadmap-Q2. It will change. Snapshot that thing.
RevOps leaders are increasingly being asked to play a strategic role in shaping go-to-market performance. A living roadmap is essential. Treat it like you would a product backlog: constantly groomed, continuously informed by feedback, and always aligned to broader business outcomes.
Let your roadmap be your voice — both upward to executives and across to the teams you support.
If you’re a paid user here’s a communication guide for you to work with your stakeholders:
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