I recently had the immense pleasure of hosting a roundtable for the RevOps Masters community with two professionals I deeply admire, Arielle Balogun and Matthew Dickert. Our conversation, "From Silos to Systems: Designing Rev Ops for Cross-Team Accountability," dove into the essential, human-centric challenges at the heart of building a successful revenue engine.
We explored the friction that arises when teams are misaligned and the strategies needed to transform isolated departments into a cohesive, high-performing system. Arriel, a RevOps Career Coach and founder of Infinitely Elevated, focuses on the "human that's actually doing the work, not just the work to be done".
Matthew, founder of Vistara Advisory, specializes in building the "connective tissue" of data and processes that helps organizations grow.
Here are the key takeaways from our powerful discussion.
The Cornerstone of Collaboration: Trust
The conversation immediately centered on a single, foundational concept: trust. Without it, no system, process, or tool can succeed.
Matthew kicked things off by emphasizing the need for trust in the data. When every department—from marketing to sales to customer success—is confident they are looking at the same information, it creates a foundation for unified action. This confidence is built through transparent processes and regular communication, like weekly cadences or "show and tell" sessions where teams can align on how they interpret data.
Arriel expanded on this, highlighting that trust must extend beyond data to include processes, leadership, and fellow team members. At the end of the day, people are at the core of every system, and building a bridge between Revenue Operations and People Operations is critical. As I mentioned during our chat, trust isn't like a vase that shatters permanently; it's more like a house that can be damaged but then repaired and reinforced to become even stronger. The key is having systems in place that allow trust to be rebuilt and maintained over time.
Proactive Frameworks for Fostering Accountability
A major theme was the fear of failure that often drives teams to retreat into silos. To counter this, Arielle introduced the powerful concept of a pre-mortem.
What is a Pre-Mortem? A pre-mortem is the opposite of a post-mortem. It’s a ritual where the team gets together
before a project begins to ask, "What’s the worst-case scenario?". By identifying all potential points of failure upfront, you can work backward to create solutions and contingency plans, removing fear and fostering alignment from the start.
Matthew added another valuable ritual: the "show and tell." Instead of a standard, formal meeting, this is an opportunity for different teams to share what they’re working on, demonstrate new tech, and learn from one another in a collaborative setting. This approach encourages colleagues to challenge ideas constructively and look for blind spots, knowing their input is valued.
To ensure these lessons aren't lost, Arriel recommended creating a "lessons learned" repository. Before starting a new project, teams can consult this repository to avoid repeating past mistakes, which is a fundamental way to build and maintain trust.
Defining Roles to Reduce Friction: The RACI Model
To improve knowledge transfer and reduce operational friction, clear roles and responsibilities are non-negotiable. Arriel championed the RACI model as one of her "saviors as an operator".
She explained the acronyms for our audience:
- RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed): This framework clarifies exactly who is doing the work, who owns the outcome, who needs to provide input, and who simply needs to be kept in the loop. This prevents people from stumbling over each other and ensures clarity across teams.
- OKR (Objectives and Key Results): This defines what the team is trying to accomplish (the objective) and how they will measure success (the key results).
- KPI (Key Performance Indicators): These are the metrics that show whether you are on the right track toward achieving your OKRs.
By using a simple one-pager that outlines the RACI model, key milestones, and the executive sponsor for an initiative, everyone gains a clear understanding of the project's structure and goals.
Documentation as Empowerment
Matthew offered a brilliant "bottom-up" perspective on documentation, framing it as a tool for empowerment and knowledge transfer. The goal isn't to create massive binders that no one reads. Instead, it's about making resources accessible and enabling team members to "self-serve" their learning.
Effective documentation includes:
- Practical Playbooks that are easy to follow.
- Embedded Tooltips and help text directly inside platforms like your CRM.
- Recorded Videos of processes that people can pause and revisit as needed.
The ultimate question is: if a team member gets stuck, how easy is it for them to get unstuck on their own?. Effective documentation reduces friction and allows people to be fearless in their work.
Final Thoughts
This conversation reinforced just how much empathy and understanding are required for effective team collaboration. Moving from silos to systems is about more than just technology and metrics; it’s about fostering a culture of learning, joint problem-solving, and shared accountability.
I am incredibly grateful to Arriel and Matthew for sharing their expertise.
To connect with them and learn more about their work, please visit:
- Arriel Balagun: infinitelyelevated.com
- Matthew Dickert: vistaraadvisory.com
Terence Latimer is an Information Communications & Technology professional, consultant, and entrepreneur based in the Mojave Desert.
I write about my experience in startups, tech, and the art of business. I’m also the Founder of Latimer Digital, a creative technology agency.
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