Marketing Operations Audit & Enablement
An objective, operations-led assessment to reduce friction, improve execution quality, and strengthen MarTech workflows and cross-team trust at scale.
Background Context
Rocket Software’s MarTech & Marketing Operations team supported a complex, high-volume execution environment across multiple tools and stakeholders. While the function was critical to marketing success, growing friction across teams signaled a need to pause, listen, and reassess how the group was operating. I was asked to step in as an objective, operations-minded partner to help guide the team toward stronger outcomes.
The problem
During a period when the Head of MarTech & Ops was on parental leave, the VP of Digital Transformation and Innovation engaged me to conduct an unbiased assessment of the team’s current state. Feedback across marketing indicated that processes felt rigid, workflows were difficult to navigate, and requesters struggled to understand why certain steps existed — all of which was impacting trust, adoption, and execution.
What wasn’t working
Complex workflows that felt disconnected from requester needs
Rigid processes that limited flexibility without improving outcomes
Added steps that lacked clear rationale or context
Growing negative sentiment toward the MarTech & Ops function
Execution risk despite increased process overhead
Core Objectives
Primary goals
Objectively assess MarTech & Ops workflows and ways of working
Surface shared pain points directly from impacted stakeholders
Reduce friction while improving quality, clarity, and confidence
Support the team in strengthening how they partnered with marketing
Establish a practical roadmap of quick wins and longer-term improvements
Scope
Enterprise B2B marketing organization
Jira, Marketo, Salesforce, Adobe
Cross-functional stakeholders across Marketing, Sales, and Operations
High-volume campaign and email execution
My Approach
I approached this work as a listening-led operational audit paired with change management. Rather than arriving with solutions, I focused first on understanding lived experience across teams and translating that insight into clear, actionable improvements.
Designing the operating model
Conducted a listening tour, meeting 1:1 with stakeholders across marketing
Created space for candid feedback without defensiveness or attribution
Synthesized recurring themes into clear, shared pain points
Framed findings to reflect systemic issues rather than individual behavior
Standardizing inputs
Audited intake, approval, and execution workflows across tools
Identified where complexity had accumulated without improving outcomes
Developed a structured action plan balancing immediate fixes with sustainable change
Driving adoption
Socialized findings with empathy and clarity to build shared understanding
Partnered closely with MarTech & Ops leadership to pressure-test recommendations
Helped reframe processes around enablement, clarity, and requester experience
Scaling capacity
Identified where education and clearer guidance would reduce downstream friction
Introduced training, documentation, and simplified standards to support consistent execution
Leading through influence
Embedded myself as a trusted consultant to the MarTech & Ops team
Established a bi-weekly working cadence with the Head of MarTech & Ops and his direct reports
Applied proven change-management practices from my experience evolving Creative Services
Supported the team in clarifying their vision, strengthening alignment, and evolving how they worked together
Business Impact
Operational improvements
Clear, shared understanding of where workflows were creating friction
Actionable roadmap grounded in real stakeholder feedback
Simplified, more intuitive processes for requesters
Improved quality and reduced execution risk through clearer ownership
Stronger internal alignment and confidence within the MarTech & Ops team
Decline in negative feedback as workflows stabilized and trust rebuilt
Impact areas
Operational efficiency: Reduced unnecessary steps and handoffs
Quality & consistency: Earlier clarity and more effective QA
Visibility & decision-making: Better alignment between intent and execution
Organizational maturity: Shift toward enablement-driven operations
Key Reflections
What mattered most
Creating psychological safety for honest feedback allowed real issues to surface and be addressed constructively.
Lasting insights
Operational improvement is as much about relationships and clarity as it is about process. When teams understand why work is done a certain way, adoption and quality follow.
Listening created alignment faster than prescriptive solutions
Most friction stemmed from lack of context, not resistance
Change accelerated once teams felt understood rather than evaluated
Trust was the prerequisite for sustainable improvement