Aligning Team Goals With Resource Allocation

A product only scales when its strategy is tied directly to business goals. Otherwise, features become noise, and teams burn months on “nice to have” work that doesn’t move revenue, retention, or efficiency. Business alignment means: ✓ Every feature connects to metrics that matter ✓ Every design decision supports growth or cost optimization ✓ The roadmap speaks the same language as the leadership team. ⸻ Example: Healthcare Case I worked with a medical SaaS platform that had a backlog of 120+ features. Developers pushed new releases every two weeks, but churn was growing and revenue wasn’t scaling. I ran a UX–Business audit: — Mapped every feature to a business KPI — Cut 40% of backlog items that had zero business impact. — Rebuilt the roadmap so that every quarter focused on one clear business lever . Result after 3 months: ✓ Customer support tickets dropped by 22% ✓ Retention improved by 15% because patients were guided better through their journey. ✓ Leadership got visibility: for the first time, the roadmap was linked directly to revenue forecasts. ⸻ Example: Fintech Case In a fintech startup, leadership struggled to raise the next round because their pitch deck showed features, not impact. I restructured the product narrative: — Aligned UX flows with financial metrics: fewer failed transactions, faster onboarding, higher account activation. — Designed a demo around money saved and money earned, not UI screenshots. — Synced the product roadmap with the CFO’s model, so investors could see cause–effect clearly. The outcome: They closed a $7M round. Investors saw a product tied to growth levers, not just design polish. ⸻ My takeaway Business alignment is not paperwork. It’s the discipline of turning UX work into financial outcomes. When I step in, I translate design into numbers the boardroom understands — retention, efficiency, growth. That’s how design stops being a cost center and becomes a driver of business decisions. ⸻ I’ve spent over 8 years in UX and 7 years in branding, marketing, and PR. What I do is not just design — I architect clarity between product and business goals. That’s why my work stabilizes teams, speeds up decision-making, and helps products grow in markets under pressure. 

“OKRs Don’t Work for Startups.” Wrong. Most founders just set them up to fail. Some say OKRs don’t fit startups - too corporate, too rigid, too slow. Then they roll them out anyway: 10 goals. 20 initiatives. A 15-person team. • Rebrand the website (and overhaul positioning) • Double ARR (while slashing CAC) • Fix churn (without adding headcount) • Ship 3 major features (and revamp the roadmap) • Hire Sales, RevOps & CS - ASAP • ... All in a single quarter Three months later? Nothing has changed. Most startups don’t have an OKR problem. They have a focus problem. "I recently led a masterclass on OKRs for a VC firm with a portfolio of 15+ Series A+ startups. Across the board, the same struggles kept surfacing: ↳ Founders frustrated when OKRs don’t drive results. ↳ Teams overwhelmed because priorities keep shifting. ↳ Execution stalled because the team isn’t aligned with the big picture. The fix isn’t ditching OKRs - it’s implementing them the right way. Here is how to make OKRs that actually work: 1/ Set the right foundation (top of the strategy pyramid) ↳ Align the team on Mission, Vision & Values (pivot if needed, but start with direction) ↳ Set 3-5 strategic objectives that truly move the business forward ↳ Lock in at least a 6-month focus - no shiny object syndrome. 2/ Align the team upfront ↳ Assign clear owners for each objective ↳ Define key initiatives that will drive measurable progress. ↳ Keep teams lean, focused and accountable 3/ Track weekly, adjust quarterly ↳ Measure leading indicators weekly, report on outcomes ↳ Identify blockers early and adjust execution, not strategy ↳ Avoid constantly resetting OKRs - adapt execution instead. 4/ Revisit & refine OKRs quarterly ↳ Assess what worked and what didn’t; don’t roll over old goals. ↳ Refine based on execution learnings and adjust initiatives & ownership. ↳ Set OKRs that align with the next stage; don’t keep what’s no longer relevant. OKRs don’t fail startups. Startups fail their OKRs. What’s your experience with OKRs? ♻ Share this with a founder who needs to see it. And follow Mariya Valeva for more

“Should we add more CSMs, or add more CS Ops?” It’s the allocation question every CS leader faces as budgets tighten and expectations rise. The wrong choice can damage customer retention, blow the budget, or both. The best CS leaders are following a simple formula: Make tech investments where they create efficiency. Make human investments where they generate retention and growth. The Clear Division of Labor Technology excels at tasks requiring consistency, speed, and scale where human judgment isn’t critical: • Administrative work and data processing • Routine communications and follow-ups • Process orchestration and workflow management Humans excel at tasks requiring judgment, creativity, and strategic thinking: • Strategic guidance and complex problem-solving • Relationship building and value creation conversations • Turning satisfied customers into advocates But here’s where segmentation changes everything. Segmentation Drives Everything What works for enterprise accounts doesn’t work for SMBs: High-value segments require human investment. The impact on retention and growth justifies the cost. High-volume segments require tech investment. They value speed and reliability, and unit economics demand efficient delivery. Scaling Isn’t Just Automation — It’s Trust Many CS leaders assume scaling means automating everything. But trust - the foundation of customer success - scales through a strategic blend of tech and human touch: Trust scales through consistency- Reliable delivery of promises, whether automated or human Trust scales through competence- AI-powered insights helping CSMs provide better guidance Trust scales through transparency- Proactive updates that keep customers informed Trust scales through personalization - Understanding unique needs at scale The Resource Allocation Framework Your segmentation strategy drives your resource allocation decisions. Map your customer journey by segment and classify touchpoints as either: • Efficiency-focused (perfect for tech) • Growth-focused (requiring human investment) Then audit where you’re using expensive human resources on automatable tasks, and where you’re using automation for interactions that demand human judgment. CS organizations that execute this principle operate with fundamentally better unit economics. They deliver personalized, strategic value to high-value customers while serving high-volume customers efficiently. They aren’t choosing between efficiency and growth - they’re achieving both. The framework is simple: tech for efficiency, humans for growth. But applying it requires knowing your customers well enough to understand which approach builds the most trust with each segment. Where are you misallocating resources between tech and human investments?

This is your friendly planning season reminder that if you are ONLY using some sort of effort/outcome score to prioritize your roadmap, you’re only part way there. Effort/outcome scores are a great way to identify the most efficient things to do – but they don’t account for: ❌ % of goals met ❌ Goal distribution across your portfolio ❌ Key foundational levers ❌ R&D/Innovation ❌ Run the Engine / Care and Feeding ❌ Timing factors ❌ Competitive threats ❌ Changes in the market ❌ Changes in technology Almost invariably (YMMV), your outcomes will suffer BUT it won’t be clear why since you prioritized your roadmap! Better is to: ✅ Create a goal-oriented roadmap so that every effort is aligned with a strategic goal (this is the O from your OKRs, if you use those) ✅ Develop clear success metrics and manage to those metrics, not just perception ✅ Determine what % of your team’s efforts should be applied to each objective across your portfolio, including things like Innovation (fun!) and Care and Feeding (oft forgotten) ✅ Use MOAR - Metrics Over Available Resources - as your scoring tool, as this will help you align efforts with those goals and account for outcomes in addition to monetization (I know, but leading indicators, trust me) ✅  Implement Responsive Product Portfolio Management, where you align, allocate/re-allocate, and adjust in an iterative cycle based on the metrics you’re seeing, and changes in the market/tech/competition. We all end up in annual planning, and the New Year can be a great time to kick off excellent new product habits. See if you can get your team aligned around these and watch the magic happen 🪄 ______ I’m Lisa Schneider. As a fractional CPO, I help founders and CEOs identify the right things to build to align with business goals, provide frameworks for prioritization and cross-functional alignment, build outcome-based roadmaps, and streamline teams and processes to deliver faster. Reach out any time if you’d like to learn more or just brainstorm. 🔔 Follow me and ring the bell on my profile to get notified of new posts. #startup #fractionalcpo #roadmap #productmanagement #strategicplanning