Why Do Marketing and Operations Teams Struggle to Work Together?
Here’s a question no one ever answers directly:
Why do your marketing and operations teams secretly hate working together?
Not in a dramatic, throw-a-chair-across-the-room way. It’s quieter than that.
It shows up in passive-aggressive Slack messages.
In projects stuck in “rev 7 of 3” purgatory.
In the awkward silence when someone asks, “Can ops even deliver this?”
And worst of all—it shows up in lost time, missed launches, and campaigns that never make it to market.
🎙️ In this episode of Special Ops, Emma Rainville welcomes Yara Golden—one of the sharpest minds in messaging and team leadership—to unpack the real reason for the silent war between marketing and ops.
Spoiler: It’s not your team’s fault.
Listen in on the episode:
“Just Hire Smart People” — The Lie That Breaks Teams
Hiring “smart people” seems like the responsible thing to do. It’s how most founders justify vague job roles early on.
“They’re smart. They’ll figure it out.”
But that logic breaks fast once the business gets traction.
Being smart ≠ being operationally strong
Being smart ≠ being creatively aligned
Being smart ≠ thriving in a misaligned role
Founders often hire a generalist—someone who seems good at everything—and throw them into an impossible hybrid role:
Like hiring a CMO and expecting them to also build SOPs, manage projects, enforce deadlines, track KPIs, and fix fulfillment.
All while being the brand visionary.
No one performs at their best when their role doesn’t match how they’re wired.
When the Business Grows, So Does the Operations Monster
Yara shares the realest founder journey:
She started energized—writing, selling, creating.
Then came growth. And with it… operations.
Clients wanted more. Projects got complex. The backend caught fire.
“I was angry all the time. I hated what I was doing. The more I leaned into ops, the more my spark dimmed.”
This is the creative founder’s trap—falling out of love with the business they built.
And when a founder loses their spark, the whole team feels it.
Projects stall. Culture cracks. Talent churns.
Root Problem: Creatives and Operators Speak Different Languages
Here’s where things go nuclear.
Operators live in systems.
Creatives live in possibilities.
One thrives on consistency.
The other thrives on chaos.
“How will we deliver this with five people?” vs. “What if we 10x this idea and launch by Tuesday?”
Neither is wrong. But without a shared framework, they’re speaking different dialects.
Most teams don’t break down because of talent—they break down because of structure.
You need containers. Cadence. Communication loops. Shared language. Otherwise, the marketing-ops disconnect widens.
The Breaker Meeting: Structure That Supports Chaos
Here’s Emma’s fix: The Breaker — a weekly 90-minute ritual where teams align, proactively.
🛠️ The format:
Everyone works on the business, not in it.
Quick updates: On track, off track, or stuck.
Goals reviewed. Issues flagged early.
No hiding. No rambling. Total alignment.
This gives both sides what they crave:
✅ Creatives: Freedom within boundaries
✅ Operators: Visibility, predictability, and control
“Creatives love the Breaker. We don’t dim their light—we anchor it in reality.”
When your company runs on this rhythm:
✅ Fewer bottlenecks
✅ Fewer dropped balls
✅ Fewer “oh sh*t” moments before launch
Founders: Cast the Vision, Then Step Back
One of the rawest truths from the episode?
“Every founder thinks they’ve cast the vision. But ask their team—and you’ll get six different answers.”
Most visionaries feel the vision… but never articulate it.
So while you see the Sistine Chapel, your team’s looking at stick figures.
Without clarity:
Creatives make beautiful but off-brand content
Ops builds scalable systems for things no one wants
Marketing launches campaigns that can’t be fulfilled
🎯 Clarity kills confusion.
If your people don’t know where they’re going, no amount of talent can save the ship.
How High-Performance Teams Align Marketing and Ops
This is what Emma & Yara’s teams do differently:
1. Strategy First. Always.
Nothing gets built without a locked plan.
Know the offer, funnel, and message before execution.
2. Roles Are Sacred
No role overlap.
CMOs don’t manage timelines.
Operators don’t write copy.
Everyone plays their position.
3. One Lead Asset First
Build around one approved anchor asset (e.g., VSL, lead magnet).
No more rewriting 5 emails because someone changed the headline.
4. Weekly Breakers + Daily Standups
Breakers = Strategic clarity
Standups = Tactical momentum
Short. Focused. Game-changing.
5. Proactive Problem Solving
Teams flag issues early—before they explode.
This saves time, sanity, and CEO energy.
If You Don’t Fix This, You Will Stall Out
It’s not a matter of if. It’s when.
Any business that scales without solving the marketing and operations conflict hits a wall.
Projects stall
Campaigns fail
Good people quit
Founders burn out
Some Frequently Asked Questions: Aligning Marketing and Operations Teams
Why do marketing and ops teams clash?
Marketing works in creative sprints, while ops focuses on structure and consistency. Without alignment, they work against each other.
What is a Breaker meeting?
A weekly 90-minute meeting to align strategy, flag issues, and keep marketing and ops in sync.
How do I fix marketing and operations misalignment?
Define roles clearly, use shared rhythms like Breakers, and ensure vision is communicated across departments.
How do high-performance teams scale efficiently?
They prioritize planning, sacred roles, cadence, and proactive issue solving—avoiding chaos and burnout.
FREE RESOURCE: High-Performance Hiring Blueprint
We created a tool to help you hire and manage creatives and operators—without chaos.
Inside the Visionary Vault, you’ll learn how to:
Cast vision without confusion
Hire role-fit team members
Set systems and rhythms that scale