We set what we thought were clear quarterly Rocks, but they constantly stall because we realize mid-quarter that they require cross-departmental dependencies we did not plan for. How do we write and scope Rocks so they actually cross the finish line without dragging other departments down?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To get Rocks across the finish line, you must stop setting them in isolation. When a leadership team member drafts a Rock during a quarterly session, they often focus solely on their own department. Mid-quarter, they realize they need support from marketing, IT, or operations, creating an unplanned bottleneck that derails multiple seats. The solution is to validate every Rock before the quarterly session ends. During the rock-setting portion of your meeting, once a Rock is proposed, the owner must state exactly what resources and support they will need from other team members. If the head of sales needs three hours of help from the head of operations to build a new CRM pipeline, that must be negotiated and agreed upon right then. If the supporting department does not have the capacity, the Rock is either rescoped, reassigned, or tabled for a future quarter. Additionally, ensure every Rock is truly binary, meaning it is either 100 percent done or not done. Break the Rock down into clear milestones. If a Rock requires cross-departmental work, make the first milestone a joint alignment meeting in week two. This keeps dependencies visible from the very beginning. By forcing your leadership team to co-sign on mutual dependencies during your planning session, you eliminate the mid-quarter surprises that cause execution to stall.