#99 Annual Planning – Common Pitfalls & How to Fix Them

Janis and Philipp break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of annual planning. From late starts and siloed workflows to unrealistic capacity models and poor communication loops, they share what goes wrong in most companies – and how to fix it.

We cover:

• The most common annual planning pitfalls – and how to avoid them

• Late starts, top-down targets, and siloed processes

• Why RevOps should take the lead in annual planning

• How to align FP&A, HR, and GTM leadership

• The impact of capacity planning, ramp time, and attrition

• Building realistic hiring and pipeline generation models

• The importance of cross-functional workshops and continuous planning

• How to move from static annual planning to adaptive execution

Weflow: getweflow.com

RevOps Chat Community: getweflow.com/community

RevOps Resources: getweflow.com/revops

Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech

Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro & Why Annual Planning Is Broken

(00:02:19) Common Pitfalls: Late Starts & Siloed Processes

(00:04:42) Why RevOps Should Lead Annual Planning

(00:06:51) The Role of FP&A, HR & Leadership Alignment

(00:08:54) Timelines, Ownership & the Cost of Starting Late

(00:11:10) Capacity Planning, Ramp Time & Hiring Models

(00:15:02) Pipeline Generation & Continuous Adjustments

(00:19:24) Running Cross-Functional Planning Workshops

(00:22:25) Setting Realistic Scenarios (Best, Base, Worst Case)

(00:25:10) Board Sign-Off & Execution Cadences

(00:27:00) Final Thoughts & Cheat Sheet Recommendation