In short
The coordination tax is the share of engineering time spent on status, chasing, re-planning and rework caused by finding things out late. Industry estimates put it at about 30%. On a 200-person program at a loaded cost of $210,000 each, that is $12.6 million a year.
What counts as coordination?
Work that produces no design:
- Reporting status and building slides.
- Chasing other people for updates.
- Re-planning after a change.
- Rework caused by learning about a change too late.
How do you calculate it?
People on the program, times loaded cost per person, times the share of time spent on coordination. Loaded cost is salary plus benefits and overhead, typically about 1.4 times base salary. Two hundred people at $210,000 is $42 million of payroll; 30% of that is $12.6 million.
How much of it can be removed?
Not all of it: people need to talk to each other. The part that goes is the assembly — collecting status, reconciling it, and discovering changes late. Tymeline's model assumes about half is removed. That figure is a benchmark, not a measurement, and should be rebuilt with your own numbers.
Does this mean fewer engineers?
No. The model assumes no headcount cuts. The time returns to engineering, which is the scarcest thing on the program.
Is coordination the whole story?
No. It is the easiest cost to measure, not the largest benefit. Holding the date, avoiding a re-spin, and starting the next program with what this one learned are each worth more than the hours saved.