monday.com flags Australian firms' coordination tax

monday.com has published research suggesting Australian and New Zealand workers lose time to what it describes as a coordination tax. The study highlights a gap between understanding business strategy and carrying out work in line with it.

The survey of 385 enterprise workers across Australia and New Zealand found that 83% understood how their day-to-day work connected to organisational strategy, while 51% said their organisation was effective at organising work so people could focus on the most important priorities.

According to the findings, that leaves a 32 percentage point gap between strategic clarity and execution. The research suggests productivity problems stem less from confusion about company direction and more from how work is handed over, tracked and reprioritised once goals are set.

For businesses trying to lift output through AI and digital tools, the data suggests organisational processes remain a major obstacle. Workers reported spending time not only on core tasks, but also on status updates, duplicated work and meetings that do not always help move projects forward.

Execution gap

The figures show notable dissatisfaction with workplace focus. While just over half of respondents said their organisation was good at structuring work around priorities, 21% disagreed and 27% were neutral.

These responses suggest many employees are not convinced their employers help them concentrate on the work that matters most. In practice, that can mean time lost to changing priorities, unclear ownership and repeated requests for updates.

Nearly half of respondents, or 49%, said changing requirements or priorities often created rework or wasted effort. Another 42% said they spent significant time creating or updating status reports, presentations, dashboards and similar materials rather than progressing the work itself.

System issues also featured strongly. Some 38% said they spent significant time on manual tasks or duplicating work because of system constraints.

Meetings emerged as another drain on time. Only 44% agreed that most meetings they attended were necessary and helped move work forward, while 26% disagreed and 30% were neutral.

Dean Swan, Vice President and General Manager at monday.com, said this lost time often remains hidden because it is spread across routine activity rather than appearing as a single cost item.

"Australia is putting enormous focus on AI, digital investment and policy reform to lift productivity, but many businesses are still losing time in the basic mechanics of work. Teams are being asked to do more with less while managing higher costs, tighter budgets and faster changes in technology. Even when employees understand the strategy, they can still lose hours to rework, duplicated reporting, slow handovers and manual coordination across disconnected systems," Swan said.

"That is the coordination tax. It is difficult to see because it is spread across the working week, but it shows up in delayed decisions, repeated work and teams spending more time aligning on work than delivering it," he said.

AI uneven

The research also examined how AI is affecting day-to-day work. It found that AI tool use is established in some teams but remains uneven across the wider workforce.

According to the survey, 48% of workers said AI tools were available and actively used in their team, while 29% said they were not available and actively used. Among respondents with some exposure to AI at work, 59% said AI tools and automations meaningfully reduced manual work in their role.

That figure rose to 71% among teams where AI was actively available and used. Even so, the research found reporting burdens, rework and duplication persisted among teams already using AI.

Swan said the main gains would depend on whether AI was built into everyday work rather than added as a separate layer.

"AI is already reducing manual work for many teams, but the greatest gains will come when AI is connected to the way work is planned, tracked and executed," he said.

"If AI sits outside core workflows, it risks becoming another tool employees need to manage. The real opportunity is to use AI and automation to reduce duplication, surface risks, clarify priorities and keep work moving, helping employees focus on tasks that require human instinct and judgement," Swan said.

Case study

monday.com pointed to McDonald's Australia as an example of a large organisation dealing with coordination problems. As projects grew more complex, teams were working across spreadsheets, documents, approvals and email chains, making it harder to maintain visibility.

After centralising project workflows, McDonald's Australia reduced project management timelines by 25%, saved 1,224 hours a month and cut more than 20,000 unnecessary emails each month, according to the figures provided.

Matt Carey, Business Process Lead at McDonald's Australia, described the challenge as keeping complex work moving without staff having to chase information across different systems.

"At our scale, the challenge is keeping complex work moving without teams losing time chasing updates or trying to piece information together across different places," Carey said.

"When teams have clearer visibility of timelines, owners and actions, it reduces the time spent coordinating work and helps people focus on delivery. That has a real impact on how quickly projects can move through the business," he said.