<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >The "Coordination Tax": Why Decision Fatigue is the Silent Killer of Hybrid Culture</span>
12-15-2025

The "Coordination Tax": Why Decision Fatigue is the Silent Killer of Hybrid Culture

Samantha van Putten
Written by Samantha van Putten
The "Coordination Tax": Why Decision Fatigue is the Silent Killer of Hybrid Culture
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We promised our employees the best of both worlds. We told them hybrid work would offer the autonomy of remote work combined with the collaborative energy of the office. We sold them on "flexibility."

But for many, that flexibility has mutated into something exhausting: Logistics.

Every morning, or perhaps late every Sunday night, your employees are performing a complex mental calculation. “If I go in on Tuesday, will Sarah be there? Or is she in on Wednesday? If I go in on Wednesday, is there a desk near the marketing team, or will I be stuck in the overflow area? Is the commute worth it if I spend the whole day on Zoom calls with people who stayed home?”

This is the Coordination Tax.

It is the time, energy, and cognitive load wasted on the simple act of figuring out where and how to work. And right now, in organisations without the right digital infrastructure, your employees are paying this tax out of their own pockets—specifically, from their reserves of productivity and morale.

The High Cost of "Radical Flexibility"

In the early days of the post-pandemic return, many organisations adopted a laissez-faire approach. "Come in when you want," they said. It sounded empathetic.

In reality, unmanaged flexibility creates chaos. When everyone chooses their own adventure without visibility into their colleagues' choices, the office becomes a game of chance.

This creates two distinct failure states:

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The Ghost Town Effect

An employee commutes 45 minutes, pays for parking, and buys an expensive lunch, only to find their key collaborators are at home. They spend the day on video calls in a half-empty room. Their "Return on Commute" (RoC) is negative. They won’t make that mistake again; they will stay home next time.
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The Overcrowding Crisis

Conversely, everyone creates a "mental rule" that Tuesdays are good days. Suddenly, Tuesday arrives, and you have 120% occupancy. The facility manager is stressed, meeting rooms are camped out in, and the noise levels are unmanageable.

In both scenarios, the employee is burdened with the job of being their own facility manager. We are asking them to predict the future behavior of their colleagues to optimise their own schedule. That is a massive operational friction that has nothing to do with their actual job description.

Decision Fatigue is an Engagement Killer

Gartner research has indicated that employees are significantly more likely to leave organisations that fail to establish explicit hybrid norms. Why? Because ambiguity is stressful.

When we don't solve the coordination problem, we force employees to rely on "shadow coordination"—endless Slack threads, WhatsApp groups, and spreadsheets trying to align schedules.

This isn't just annoying; it’s an invisible drag on productivity. It replaces "deep work" with "logistical work." If a team has to spend 15 minutes figuring out if they can meet in person, you have lost that time forever. Multiply that by every team, every week, and the lost hours are staggering.

Moving from "Booking Spaces" to "Connecting People"

So, how do we repeal the Coordination Tax?

The answer lies in shifting our perspective on workplace technology. For too long, we have viewed desk booking and room scheduling as inventory management—a way for Facility Managers to track assets.

To solve the coordination tax, we must view these tools as social enablement platforms for employees.

Technology must bridge the gap between
"I need a desk" and "I need my team."

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It should make the invisible visible

The antidote to anxiety is visibility. Employees shouldn’t have to guess who is in the office; they should be able to see it. A tech stack that solves for coordination allows an employee to search for people, not just places. 

  • Instead of: "Book Desk 4B."
  • It becomes: "Book a desk near the Product Team on Wednesday."
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Be able to set up or automate the "Anchor Days"

Research from Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom suggests that "Anchor Days"—where specific teams agree to be in together—are vital for hybrid success. However, enforcing this manually is a nightmare for HR.

Smart digital tools can automate these norms. If the Sales team decides Thursdays are their anchor day, they should be able to set up a recurring schedule, remind them that they're expected in the office, help them to ensure they are seated together, and alert them if capacity is reached. This removes the decision fatigue. The employee doesn't have to ask, "When should I go in?" The system gently answers, "Your team’s in on Thursday."

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Offers Data-Driven Empathy

Finally, reducing the coordination tax requires understanding how your people actually use space, not how you think they use it.

Are people constantly booking the quiet zones and ignoring the collaboration hubs? That’s data. It tells you that your office is too loud for the work being done. Are people cancelling bookings on Fridays? That’s data. It tells you your "Social Fridays" aren't resonating.

By analysing usage patterns, Facility Managers and HR can adjust the physical environment to reduce friction, making the office a place that supports work, rather than an obstacle course to navigate.

The Office as a Tool, Not a Destination

The goal of the hybrid work strategy is no longer just "getting people back." It is about ensuring that when they are back, the experience is seamless.

If we want to retain top talent and foster genuine connection, we must stop asking employees to shoulder the logistical burden of hybrid work. We need to invest in the digital infrastructure that makes the "where" and "when" effortless, so our people can focus entirely on the "what" and "why."

Remove the friction. Repeal the tax. Let your people get back to work.
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