The Coordination Maturity Model™

Organizations do not fail due to a lack of effort; they fail due to misaligned coordination. As organizations scale, informal and ad hoc coordination mechanisms become brittle, leading to ambiguity, dependency bottlenecks, rework, and execution drift.

High coordination maturity enables organizations to:

• Align responsibility and accountability across teams

• Sequence work predictably across time and dependencies

• Preserve decisions, context, and institutional knowledge

• Reduce execution friction and rework

• Scale operations across distributed teams and AI systems

In the Work Management discipline, coordination maturity is treated as a core organizational infrastructure capability, analogous to process maturity in manufacturing or software development.

The WMI Coordination Maturity Levels

Level 1 — Ad Hoc (Individual-Driven Coordination)

Characteristics:

• Coordination is implicit and person-dependent

• Responsibilities and dependencies are often undocumented

• Work sequencing is reactive and informal

• Knowledge is stored primarily in individuals and meetings

Organizational Implications:

• High execution variability

• Significant dependency risk on individuals

• Limited institutional memory n- Low scalability beyond small teams

Level 2 — Defined (Process-Aware Coordination)

Characteristics:

• Basic roles, responsibilities, and workflows are documented

• Tools are adopted to manage tasks and communication

• Coordination practices exist but vary by team or manager

• Documentation and standards are inconsistent

Organizational Implications:

• Improved visibility into work

• Persistent coordination gaps and handoff friction

• Tool-driven rather than system-designed coordination

Level 3 — Systematic (Managed Coordination Systems)

Characteristics:

• Explicit coordination frameworks and protocols are defined

• Systems of record for work, decisions, and documentation are enforced

• Ownership, dependencies, and sequencing are systematically managed

• Organization-wide norms reduce ambiguity and interruption-driven work

Organizational Implications:

• Predictable execution patterns

• Reduced dependency bottlenecks

• Improved accountability and throughput

Level 4 — Optimized (Governed Coordination Architecture)

Characteristics:

• Coordination governance frameworks and policies are codified

• Metrics track coordination friction, throughput, and predictability

• AI and automation augment coordination workflows

• Continuous improvement loops refine coordination systems

Organizational Implications:

• Quantifiable productivity and flow gains

• Institutionalized coordination architecture

• Reduced coordination overhead at scale

Level 5 — Autonomous (Self-Optimizing Coordination Systems)

Characteristics:

• AI agents orchestrate routine coordination tasks

• Human roles focus on strategic design and high-value decisions

• Coordination systems dynamically reconfigure based on workload and constraints

• Organizational coordination continuously optimizes in real time

Organizational Implications:

• Self-optimizing execution infrastructure

• Hybrid human–AI Work Management systems

• Near-elimination of coordination bottlenecks

Relationship to Work Management Frameworks

The Coordination Stack

Coordination maturity reflects an organization’s ability to structure the Coordination Stack elements:

• Who — Ownership and accountability

• What — Tasks, deliverables, and outcomes

• When — Sequencing, deadlines, and dependencies

• Why — Context, rationale, and decision justification

• How — Execution instructions, artifacts, and systems

Asynchronous Communication Maturity Model

Asynchronous communication maturity is a domain-specific manifestation of coordination maturity, representing how coordination information is encoded, transmitted, and preserved through time-independent systems.

AWAIT Coordination Protocol

Organizations reach Level 3 coordination maturity when the AWAIT Protocol becomes an operating standard:

• Assign Ownership

• Window for Response

• Action Required

• Information Complete

• Thread Discipline

Work Management Principles

Coordination maturity progression reflects the WMI Principles of Work Management:

• Clarity over Chaos

• Systems over Silos

• Visibility over Assumption

• Flow over Friction

• Adaptability over Rigidity

• Progress over Perfection

• Humanity over Tools