The brief that changes
Work starts, then the brief moves. Every change sends the asset back a step.
How often it happens, and the one-brief format that stops it.
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting14h 35m
+2h 30m
The Coordination Tax · Original research, October 2026
Marketing spends half its time waiting.
84% of UK B2B marketers say their last asset spent at least half its time just waiting. Our research shows where the time goes, what it costs and how to measure it in your own team.
- Worked on
- 11h 40m
- Waiting
- 12h 05m
- 100 UK B2B marketers
- 60 marketing leaders and business owners
- 16 questions about real work
- Fieldwork 22–29 October 2026 From our survey of 100 UK B2B marketers, October 2026. Full method in the report.
Where the time goes
Five places the time leaks.
Our research found five places where marketing loses its time, and every one of them is about coordination, not effort.
Leak
The brief that changes
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting14h 35m
+2h 30m
Brief
Make
Review
Approve
Live
Handoffs
Every time work changes hands, a little of what the last person knew is lost.
How many handoffs make an asset slow, and the five-line note that cuts them.
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting17h 05m
+2h 30m
Lost context
Hours go on explaining brand, audience and past decisions that nobody else can find.
Measure your team's context hours in one week.
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting19h 35m
+2h 30m
Checking AI's work
AI drafts fast. Then someone has to check it, fix it and send it round again.
Where this ranks in the causes of delay, and how to stop AI adding to the queue.
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting22h 05m
+2h 30m
Waiting for sign-off
The work is done. It's just waiting for someone to approve it.
Score your waiting share with the ten-minute scorecard.
Worked on11h 40m
Waiting24h 35m
+2h 30m
Five leaks, one root cause. The report shows which one to fix first.
Every leak has a measure. Get all five.
The AI question
Faster drafts. Same speed to market.
Most UK B2B marketers now use AI, and many say it has made them faster. But the work still joins the same queue, and someone still has to check what AI made.
of UK B2B marketers say AI has made their assets go live faster.
56%
of them still saw their last asset spend half its time or more waiting.
80%
Base: the 56% who say AI has made them faster
Without context, AI makes the queue longer.
What the waiting costs.
The waiting doesn't just cost time. It costs time for strategy, launches that slip and teams that burn out. The report ranks every cost, and shows which one boards notice least.
26%
of UK B2B marketers say delays have cost them pipeline or revenue targets.
It's not a headcount problem.
Very few marketers blame a lack of people. With budgets growing faster than teams, most will run a bigger 2027 plan with much the same people.
The people who set the budget pay most.
- Leaders and business owners feel the tax most: more waiting, more approvers, and briefs that change once work has started.
- Their biggest cost is the one boards notice least: time for strategy.
- 🔒 See where leaders sit on every measure.
- You do the chasing: the handoffs, the re-explaining and the rounds of changes.
- It adds up to a big share of your week, and almost nobody measures it.
- 🔒 Measure how much of your week it takes, and how to get it back.
Measure yours
Where does your team sit?
Five questions about your last asset. A quick read now. The report shows how to measure it properly.
The report has the one-week audit to measure it properly, the formula to turn it into hours and days, and the fix order.
What you'll take into your 2027 plan.
-
01
The Coordination Tax Scorecard
Five questions, a score out of 10, and what each score means.
-
02
Benchmarks from 100 UK B2B marketers
Know exactly where your team sits on every measure, against your UK peers.
-
03
A one-week audit and calculator
Measure it from records, then turn it into hours and days to market.
-
04
A fix-first playbook, ordered by the data
Six steps your team can start on Monday, each with the tool to do it.
-
05
Five lines for your 2027 plan
Plus four questions to ask your leadership team before you sign it off.
-
06
The full survey results, question by question
Every answer from all 100 UK B2B marketers, so you can check our working.
21 pages · PDF · instant download
Before you download.
No. Nine of its ten sections are the research and how to act on it. The last section explains where our platform, AMP, fits.
100 UK marketers at organisations that sell to other businesses: 60 marketing leaders and business owners, and 40 marketing managers and executives.
An online survey on an independent survey platform, 22 to 29 October 2026. Every question was tied to a real asset or a real working week. The full method is in the appendix.
We'll email you a copy of the report. Mitchell, our CEO, may follow up with a few related emails. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Yes. Quote any single finding and credit Jam 7 as the source: "Jam 7 survey of 100 UK B2B marketers, October 2026."
Plan 2027 without the coordination tax.
Most 2027 plans will have a line for AI tools. Very few will have a line for the time teams lose around them.
- Score your team in ten minutes.
- Measure it properly in one week.
- Know what to fix first.
Instant download, plus a copy in your inbox.