How many hours is bad chemistry costing your team?

How this calculator works

Bad chemistry rarely shows up as a line item. It hides inside rework, re-litigated decisions, handoffs that bounce back, and meetings that end without a clear owner. This calculator does one thing: it turns that invisible drag into a number you can act on, the hours your team loses every year.

We start from a research anchor. CPP Global's Human Capital Report on workplace conflict (a study of 5,000 employees across nine countries) found people spend an average of 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict. Knowledge and project teams trend higher, and chemistry friction is broader than open conflict. So the calculator anchors near the upper end, around 4.3 hours per person per week, and then your five answers move that estimate up or down.

From there the math is simple and shown in full on your result: team size, multiplied by friction hours per week, multiplied by 48 working weeks. We use 48 weeks, not 52, to account for time off. If you want the budget number too, we multiply those hours by a blended industry hourly rate, but the hours are the point. It is an estimate, not an audit, and every assumption is on the table so you can pressure-test it.

Why hours, not vibes

Most team-health tools hand you a sentiment score. A score does not tell you what friction is taking. Hours do. Sizing the time lost is the first step to deciding whether it is worth fixing, and friction at this scale almost always is.

Frequently asked questions