We are living in a time of growing cost pressures as well as authoritarian threats in the US and around the world. In this Cafe we will explore whether and how relational coordination can help leaders respond effectively to these challenges and how to frame it for that purpose.
Through its focus on timely, accurate, problem-solving communication, relational coordination is well equipped to address cost pressures by reducing waste and achieving integrative solutions for competing goals such as quality and efficiency (Gittell et al 2001), safety and operational effectiveness (Pagell et al 2014), and customer and employee well-being (Gittell, et al 2020). Likewise, through its focus on timely, accurate, problem-solving communication as well as through building relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect, relational coordination can arguably help us respond to the rise of authoritarian threats (Gittell & Fletcher, 2019; Wright, 2025).Despite the power of relational coordination to address complex problems, however, it is often stereotyped as a sign of weakness rather than a sign of power (McLean et al 2025). How can we reframe relational coordination as a powerful and timely response to the challenges we are facing? Then how can we design organizational practices to support it?
Join the discussion with our panelists, and bring your own thoughts and questions!"What are the organizational practices that allow lean resources to be used effectively? These practices include horizontal coordination based on communication and teamwork across functional groups, combined with the reduction of time and staffing buffers. As more organizations in the airline and other industries press toward the limit in dropping excess resources, these kinds of practices may be the critical determinant of whether expected outcomes are achieved" (Gittell, 1995).
Invited Panelists
Jody Hoffer Gittell (Brandeis University)Anya Rader Wallack (Health Management Associates)
Darren McLean (Gold Coast Health)
Martin Connor (Gold Coast Health, Healthcare Logic)
Graham Wright (Brandeis University)
Marta Marques (Relational Lab)
Register Here
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References
Gittell, J. H., Logan, C., Cronenwett, J., Foster, T. C., Freeman, R., Godfrey, M., & Vidal, D. C. (2020). Impact of relational coordination on staff and patient outcomes in outpatient surgical clinics. Health Care Management Review, 45(1), 12-20.
Gittell, J.H. & Fletcher, J. (2019). Integrative solutions in a divided world: Toward a relational model of change. In M. Stout (ed.) The Future of Progressivism: Applying Follettian Thinking to Contemporary Issues. Process Century Press.
Gittell, J. H., Fairfield, K. M., Bierbaum, B., Head, W., Jackson, R., Kelly, M., ... & Zuckerman, J. (2000). Impact of relational coordination on quality of care, postoperative pain and functioning, and length of stay: A nine-hospital study of surgical patients. Medical Care, 38(8), 807-819.
Gittell, J. H. (1995). Cost/quality trade-offs in the departure process? Evidence from the major US airlines. Transportation Research Record, (1480).
McLean, D., Connor, M., Marshall, A. P., McMurray, A., & Jones, L. (2025). Illuminating power dynamics that influenced a relational coordination program in a tertiary hospital: An institutional ethnography study. Health Care Management Review, 50(1), 23-31.
Pagell, M., Klassen, R., Johnston, D., Shevchenko, A., & Sharma, S. (2015). Are safety and operational effectiveness contradictory requirements: The roles of routines and relational coordination. Journal of Operations Management, 36, 1-14.
Wright, G. (2024). Persuasion, Integration, and Deliberative Democracy: The Will of the Whole, Chapter 3. Routledge.