The Power of Relationships for Creating Positive Change
Relational coordination is a powerful method for working better together to create value for leaders, co-workers and customers. It is a complement to lean and other improvement methods, and a well-validated method in healthcare and other sectors.
How can we deliberately intervene to change both organizational structures and relational dynamics in order to produce sustainable, cost-effective, high-quality outcomes? To address these questions, Professor Jody Hoffer Gittell worked with colleagues in many fields of research and practice to develop the Relational Model of Organizational Change.
The Relational Coordination Toolbox below offers frameworks, interventions and assessment tools to help organizations build relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect across differences.
The Relational Model of Organizational Change
The Power of Difference
Differences associated with professional and social identities bring a broad array of perspectives, life experiences, values, know-how, approaches to problem solving and more. These differences are an enormous resource for innovation and adaptation. The unique view of any one person may stimulate a whole new solution. If not managed well, however, these same differences become sources of conflict, tension and power struggles about whose views are ‘right’ and whose perspectives will prevail.
Which way things go depends upon the group members’ communication skills; do they make it safe enough for people to share their unique views and are they able to listen with enough open-mindedness to consider new ideas?
The Relational Coordination Toolbox below includes frameworks, assessment tools and intervention tools developed by Wale Olaleye, Tony Suchman and Jody Hoffer Gittell to help organizations leverage the power of difference.
Learn about RAD project leaders, sites and curriculum here.
The Relating Across Difference Model of Change
Relational Coordination Toolbox
Intervention Tools relational interventions work process interventions structural interventions
ASSESSMENT TOOLS |
Relational MappingLauren Hajjar et al article - Seeeing the whole together through relational mapping |
RC Surveybackground including validation Tony Suchman - how to use rc survey when teammates don't connect assess using rc analytics platform |
Organizational Structures Assessment Tool (OSAT)What is it?Intro Slides |
INTERVENTION TOOLS |
Relational Interventions |
Relational Legacy |
Humble InquiryEd Schein Video - humble inquiry, the gentle art of asking instead of telling |
Psychological SafetyAmy edmondson VIDEO - BUILDING a PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE WORKPLACE |
Cone in a Box |
Managing Conflict Around Differences |
Relational Repair |
PEARLS |
Building Shared Goals |
Building Shared Knowledge with Conversations of Interdependence |
Building Shared Knowledge with Conversations of Identity |
Building Mutual Respect |
Work Process InterventionsJody Hoffer Gittell chapter - Work process interventions Neil Baker, Tony Suchman & Diane Rawlins article - barriers to quality improvement John Mcmackin & patrick flood article - theoretical foundations for lean |
Structural Interventions (7 more to come)Jody HOffer Gittell Chapter - structural interventionsrelational job design |