Advanced Methods for Improving Relational Coordination:
A Toolkit for Leaders and Facilitators
Dates to be announced | Virtual Program | Go to Online Registration & Payment
This workshop will offer practical methods for building the relationships, shared vision, system view and communication practices that are essential for successful collaboration at any level of scale: from individuals on a team to organizational consortia. Join us to learn how to improve performance by harnessing the power of Relational Coordination.
Systemness is the new frontier in improving organizational performance. There’s little additional gain to be made (and, in fact, there’s probably harm) from pushing individuals to work even harder, faster or more efficiently. They’re already maxed out. The focus of leading-edge work is shifting from individuals to systems: how can individuals and/or work groups collaborate more effectively? How can they better coordinate their interdependent tasks, respectfully share observations from their unique lines of sight, respond quickly and in tandem to rapidly changing circumstances, and find greater meaning and motivation in their common purpose?
Brandeis University researcher Jody Hoffer Gittell has developed a theory, Relational Coordination, that identifies 7 dimensions of communication and relationship that support effective collaboration. Extensive research in multiple industries shows that higher levels of Relational Coordination are associated with higher levels of quality; efficiency; customer/client/patient satisfaction; workforce satisfaction, well-being and resilience; and organizational learning and innovation. In this 1.5-day workshop you will learn through your own first-hand experience a variety of interventions to improve relational coordination, with the goal of enhancing systemness and improving performance. You will learn methods for:
- making interdependence visible, discussable and manageable,
- establishing trust and shared purpose between individuals and/or workgroups,
- exploring and aligning divergent stakeholder goals,
- creating a systems view by facilitating constructive conversations to explore and integrate differing perspectives, and
- managing interdependence by means of feedback and aligned work processes.
We will also discuss how to combine relational, structural and work process interventions. You will leave with a personal implementation plan for applying these methods to a work process back home.
Related Programs
This workshop is one half of a two-part series of trainings certified by the Relational Coordination Collaborative. A companion workshop, Improving Work Processes with Relational Coordination: Integrating the RC Survey into Interventions, focuses on how to use the Relational Coordination Survey as an intervention — how to set it up, interpret it, share back results and use it to guide the choice of interventions.These two workshops are highly complementary without being duplicative. You can take either workshop alone or you can take them both, neither is a prerequisite for the other.Both can help you prepare for RC Certification for Professionals, but they are not required, and attendance does not automatically confer certification.
Faculty
Diane B. Rawlins, principal at InsideOut Consulting LLC, has been working with health care leaders and clinicians for 30 years as a consultant, coach, facilitator and teacher. Her work is anchored in helping health care professionals learn how to lead, adapt and thrive in a world of high volume and high velocity that calls for everything we’ve got to give. An early participant in the formation of the positive psychology movement, Diane was a founding partner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting, LLC, a global consultancy committed to creating positive transformation in organizations and communities. In 2001, she co-founded Leading Organizations to Health, a nationally acclaimed institute on leading change in healthcare, where she continues to serve as senior faculty. Diane is also a facilitator with The Center for Courage & Renewal and an affiliate at Cambridge Leadership Associates.
Anthony L Suchman is a primary care physician, senior consultant and founder of Relationship Centered Health Care LLC and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester. Drawing upon diverse interests and experiences, Tony’s work focuses on improving human interaction and collaborative decision-making across all levels of healthcare — from the front lines of patient care to the executive suite and boardroom. His most recent book, Leading Change in Healthcare: Transforming Organizations Using Complexity, Positive Psychology and Relationship-Centered Care, was published by Radcliffe Publishing. Dr. Suchman received his MD degree from Cornell University and an MA in Organizational Change from the University of Hertfordshire.