Jody Hoffer Gittell

Jody Hoffer Gittell is Professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School, Faculty Director of the Relational Coordination Collaborative, Co-Founder and Managing Board Member of Relational Coordination Analytics, and Academic Fellow at MIT Center for Information Systems Research. To understand how stakeholders achieve their desired outcomes in coordination with each other, Gittell developed Relational Coordination Theory, proposing that highly interdependent work is most effectively coordinated through relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect, supported by frequent, timely, accurate, problem-solving communication. The Relational Model of Organizational Change shows how stakeholders can design structural, relational and work process interventions to support more effective coordination of their work. Gittell is currently exploring the relational dynamics of multi-stakeholder change in ecosystems in multiple sectors around the world. With Olawale Olaleye and Tony Suchman, she is developing and testing a diversity management curriculum based on principles of relational coordination, called Relating Across Differences, funded by the Macy Foundation. Dr. Gittell currently serves as treasurer for Seacoast NAACP, on the board of trustees for Greater Seacoast Community Health, on the editorial board of Academy of Management Review, and on the board of the Organization Development and Change division of the Academy of Management. She received her PhD from the MIT Sloan School of Management.