Relational coordination theory makes visible the social processes, the human interactions, that underly the technical process of coordinating complex work. It describes the management of interdependence not only between tasks but also between the people who perform those tasks.
Relational coordination theory starts by conceptualizing the coordination of work as taking place through a network of relationships among participants in a work process.
The theory specifies three attributes of relationships that support the highest levels of coordination and performance:
- shared goals that transcend participants’ specific functional goals
- shared knowledge that enables participants to see how their specific tasks interrelate with the whole process, and
- mutual respect that enables participants to overcome the status barriers that might otherwise prevent them from seeing and taking account of the work of others
