J. Richard Hackman

J. Richard Hackman (b1940- ) is an American organizational psychologist who is Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. He has worked extensively in the field of job characteristics and group effectiveness

He developed a synthetic, research-based model for designing and managing work groups. Hackman suggested that groups are successful when they satisfy internal and external clients, develop capabilities to perform in the future, and when members find meaning and satisfaction in the group. Hackman proposed five conditions that increase the chance that groups will be successful. These include:
 * 1) Being a real team: which results from having a shared task, clear boundaries which clarify who is inside or outside of the group, and stability in group membership.
 * 2) Compelling direction: which results from a clear, challenging, and consequential goal.
 * 3) Enabling structure: which results from having tasks which have variety, a group size that is not too large, talented group members who have at least moderate social skill, and strong norms that specify appropriate behavior.
 * 4) Supportive context: that occurs in groups nested in larger groups (e.g. companies). In companies, supportive contexts involves a) reward systems that reward performance and cooperation (e.g. group based rewards linked to group performance), b) an educational system that develops member skills, c) an information and materials system that provides the needed information and raw materials (e.g. computers).
 * 5) Expert coaching: which occurs on the rare occasions when group members feels they need help with task or interpersonal issues. Hackman emphasizes that many team leaders are overbearing and undermine group effectiveness.

Awards
In 2013 the received the James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award and the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology