Conference Contribution Details
Mandatory Fields
Sarah Kieran, Juliet McMahon and Sarah MacCurtain
XI International HRM
Shared Sensemaking: An exploration of the process and outcomes of middle manager collective sensemaking.
Seville, Spain.
Conference Organising Committee Chairperson
2018
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0
Optional Fields
24-OCT-18
26-OCT-18
Purpose This paper explores the social process of collective sensemaking among middle managers as they attempt to progress strategic change activities. Taking the perspective that strategic capability is something organisations do rather than have, it identifies the practices that enable middle managers’ interpretation and enactment of the strategic change as envisioned by key stakeholders such as Human Resource Management. Design This study employed an innovative diary methodology. 42 middle managers, across three organisations, completed a weekly, online diary for a period of 12 weeks. Each of the final 355 diaries captured the practices in which they engaged as they attempted to make sense of each change-related activity, in addition to their perceptions of these sensemaking efforts. Qualitative analysis using NVivo software allowed for the identification of the micro-processes and routines in which they engaged as they developed shared understandings of the strategic change activities. Findings This study identifies formal and regular discourse opportunities between leaders and middle managers as the most critical routine underpinning shared sensemaking. Supported by ongoing leader participation and positive perceptions of time and metrics, these discourse opportunities enable a highly impactful form of shared sensemaking associated with a number of positive organisational outcomes. Outcomes include sensegiving upward and onward to their peers and teams, successful enactment of strategic change, positive perceptions of change outcomes and organisational climate, and middle manager well-being. Implications It is particularly challenging for Human Resource Management (HRM) functions to support the development of enterprise-wide sensemaking capabilities when there is a lack of understanding around the practices that can enable or disable it. These findings provide a clear pathway for the development of shared sensemaking capabilities in organisations. Originality This paper responds to the call for the study of sensemaking from a process perspective. The very detailed diary analysis provides a new insight into the specific set of practices that underpin shared sensemaking, while also further highlighting its role as an organisational capability underpinning strategic change.