Sensing the Room: The Role of Atmosphere in Collective Sensemaking

Drawing on video recordings, interviews, and first-hand observations of a strategic project team at an electronic bank, we explore the role of atmosphere in collective sensemaking. By analyzing collective entanglements of bodily tonality and interaction, we show how distinctive atmospheres in strategy-making workshops are closely associated with different sensemaking styles that shape not only how, but also what sense is constructed. Our findings show that in group settings, participants’ immanent sensing of atmospheric dynamics serves as an affective and affecting background that enables and constrains collective sensemaking in relation to an issue. We also find that atmosphere can shift as dissonant moments accumulate and reach an atmospheric tipping point that enables a change in the group’s sensemaking style. These dissonant moments manifest as subtle changes in one or more participants’ bodily orientation, speech content, or vocal characteristics. The concept of atmosphere enables us to extend emotions research in sensemaking and strategic management by offering a better understanding of the role of embodied affect in collective sensemaking beyond individually felt corporeal experience.