Making Sense of Rhetoric When Facing Organizational Change Challenges

Abstract

During organizational changes, sensemaking and rhetoric are central processes. While organizational members try to make sense of ambiguities surrounding a change initiative, change leaders use rhetoric to shape how the initiative is understood, which is crucial since the success of an organizational change process might depend on the ability to gain acceptance of it. However, the rhetorical efforts required by change leaders constitute a form of labour which itself requires sensemaking. We have investigated such rhetorical sensemaking by conducting a case study of how four change leaders reflected on challenges they faced during the implementation of an open and activity-based office at a City District Department in Stockholm between 2023 and 2024. Building on a thematic analysis of these challenges, we have analysed how the actors made sense of elements that constitute rhetorical situations (exigence, audience, and constraints). The case study demonstrates an example of how sensemaking can produce an understanding of rhetorical elements, responsibilities and capacities for rhetorical responses, and how sensemaking can afford and evaluate rhetorical responses. Ultimately, we argue that the concept of rhetorical sensemaking unveils an often overlooked form of labour in organizational changes that deserves to be both supported and critically examined. MAD statement In this article we aimed to Make a Difference (MAD) by demonstrating an example of how change-leading actors need to engage in rhetorical sensemaking . By giving attention to this particular aspect of sensemaking, we hope to shed light on a significant but often hidden labour in organizational change processes. This focus can contribute to further discussions of the rhetorical work carried out by change-leading actors and, from that perspective, how these actors can be supported, and how change processes can be improved and critically examined. It brings new perspectives to organizational sensemaking, organizational rhetoric and leadership. Moreover, since the case study explored the implementation process of an open and activity-based workplace, the findings make a specific contribution by revealing what kind of rhetorical elements might require sensemaking in these types of implementations.