Making sense of leadership communication in organizational change: A literature review

Abstract

Leaders need to manage changes in their organization through communication. However, there is a lack of understanding of how leaders communicate and establish changes through communication. Using the perspective of sensemaking, this article provides a literature review assessing how leaders make sense of organizational change through communication. The reviewed studies showed that leaders across the hierarchy redefine the change and their role during the organizational change. Specifically, sensemaking at the top level can affect the meaning of change at the lower level, which has implications for overall organizational change. In general, the leaders redefine their role as a facilitator in implementing the change. However, higher-level leaders tend to focus on initiating change, while middle-level leaders act as mediators, and lower leaders focus on evaluating organizational change. Consequently, leaders’ sensemaking about the change also contributes to their organization's structural and cultural change. This study suggests that research should center on how leaders, with various levels of management, make sense of the change in their organization and how they deliver their understanding to others.