Social Sensemaking in Multinational Groups: A Common Ground Approach
Abstract
Research efforts to investigate culture in military command and control, or indeed in any form of headquarters, are of crucial importance now that both peacekeeping and warfighting are carried out on a multinational basis. One aspect of working in a coalition headquarters is doing collaborative planning, where the group needs to understand what they as a group have been told to do (i.e., the commander's intent) and what their part in the task is. This requires understanding the meaning of the task, and forming enough common ground to be able to coordinate group efforts. Meaning cannot be understood independently from communication, and is also reliant on coordination between both parties. We propose a theory of social sensemaking; that behaviours to create common ground are based on sensemaking strategies, and that specific strategies are used to uncover the knowledge necessary for finding sufficient and necessary common ground.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA486801
Entities
People
- Annika Larsson
- Louise Rasmussen
Organizations
- Cranfield University