An interpretive perspective focuses on how meaning is socially constructed through communication. Sensemaking is associated with an interpretive perspective of communication. The commitment to a particular meaning influences future actions as the process of sensemaking continues. Selecting an interpretation involves committing to a particular meaning for an experience out of the possible meanings available.

Sensemaking involves managing the equivocality of experiences that are different than expected by selecting one interpretation for the experience out of the many possible interpretations. Sensemaking is necessary because most events are equivocal, which is to say that the experiences can be interpreted in multiple ways. Through sensemaking, individuals collectively develop plausible explanations that explain their experiences. A more complex description is that sensemaking is the process of individuals collectively creating reality in their everyday life in organizations it is an ongoing accomplishment that involves assigning meaning to experiences and creating order out of events by making sense of them (Weick, 1995). Another way to say this is that sensemaking occurs when individuals collectively come to an understanding about the meaning of an experience they have had. Sensemaking explores what an experience means to the participants. Sensemaking in the simplest terms involves the process of assigning meaning to experiences.

Assigning meaning