Cutting through the atmosphere: what really leads to decision makings in meetings

16.09.2024 International research group finds that the atmosphere is vital to making decisions

"Atmospheres in the room are what is shared, and what affects the decisions made”, says Matthias Wenzel from the Institute for Management & Organization at the Leuphana School of Management and Technology when talking about the latest study he undertook together with international scholars. Their findings might result in a changing setup of companies.

Make it or break it

Together with Paula Jarzabkowski (Queensland University and Bayes Business School) as well as Eric Knight and Jaco Lok (both Macquarie University), Leuphana’s Professor of Organization Studies investigated how the atmosphere in a meeting influences the consensus. When thinking of high-level discussions in big companies this can lead to quite some major results “which can make our break the organization” as Management Today put it, a major special interest magazine which picked up on the study in his latest issue.

Forget the kicker table
Matthias Wenzel is not surprised about the impact of this joint endeavour: “Managers should be interested because we refute conventional wisdom. Atmospheres are always there, yet their role in shaping social dynamics is often overlooked.” What he means is that atmospheres are not only created with devices such as kicker tables or through workplace arrangements such as coworking spaces or open plan offices.

“Atmospheres are a deeply embodied experience”, Matthias Wenzel states, and therefore cannot be managed in simple ways. Yet, the scholars also defied the idea that atmospheres emerge in random and unmanageable ways: “A staring gaze, standing up from one’s chair, a harsher or softer tone, or a reference to display boards might be enough for leaders or managers to swiftly change an atmospheric shift. Our findings offer guidance and inspiration for this.”

Subtle shifts in the tone of their voice

But how would you investigate this without letting the people you investigate know that you are looking for behavioural patterns? This would change, again, the behaviour itself and the atmosphere which then would not lead to useful results. To overcome this, the scholars examined the interactions of a team at an Australian bank over 18 months. The team observed a digital product which used Artificial Intelligence technologies to help bank customers manage their spending. With the help of video recordings, workshops, interviews and first-hand observations, the academics noted how subtle atmospheric shifts in the tone of voice, speech or body language affected how the group reacted to ideas.

Zooming in on the atmosphere

The idea for this research project came when Eric Knight, Jaco Lok, Paula Jarzabkowski, and Matthias Wenzel examined strategy workshops at this Australian online bank. They were intrigued by subtle but significant shifts between different ways of making sense of strategic issues at hand. “Juxtaposing these observations with prior literature led us to conclude that these shifts can be better understood by zooming in on atmospheres in play”, adds Matthias Wenzel.

The broader approach through interdisciplinarity

The study can turn into a very practical guide for managers who want to ensure that their team finds a balanced result when making decisions. The beauty of this study comes from its interdisciplinary approach. Foundations for this were found in the broader social sciences and not, how all too often, only in management research as Matthias Wenzel confirms: “The broader social sciences offer an interesting approach to understanding how atmospheres affect collective sensemaking. One of the sources for us to learn about related insights from other disciplines was to engage with colleagues from other schools here at the Leuphana campus. The setup of our university encourages and facilitates such cooperation.”

Putting your own school in order

When looking at his school, the School of Management and Technology which is currently undergoing a major transformation process to become more international and more capable to tackle societal challenges, he can easily adapt the findings of this international study: “If transformation is the goal, the atmospheres in which such a pursuit emerges and takes place must be conducive to a responsible and solution-oriented approach. I think, we are very aware of this here and on a good way towards it.”