Constructing common ground: Sensemaking & sensegiving in public tenders

Constructing common ground between clients and contractors is critical for successful collaboration in construction projects. Previous studies have offered important insights into the technical and managerial determinants that contribute to its creation. Still, very little is known about what clients and contractors actually do to create a common understanding. This paper examines how these actors collaboratively constructed a common understanding of each other’s demands and solutions during the tender of a major highway expansion project in the Netherlands. Our findings revealed cyclic processes consisting of four activities: (1) client sensegiving – influencing contractors toward preferred interpretations of demands and solutions; (2) contractor sensemaking – understanding and interpreting client's demands and preferred solutions; (3) contractor sensegiving – influencing the client toward more favourable conditions; and (4) client sensemaking – understanding and interpreting proposals from the contractors. By identifying these sensemaking and sensegiving practices, this paper offers a unique perspective to studying the informal social processes surrounding the emergence of collaborative relationships in construction. This offered perspective can be used in future research into the dynamics of client-contractor interactions throughout the lifecycle of construction projects.