Communication Climate in Organizations

The communication climate in Organizations and Teams

Learning Objectives

Defining and understanding the components of organizational culture particularly the shared values and how they impact the organizational culture.
Identifying the heroes, the rites and rituals, stories, myths and legends that are elements of the organizational culture.
Understanding the conscious effort to emulate the way the people in an organization operate and the attitudes that lead to that behavior.

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Climate is the atmosphere of a organization. More specifically, climate is the atmosphere of supportiveness or defensiveness that people feel within an organization. It is an integral part of organizational culture. Do they feel safe? Protected? Appreciated? Are they confidant that their opinions count? Do they know that when they have something to say, they have a way to say it so that it will be heard, and that people will listen and take their ideas or comments seriously? The overall organizational climate also includes the organization’s communication climate—how free people feel to communicate at work, especially about bad news or negative information. When people feel they cannot communicate bad news for fear of reprisal, the organization loses valuable information about how it operates.

Information will flow much more freely in an organization where there is a positive communication climate, but may not flow at all, especially when it is most needed, if there is a negative communication climate. A supportive communication climate allows for a better exchange of information and a more positive work environment. An organization’s climate can be equated to the weather—it is the atmosphere that people feel within the organization itself. It is an integral part of organizational culture. More specifically, organizational climate is the atmosphere of supportiveness or defensiveness people feel within the organization and the feelings they have about sending and receiving messages.
To build a supportive communication climate you need to send messages that acknowledge effort, creativity, and teamwork, engage people in the decision making process, establish trust, which is maintained through consistency, congruity, reliability, and integrity. It is not enough to be a nice manager and create a nice environment in which to communicate and work. You must also communicate a sense of challenge to your employees by placing importance on high quality and establishing high performance goals.

See Guideline: How to establish a healthy communication climate

A basic assumption of this manual is that only organizations that are projectized and that empower their employees create a communication climate such as to work strategically, collaboratively and cost-effectively, being innovative and accountable.

See also:

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