Assignment: Communication Climate

Communication is the grease which makes relationships in organizations run smoothly, and by extension, directly affects the effectiveness of the organization itself. Communication climate refers to the mood or tone of interpersonal communications and determines in great part how people feel about each other and how they carry out their work activities. Thus, communication climate has a great deal of influence over the organizational climate or general atmosphere of the work environment. Read the following blog about what it is like to work in a defensive climate:

Dukes, A.J. (2012). Defensive v Supportive Climates in the Workplace.

As you can see from this blog entry, defensive climates create a situation where employees do not raise work concerns, or communicate their needs. They are careful about what they say and guard their opinions. Frequently they exhibit low motivation.

Supportive climates, on the other hand, encourage employee participation and engagement, an open exchange of information, and constructive conflict. Employees who work in supportive environments often exhibit greater organizational commitment, an attitude cited as highly desirable in Module 1.

The Communication Climate Inventory was developed as a means of measuring the degree of supportiveness and defensiveness in an organization. For this SLP, take the inventory and score your organization's communication climate using the scale below. Take the Communication Climate Inventory.

Defensive Score

Supportive Score

SLP Assignment

Compose a 2- to 3-page blog like the one you read for this SLP, describing the climate in your organization, department, or team. Do not use the actual name of the organization - you can make up a pseudonym. Include the following in your description:

Is the climate supportive or defensive? Does this align with the results of your Communication Climate Inventory? Attach your Inventory results as an appendix. (Note: This appendix requirement will likely increase your paper's Turnitin similarity score; your professor is aware of this.)

How does the communication climate affect motivation and organizational/team commitment?

How could you improve the communication climate in your organization, department, or team?

What communication skills would you like to learn or improve on in order to create a supportive communication climate?

Be sure to support your analysis with concepts and principles introduced in the background readings on communication as well as conflict and teams (if appropriate). You may also incorporate outside research to supplement the background material. Cite all sources properly.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the criteria as stated in the SLP rubric. The following is a review of the rubric criteria:

Assignment-Driven: Does the paper fully address all aspects of the assignment? Is the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?

Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?

Business Writing: Is the essay logical, well organized and well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?

Effective Use of Information: Does the submission demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student's use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?

Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing, by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?