Communication Climate
Communication Climate
Page 174
Conflicts can stem from certain atmospheres, or feelings, surrounding different relationships. This is known as a communication climate. According to Folger, Poole, and Stutman (1997), climates represent the dominant temper, attitudes, and outlook of a group and provide continuity and coherence in mutual activities.
How might you determine what type of climate you may face when engaging in conflict with others? We suggest three likely possibilities: uncertain, defensive, and supportive (Gibb, 1961). In what follows, we use the AMC television series The Walking Dead to illustrate the ways different climates affect conflict management.
- Uncertain climates are those in which at least one of the people involved is unclear, vague, tentative, and awkward about the goals, expectations, and potential outcomes of the conflict situation. Many conditions can create uncertain climates, including unfamiliarity with the people, the surroundings, or the topic at hand. In uncertain climates, communicators are hesitant to take action, and conflict management can bog down. On The Walking Dead, a small group of individuals who escape a zombie epidemic outside of Atlanta manage to band together in order to survive. Clearly there are innumerable uncertainties in this postapocalyptic world: What if the zombies find their camp? How will they obtain necessary supplies? What if one of the group members is attacked? But this confusion is compounded by the overwhelming fear and hesitancy of many of the individual characters, who can’t seem to decide on a clear course of action.
- Defensive climates are those in which the people involved feel threatened. It is an atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion, and apprehension. On The Walking Dead, protagonist Rick Grimes is attacked and captured by a father, Morgan Jones, and his son who have survived the epidemic. Grimes awakens bound to a bed, and a suspicious, fearful Jones proceeds to interrogate him harshly about whether he has been exposed to the zombie virus—letting Grimes know that the wrong answer or move will lead to his demise.
- Supportive climates are ideal because they offer communicators a chance to honestly and considerately explore the issues involved in the conflict situation. Communicators are open to one another’s ideas and feelings and together construct a reality that induces productive resolution of the problems that instigated the conflict in the first place. On The Walking Dead, supportive climates are hard to find. But individuals—friends, spouses, siblings, and even strangers—do work to manage problems among themselves by exploring issues and being sensitive to one another’s feelings. For example, friends Dale and Andrea manage to share their sentiments about Andrea’s decision to remain behind at the doomed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facility and resolve their conflict with mutually beneficial results.
How do you move from a defensive or uncertain climate to a supportive one? Your first task is to make sure you know which climate you are experiencing. Your gut instincts can be a credible guide here, but you can also make some formal assessment of the climate situation. What are your past experiences with this topic, this person or group, or these conditions? How do you feel things turned out? Once you know the climate you are in, you can take steps to move toward a supportive one. Figure 8.1 offers several communication steps to help you find your way to supportive conflict climates.
