The situation/environment in which a person finds himself, influences his behaviour - also his "communication" behaviour. A large part of this situation/environment in the organisational setting is accounted for by the organisational climate which is established and maintained in the particular organisation. In this paper the term organisational climate is defined and from the vast body of literature that exists on the topic, some common characteristics are emphasised. A model of organisational climate is presented, showing the components of organisational climate and their interaction and interrelatedness and how it affects communication in the organisation. The characteristics of a sound organisational climate will be stressed and reference will be made to some research in this field in the South African industry.