# Workplace climate questionnaire: 12 questions to open a dialogue

Brainmood — Version 2026-09-08

A starting point for understanding what helps or hinders collective work, then choosing practical adjustments. Adapt it with the people involved before use. This questionnaire proposed by Brainmood is not a validated psychometric scale.

Template to adapt within your organization. Examples are fictional. Complete the blank table fields; calculations are described in text, without automated formulas. Companion CSV: UTF-8, comma delimiter.

## Before sharing the questionnaire

Set a collection period, a feedback date and an owner for the follow-up. Only launch a survey when you can explain how the responses will be used.

1. Choose the scope: the whole organization or a work group large enough for protective reporting. Use the same reference period for everyone: the past four weeks.
2. Review the questions with people from the relevant roles to check understanding. Adapt the wording before the first wave and record later changes.
3. Explain that responses are optional, the collective purpose, who can access data and how findings will be shared. Only promise anonymity if the arrangements genuinely support it.
4. Offer comparable access for everyone in scope, announce the closing date and plan a collective reminder. Do not try to identify non-respondents from the results.

## The complete questionnaire

Instruction to display: “Thinking about the past four weeks, indicate your agreement with each statement. You may choose ‘Not applicable / Prefer not to answer’ or leave an answer blank. Do not include names, medical information or identifying details in the comment.”

Use the 1–5 scale for all statements. Exclude NR and blank responses from calculations; neither counts as zero or as a neutral response.

*Questionnaire to adapt — reference period: the past four weeks*

| ID | Dimension | Statement | Response options |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Q01 | Priorities | I know the priorities for my work. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q02 | Priorities | When requests conflict, I know who can decide which takes priority. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q03 | Workload | The workload expected of me fits the time I have available. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q04 | Workload | I can raise a workload issue and discuss adjustments to the work. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q05 | Resources | I have the information I need to carry out my work. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q06 | Resources | The tools and resources available enable me to carry out the work expected. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q07 | Cooperation | I can get help when my work requires it. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q08 | Cooperation | Coordination between teams makes it easier to get work done. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q09 | Dialogue | I can express disagreement about work organization in respectful discussions. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q10 | Dialogue | When difficulties are raised, we receive feedback on the next steps being considered. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q11 | Decisions | I understand the reasons for decisions that change my work. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| Q12 | Decisions | Announced changes come with identified resources for implementation. | 1 Strongly disagree; 2 Somewhat disagree; 3 Neither agree nor disagree; 4 Somewhat agree; 5 Strongly agree; NR Not applicable / Prefer not to answer |
| O01 | Optional open question | What practical change in work organization would help you most? Do not include names or details that could identify anyone. | Optional free text; do not include in a score |

## Read results without inventing an overall score

For each question, show the valid response count, the distribution of responses from 1 to 5 and the share answering 4 or 5. Keep NR and missing response counts separate. Discuss each dimension with teams, without an overall average or individual ranking.

Favorable share = (number of answers 4 + number of answers 5) / number of valid answers 1 to 5 × 100. If no valid answers exist, display ‘not calculable’. A change in percentage points is the difference between two percentages, using a comparable question and scope.

Calculate participation separately: respondents submitting at least one closed question / people invited × 100. Define deduplication before collection without adding unnecessary individual identifiers. High participation alone does not prove that responses represent every situation.

## Illustrative interpretation example

Fictional data, unrelated to any Brainmood client. For Q03, 50 people were invited and 40 responded to the questionnaire. Of these, 36 answered Q03 on the 1–5 scale, 3 selected NR and 1 left the question blank.

*Q03 — fictional example, not a performance benchmark*

| Response | Count |
| --- | --- |
| 1 — Strongly disagree | 5 |
| 2 — Somewhat disagree | 7 |
| 3 — Neither agree nor disagree | 6 |
| 4 — Somewhat agree | 12 |
| 5 — Strongly agree | 6 |
| NR | 3 |
| Blank | 1 |

## Turn the finding into a discussion

In the example, participation is 40 / 50 = 80%; the favorable share for Q03 is (12 + 6) / 36 = 50%. This describes the respondents, not the cause of a difficulty or anyone’s psychological state.

Useful feedback might say: ‘Half of valid responses indicate a workload that fits the time available. Which situations make work manageable, and which need a decision on priorities?’ Discuss work situations, choose one or two actions and announce a follow-up date.

Do not directly compare teams with different roles, periods or collection methods. For repeated measurements, record changes in headcount, context and participation before interpreting trends.

## Prepare feedback that protects people

Removing names does not guarantee anonymity: a small group, combined categories or a comment may allow someone to be identified. Assess aggregation in your context; no single minimum group size is a guarantee.

Before collecting data, define recipients, access rights, retention periods, comment handling and rules for combining or withholding results. Avoid individual variables and details that do not help the decision. Have your organization’s data protection lead review the arrangements.

Share findings about work and the decisions taken. Do not publish individual rankings, identifying quotations or medical details. These templates support collective organizational steering, not individual psychological assessment.

Anonymization reference : [CNIL](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/technologies/lanonymisation-de-donnees-personnelles)

## Continue the process

Brainmood helps you put collective signals in context, prioritize decisions and follow through. The pilot provides a framework for this work within your organization.

[Build an organizational diagnosis](https://brainmood.fr/en/solutions/diagnostic-organisationnel)

[Explore the Brainmood pilot](https://brainmood.fr/en/pilote-brainmood)

[Web version of this template](https://brainmood.fr/en/ressources/outils/questionnaire-climat-social)