organizational

organizational — adjective

1. connected with arranging work, meetings, or events so they happen in a clear and

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

connected with arranging work, meetings, or events so they happen in a clear and effective way

Example

Good organizational planning kept the school trip on time.

collocation: organizational planning

The school fair needed organizational support from parents at each gate.

Common collocations
  • organizational skills
  • organizational planning
  • organizational support
  • organizational detail
Synonyms
  • logistical

    focuses more on practical arrangements such as transport, timing, and supplies

  • administrative

    often relates to office work, records, and official procedures

  • managerial

    stresses directing people or work, not just arranging it well

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

organizational + skills/planning/support

Usage Note

Often used with nouns like skills, planning, support, and detail. When you talk about a person's ability, English usually uses phrases such as organizational skills rather than saying someone is organizational.

Common Mistakes

She is very organizational.
She is very organized.' / 'She has strong organizational skills.
organizational usually describes planning-related work or abilities through a noun phrase, not a person by itself.

2. connected with a company, school, charity, or other formal group as a whole

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with a company, school, charity, or other formal group as a whole

Example

Staff discussed organizational policy at the monthly office meeting.

collocation: organizational policy

The report described organizational changes after the hospital closed two wards.

Common collocations
  • organizational policy
  • organizational culture
  • organizational change
  • organizational rules
Synonyms
  • institutional

    often sounds more formal and is common for rules or systems in large bodies

  • corporate

    fits businesses especially, not schools or charities as naturally

  • administrative

    can overlap, but often points more to management or office processes

Grammar Patterns

organizational + policy/culture/change

Usage Note

Common before nouns such as policy, culture, change, and rules. Distinguish from sense 3: this sense is about the organization as an institution, not about how its parts are arranged.

Common Mistakes

Our office is organizational now.
Our office is organized now.
organizational describes the organization or its policies and culture; organized describes something put in good order.

3. connected with how the parts of a system are set up and operate together

3.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with how the parts of a system are set up and operate together

Example

The clinic has organizational problems between reception, nurses, and billing.

collocation: organizational problems

Doctors met to fix organizational gaps between triage and ambulance teams.

Common collocations
  • organizational structure
  • organizational design
  • organizational problems
  • organizational issues
Synonyms
  • structural

    emphasizes the arrangement of parts, especially in a system or institution

  • systemic

    often stresses a problem spread through the whole system

  • operational

    focuses more on day-to-day functioning than on structure itself

Antonyms
  • chaotic

    describes parts that do not work together in an orderly way

  • unstructured

    describes something without a clear arrangement

Grammar Patterns

organizational + structure/design/problem

Usage Note

Often used with nouns like structure, design, pattern, and problem. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense focuses on internal arrangement and coordination, not simply on belonging to a company or group.

Common Mistakes

The problem was organization.
The problem was organizational.' / 'The problem was the organization's structure.
organizational is the adjective form when you describe a type of problem.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For sense 1, organizational usually describes planning work, events, or the ability behind that planning, especially in phrases like organizational skills. Organized is different: it usually describes a person, room, or set of things that is already in good order. Systematic stresses working in a careful step-by-step way. Administrative often points to office procedures, records, or management duties. Logistical is narrower and usually concerns practical arrangements such as transport, equipment, or timing. Compare: Mina has strong organizational skills, but her desk is organized. The team solved the logistical problem of getting food to the stadium.

organized ↗systematic ↗administrative ↗logistical

Etymology

GreekFrenchEnglish

Organizational comes from organization, which is built on organize. English took organize from French, and the word ultimately goes back to Greek organon, meaning a tool or instrument. Over time, the idea of a tool developed into the idea of parts arranged for a purpose, so organizational came to describe planning, structure, and the running of a group or system.