Communication 1.3 (Eng): Interferences (Part 2)

COMMUNICATION 1.3:  INTERFERENCES (Part 2)

In the first part of this article,  I have explained two major interferences that hinder the efficiency of communication:

1. The time chosen to deliver the message

2. The general emotional disposition (receptivity) of the interlocutor

Let's continue this line of thinking by bringing around the aspect of what I would call "the communication corridor" in which we can find all kinds of interferences. What I mean by the COMMUNICATION CORRIDOR, it is the immediate environment surrounding the time at which we chose to deliver the message. In this we can find the content and all its implications; are they positive or negative? Should I deliver the message in private or in public? What are the external elements possible to control at the time when I deliver the message? Can I reduce the ambiant noise (telephone, nearby conversations, external construction, and so on)?

Let's take an example:

Twocents learns that the mother of Billions is dying and is asking for him at her side. Every one is looking for Billions and nobody knows where he is. But Twocents knows that Billions is giving a big party in one of the big hotels downtown.Once he gets there, Twocents notices the huge crownd, dancing and having conversations at the sound of loud and invading music. After long minutes of searching, Twocents finally finds Billions, who is surrounded by beautiful women and his friends, around a table at one end of the room. People are laughing a lot and it is obvious that all have already made a deep incursion in the artificial paradise of Baudelaire and Poe.

How will Twocents bring the news to Billions? Should he try to do this by raising his voice louder than those around him? Or should he take Billions aside and make him understand that he must hurry?

Naturally, we are enclined to choose the second option. Why? Simply because we take into account the content and its implications that we have to deliver and compare it with the general ambiance that surrounds us when we do it.  If Twocents had to tell Billions that he had won a considerable fortune at the lottery, he could have very well sceamed out loud in order to deliver the news. The circumstances would have been appropriate, to say the least.

If you have to hold an important business meeting, it is possible to control some surrounding elements in order to maximize the attention and understanding of the participants.

For example, at the entrance door, you can put a  table, a basket or even offer a "cloakroom" so that people can leave their cell phones or other electronic devices that can cause an interruption during the meeting. You can also make sure that no call be put through for the time of the meeting, no matter how long it lasts. Also think of putting in place a "watchdog". What I mean is someone who will filter all the requests that could be put to you during the time of the meeting, which will prevent any unsollicited disturbance.

Envision your COMMUNICATION CORRIDOR. What are the elements you can control? You will quickly realize that by controlling small details you will increase your communication efficiency and will make sure that it reaches the desired objectives.

This being said for the COMMUNICATION CORRIDOR, let's talk now about the COMMUNICATION CHANNEL.

The COMMUNICATION CHANNEL is the MEANS used to deliver the message.  Either it is verbal or written, we always use some sort of channel to transmit our message. I already explained in another article, different means we can use as channels; it can be the telephone (cell or other), an email or a sheet of paper. The channel is probably the environment where it is the easiest to control the inteferences.

For example, if we decide to transmit our message verbally, and that there is a bad communication, we can always try again some other time. If we want to write or tell something, we have the possibility to choose our words carefully in order to make the message as clear as possible.  But we have to keep in mind that a channel is always preferable to another depending on the environment and the content of the message, in other words, it depends on the COMUNICATION CORRIDOR.

Some people have told me that it was very difficult to control the interferences from the communication channel and that it is impossible, for example, to foresee a postal delay or failure. I agree but then again, maybe people should have sent the letter through electronic mail instead of regular postal services. It is rather the choice of channel that could be reviewed. Today, to send a letter, duly signed, in a PDF format with a reception confirmation has as much legal value as a registered letter. Furthermore, it is much less expensive.

There are many examples representing a bad choice of communication channel to transmit a message. Today, in 2018, we have reached an unequaled level of communication in the history of mankind. In this case, why is it that a situation that would have taken a few minutes to resolve twenty years ago is multiplied by an X factor of time today?

Here is an example:

Marmelade has noticed a mistake in the annual financial report of the company.  She has to contact Jam who works in the head offices  to ask her to verify the numbers for the third quarter. She then chooses to write her an email, early in the morning, requesting the authorization to modify the report. At lunch time, Marmelade checks her emails but she still has not received any reply from Jam. With all the important work on her desk, Marmelade decides to wait at the end of day, Finally, around two-thirty in the afternoon, she receives the reply from Jam in which she reads that, unfortunately, it is not going to be possible today to get the authorization because the president, M. P. Butter, left the office in mid-morning and will not be back before tomorrow, sometime in the afternoon. 

If, instead of sending an email, Marmelade had called Jam on the telephone, she could have obtained the authorization from P. Butter before he had left, correct the mistake and then present the report to her suprior, Mr. Jelly. Marmelade could then have moved on to something else.

You will tell me that this is just a trivial example and that the delay is insignificant. I beg to defer. It is exactly because the example is trivial/insignificant that its importance is uppermost. It should be quickly settled because if all the small, insignificant or trivial things are postponed/carried forward and we add to this the daily work that is there, piling up day in day out, we will quickly reach a saturation point in which we will always have the impression of facing a montain of work that will eventually affect our efficiency. Considering this, it is not surprising these days to hear so much about burnout.  By managing adequately our communication channels we can considerably improve our efficiency and make our life easier.

What is to be kept in mind about all this is to consider carefully our COMMUNICATION CORRIDOR so we can choose adequaltely our COMMUNICATION CHANNEL. A good combinaison of these two elements can bring a singnificant improvement in all the spheres of our lives, either on the personnal or professional level.

And, well, like all good things must come to a end, I will stop here. Next article: The ENCODING and DECODING of a message.

See you soon,

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Louis Carle

Director,

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Communication 1.3 (Eng): Interferences (Part 1)

Communication 1.3    Interferences (Part 1)

Every day we communicate with one or more individuals either verbally or by writing. Furthermore, we do this many times each day, seven days a week. We should be experts in the art of transmitting our ideas, our intentions, our desires. Why is it then  that so many times our interlocutor did not understand or fully grasped the message we wihsed to vehiculate, either in its meaning, its impact or its emotions?

In fact what happened, at the moment we transmitted our message, some "interferences" showed up and impaired the comprehension. At the risk of looking like I am a bit paranoid, there is an astronomical sum of interferences that can happen at any given time, depending on the external circumstances at the moment we delivered our message. I will not try here to make an exhaustive list of the different interferences one may encounter but  will instead shed some light on small details that may seem trivial at first sight but that represent the very core of the subject. In a previous article, I have already explained some current examples that we can encounter practically every time we communicate. However, I have not yet even brush the tip of that iceberg!

In order to facilitate a bit the present discussion, I will define "interference" as : Phenomenon occuring when two waves, energies meet each other, creating a perturbation, generally negative." For my part, we should talk more about obstacles or "traps" surrounding communication between two or more individuals that can reduce or diminish its efficiency. But, then again!

Let's take the following example:

Ego, who is vice-president of marketing and sales for a big company has just learnt that one of their majors customers had to close his account with the entreprise due to unforeseen financial difficulties. The news is a terrible blow and will cause great prejudice to the firm where Ego works. It is barely eight o'clock on a Monday morning and Pompous, the president, is not yet in the office. When he arrives, he is livid and under shock because his wife had a car accident with their brand new luxury sedan. His wife came out of the crash with minor injuries but the car is a total loss. Pompous walks rapidely to his office of which he slams the door but not before telling every one to leave him alone for an hour.

What will be the best commmunication strategy Ego can use in order to tansmit his message to Pompous? What are the interferences that are present and that will affect either one or the other mean used?

For my part, it is clear that a verbal communication is, at that time, out of the question. The timing, the emotional turmoil going through Pompous make it  a really bad timing for a verbal confrontation. These two aspects represent very strong interferences when one desires to deliver a message. We must take them into consideration at all times.

The best immediate option would be to think about sending a written message. Here again, we have to ask which means is preferable? Should Ego text his boss? Should he send him a memo? Should he write an email? 

Right off the bat, I reject texting. This is not the kind of news we should text and the difference between this and a verbal confrontation would be very small and have probably just about the same results.

The news, even if it is urgent is strictly on Pompous' professional level. Right there, it is clear that the means to use will be either the professional email of Pompous or a memo.

If Ego uses a memo, he will downsize the importance of the news because we always get all kinds of memos to which we give more or less attention. The business emailwould then be, in this case, the best and quickest way possible to deliver the message so that actions can be taken.

If Ego chooses the email option, is he going to write it at Pompous' personal address or at the one he uses for business?In each of the probabilities, different interferences are going to be present.  Which option represent the lesser level of interfences and therefore will give more impact to the message?

But many traps are still awaiting Ego in the way he will word things to his president. Should he start with a title like : ATTENTION! URGENT! Or then again, should he write something like: "To be read with a clear and rested mind. Important.

Personally, I chose the second option and in the meantime, if I am in Ego's shoes, I summon immediately a meeting with my team and start right there working on an aggressive recruiting campaign.

It is easy to see some of the obstacles Ego will encounter in announcing the bad news. But in this first part, we have two main factors to keep in mind about interferences in efficient communication:

1. THE TIMING CHOSEN TO TRANSMIT YOUR MESSAGE

2. THE EMOTIONAL STATE/DISPOSITION (RECEPTIVITY) OF OUR INTERLOCUTOR

We will keep talking about some basic interferences in an upcoming article.

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Louis Carle

Director,

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Communication 1.2 (Eng): What Is Communication?

What Is Communication?

I will not pretend here to quote or re-write what has already been said and written about communication. In layman terms, I will define communication as: "Some kind of message (desire, feeling, idea, information, intention, etc.) transmitted from one person to another. Although we all know that communication is not exclusively made among human beings, we will limit it, for the sake of our argument, to individuals.

Even if it looks simple at first sight, this definition encompasses many elements that will impact the efficiency of the communication itself.   An image being worth a thousand words, let's take a look at the folowing diagram:

As we can see, we have a SENDER (Guy) who wants to send a MESSAGE to a RECEIVER (Mary).

According to Guy's choice of channel, he can transmit his message verbally or by writing. In both cases, he still has more than one option. If he wants to do it verbally, he can either summon Mary to his office or take the telephone and give her a call. If he wants to communicate with her by writing, he can do it in a form of a letter, a memo, or an e-mail.

Guy must then ENCODE his message meaning that he has to transform its content  so that it is intelligible to the RECEIVER, Mary, in the present case.

No matter which channel is used by Guy, either it is verbal or written, the message will be exposed to INTERFERENCES. The longer and more laborious the message is, the more it will be submitted to these interferences that will, in the end, cause problem in the clear understanding of the content or of the information. In other words, the clearer, the shorter, the more simple the message is, the better it is for everyone, and chances for it to be sujected to all kinds of interferences are greatly reduced.

Also, to make sure the message is understood, it should be accompanied by a request for action, an answer. Then there will be a role switch and the RECEIVER will transform into the SENDER and vice-versa and the whole communication cycle will start again.

Of course, this is oly a general and basic understanding of what comunication represents. But already, it is easy to understand  that the message we want to deliver is submitted to many external factors , most of them being out of our control, and that it does not take much to divert or affect the impact or the meaning of the message.

How can we avoid these traps that are awaiting us at every corner? We'll have to wait for another blog to get some of the answers. ☺

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Louis Carle
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Formation Linguistique L.C.

Communication 1.1 (Eng): What Is "Good" Communication?

Communication 1.1  What is "good" communication?

Right from the start, in our professional life, as well as our personal one, any communication, in order to be efficiet, so "good", must be brief, concise and and precise.  Beyond that, confusion, or even worse, interpretation, may come into play.

Simple, is it not?

Have you ever played the "telephone game"? For those who do not know what this is about, you take

 a group of people, make them sit in a circle, and a designated person discreetly whispers a word or a sentence to his immediate neighbor so that the other will not hear what he is saying. In turn, the neighbor repeats the words to his other immediate neighbor and so on until the words come back to the person who initiated everything.

For example, the initial message could be: "The new director's wife is sick" and when the message makes a complete round, the end result could be something like: "It's sick! The new director is a woman!" (In some cases, variations to the game were made to accomodate 3-4 people who were then placed in different rooms. Even if the number of people was reduced, differences between the initial and end messages were significative.)

This proves that the message does not have to be long, complicated or elaborate to be misinterpreted or misunderstood. All the more reasons to be brief and to the point.

Let's take another example:

Sufraget is an administrative clerk for a big manufacturing entreprise. She is regularly late for work in the morning which causes various discontent with the rest of the administrative personnel. The situation had already been addressed a few times but, down the line, improvements do not last and therefore nothing changes.

One morning, when Suffraget comes to work, she finds an envelop addressed to her on her desk. When she opens it, she reads one of the two following notes:

"Mrs Suffraget,

It has come to our attention recently that your lack of punctuality in the morning creates some discontentment among your co-workers. We want to ask you to fix this situation otherwise other measures will have to be taken.

Thank you for your understanding,

The Direction."

OR

"Mrs Suffraget,

Regarding many complaints received concerning the time at which you come to work,  we ask you to be ponctual and present at your desk when the working day starts. Otherwise, we will be forced to ask you to seek employment elsewhere.

Thank you for your colaboration,

The Direction."

In your opinion, which message was the clearer? The most efficient? The one that is the best example of  a "good" communication?

Personnally, I really like the second one, even if it is not quite politically correct, it has the advantage of being crystal clear and straight to the point. Therefore, there is less room for interpretation.

But the REAL answer is: NONE

In a "good communication" context, Mrs Suffraget should be met by the direction so they can adress the situation directly in order to solve it. This is really an example of "good" communication because both parties are present so expectations from both sides can be expressed clearly.

We could elaborate a long time on the topic but, to sum things up, a "good" communication is:

• Brivety of the message
• Simple sentence structure (subject + verb + complement)
• Accessible and vulgarized (*) vocabulary
• Precision of the idea
• Request for action (answer)

(*) Not to be confused with "familiar". Just try to use as less as possible big long words that can hinder on the clarity of the message. I should also make a reference to the first article introducing the subject of communication in which I asked the following question : Who is the receive? To whom am I talking? (Hmm... I feel another blog coming up!)

I will come back on this small list many times through the upcoming articles. But, rst assured, I am going to stop here for today. This is a vast subject and there is still so much more to say about it.

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Your comments are always welcome!

Louis Carle

Director

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Communication 1.0 (Eng): Why Write On Communication?

1. WHY WRITE ON COMMUNICATION?

In the series of articles following this one, I will establish what seems to me the essential elements of what is a "good" communication whether it is oral or written; in other words a "good" communication is efficient, to the point and professional .

The question is relevant. I have been in business for the past thirty years, mainly regarding sales and marketing, and I am still amazed today when I see the same communication deficiencies that we used to have in the '80s. On the other hand, with the booming of all the different communication means that we have at our disposal, shouldn't our communication be clearer? more precise? more efficient?

Logically speaking, YES; it should be. In facts though, it is often not the case.

Why do these misunderstandings happen?

How can something that seems so clear to us could be so obscur for someone else? How can our message be interpreted differently than our initial intent?

And that is where most of the problems are encountered. We send a message according to our perceptions, our values, our experience. Do the sender and the receiver have the same experience?

When we communicate, we always do it for someone else. Why shouldn't we then take the other into consideration when we address him/her?

The articles that will follow will  talk about communication clarity, its efficiency and how it can represent the professional we are.

Your comments are mosre than welcome! Your ideas and opinions will be favorable received. Don't forget to visit us at our Facebook page! Suscribe to Info-lettre and receive your discounts and promotions!

Looking forward to read you,

Louis Carle

Manager

Formation Linguistique L.C.

Communication 1.3 : Interferences : ENCODING

COMMUNICATION 1.3 :  INTERFERENCES

ENCODING

In the first and second articles of this series on communication interferences, I gave an overview of some aspects that can affect communication efficiency, but nothing that has been mentioned so far has as much influence as ENCODING. It is where lies the greater part of our efficiency to communicate. Therefore its importance is not to be neglected.

Let's take a look and see why.

We can find in the etymology of the word endocing the root "code". A code is "a system of signals or symbols for communication" (Merriam Webster dictionary). For our purpose here, this system is represented by the alphabet and the grammatical rules to which a language is submitted. The choice, the word sequence and the logical train of thoughts will ensure that the message will be well understood.

So, when we talk about encoding, we directly refer to the content of the message itself; the terms, the words that we choose so we can obtain the maximum impact for the understanding of our interlocutor. In theory, this may appear to be quite simple. A word is a word and well worth another, is it not?

Well, yes... and no.

How many times do we realize that the person or people we are talking to understand something else or do not totally grasp the full meaning or extend of our words. What happens?

The answer is simple: we plainly and clearly did not choose the "right" words. Or we do not know enough about the language to discern the connotations and nuances. Also, it is quite possible that we have not taken into account our audience (Read Is A Good Training Still Possible? Part 2).

What to do then? Should we read all the great classics of English literature ? Increase and diversify our vocabulary? Become more familiar with all the possible lingo assiciated with each and every specific field of work? Obviously.... not. Although, on the other hand, a strong and solid knowledge of the language in which we wish to transmit information is always a major advantage and a constant work in progress. It may take a lot of time, even years, before reaching the desired level.

What can we quickly do?

We can simply take time to think hard about the message we want to transmit. Right off the start, SIMPLICITY is always a good ally. It is also a synonym of CLARITY.

What do I mean by simplicity? The choice of words, of course. Words that will strike the imagination, that are direct and are straightforward. But, be careful! Here lies a huge part of the communication efficiency problem. Words we choose are "tainted" and sometimes can be interpreted in a completely opposite or unexpected way.

Language is a treacherous mistress because we think we possess it but, in fact, it posseses us. The poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) wonderfully described this ambiguity  in his famous sentence "Je est un autre" ("I is someone else", free translation). What he means here is when we describe a situation we have a tendancy to modify it, if only by adding adjectives. When we do so we bring a nuance, a biased vision of reality, either we like it or not. Moreover,, the choice of words we make is based on our own perceptions of things, which, in turn, helped us build our life experience. In other terms, a word may not have exactly the same value or meaning from a person to another, unless life experiences are similar, and even then! 

Let's take an example to illustrate this: 

Whimpy tells about his walk to his friend:  

"Walking was not enjoyable. Gales of wind battered furiously at my clothes and I had all the difficulty in the world to move forward."

According to his words we may be inclined to think that Whimpy went walking outside as a tornado or huricane was about to hit. But in reality, when Whimpy went out for his walk,  there were a few gusts of wind of about 30 kilometers (18 miles) an hour. So when Whimpy tells his story, he "taints" it, gives it another proportion and distorts reality.

Therefore, when we encode a message, it is always a safe measure to avoid allegories, hyperboles (exaggérations); in a word, all figures of speech and everything that may obscur the clarity of the message.

For example, it would be more eficient to say:

"It is forbidden to touch this under penalty of dismissal."

Than

"We would appreciate if you could avoid touching this. It may spare us both from undesirable consequences."

Even if the second message has the advantage to be more refined and probably more politically correct, its clarity, so its efficiency, is a little bit diminished. Indeed, when we "wish to avoid" something, the impact of the words is not as strong as "it is forbidden". In fact, to "wish to avoid" may mean that I could actually touch the object, even if by accident.

While in the first case, it is clear that I will do eveything in my power to stay away from the object, even go to the lenght of preventing something from happening to it. Furthermore, in this example, the message is brief, shorter, so possibilities of interpretation are limited.

The more you are able to express your thoughts in a concise and precise way, the easier it will be for your audience to understand exactly the full meaning or impact of your words.

Let's take another example:

Shrimp writes to her colleague Scampi:

"Good morning,

I am sorry for my late reply regarding Mr. Crab's file. I am swamped with work these days and I can barely hold my head above water. I will get back to you on this probably before the end of the week. I hope that your day will be better than mine."

Let's take some time to observe a bit the choice of words in this message and try to extract a general impression.

Sorry: Right from the start, Shrimp puts herself in an inferiority position (we are sorry because we have the impression of not having done something or having been "wrong" with someone)

Late: This word speaks volumes. Shrimps is not organized or she is not able to respect deadlines.

Swamped: The word is strong. It shows a partial or total loss of control on daily tasks.

Barely maintain my head above water: Indeed, poor little Shrimp! She seems to be overwhelmed and puts a lot of energy in her work.

Probably: Shrimp creates a doubt beause this is for sure not a certainty. So, there is nothing affirmative. She just cancelled all the reasons and the efficiency of her message.

In short, you understand. The general impression that is given by the message is that Shrimp is about to "completely lose it". Seriously, either she does not know how to organize things efficiently, or she should change job and have a position with less responsibilities. Also, Shrimp may be due for some vacation time. Anyone submitted to such a pace for any lenght of time is paving the road to a complete and official burnout.

Let's take the same example and choose other words to express the situation:

"Good morning, Scampi,

Concerning your message, I am pretty busy these days but I have not forgotten Mr. Crab's file. I am going to get back to you on this before the end of the week. Have a good day."

Essentially, this message says the same things. But the impression that we have from it is much more favorable. Why? Simply because we took time to choose our words well.

Concerning: It is affirmative. So we do not start the conversation at a disadvantage. We even have the impression that it is all calculated, planned and organized.

Pretty busy: Shrimp may have a lot of work to do but we feel that she has things under control.

I have not forgotten: It is so reassuring. We feel the professionalism of Shrimp. that she has a sense of priorities and that she is, once again, well organized.

I am going to get back: It is already more certain, if not more positive than I will get back. By using immediate futur. Shrimp says that she knows when she is going to do it, that she has planned this action and the general impression that we have is much more reassuring than if she had used simple future like in the first example.

Even if these examples may seem somewhat farfetched (so very little, really), the fact still remains that they make us see the importance of our choice of words. The encoding of a message, whatever it may be, is the most important factor  in communication efficiency. If you encode your message well, you project a professional image. It is how we approach our audience, how we present and show who we are.

Take a few moments to analyze your encoding. What kind of image are you communicating?

Soon to come, the other side of the coin; the decoding.

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Louis Carle

Director,

Formation Lingusitique L.C.

Communication 1.3 : Interférences : L'ENCODAGE

COMMUNICATION 1.3 :  L'ENCODAGE

Dans les premier et le deuxième articles de cette série sur les interférences de la communication, nous avons survolés certains aspects pouvant nuire à son efficacité, mais rien de ce qui fut mentionné jusqu’à présent n’a autant d’influence que l’ENCODAGE. C’est sur cet aspect que dépend en grande partie notre efficacité à communiquer. Son importance n’est donc pas à négliger.

Voyons un peu pourquoi.

Nous retrouvons dans l’étymologie du mot encodage la racine « code ». Au niveau de la communication, un code est « un système de symboles destiné à représenter et à transmettre une information. » (Petit Robert). Dans le cas qui nous intéresse ici, ce système est représenté par l’alphabet et les règles grammaticales auxquelles une langue est assujettie. Le choix, la séquence des mots et la suite logique du discours feront en sorte que le message sera bien compris.

Donc, lorsque l’on parle d’encodage, on fait directement référence au contenu même du message ; aux termes, aux mots, que nous choisissons afin d’obtenir le maximum d’impact sur la compréhension de notre interlocuteur. En théorie, cela peut paraître bien simple. Un mot en vaut bien un autre, non ?

 

Oui…et non.

Combien de fois peut-on se rendre compte que l’interlocuteur auquel on s’adresse comprend autre chose, ou ne saisit pas tout à fait l’intensité, la nuance ou la portée des paroles qu’on lui adresse ? Que se passe-t-il?

La réponse est simple : Nous n’avons tout bonnement pas choisi les « bons » termes. Ou nous ne connaissons pas suffisamment la langue pour en discerner les connotations et/ou nuances. Également, il se peut que nous n’ayons pas pris en considération notre auditoire.(Lire Une bonne formation, c'est possible ? 2ème partie)

Que faire à ce moment-ci ? Doit-on se mettre à lire les grands ouvrages de la littérature ? Augmenter et diversifier notre vocabulaire ? Se familiariser avec tous les jargons possibles pouvant être reliés à un domaine spécifique ou à un autre ?  Évidemment que … non.  Quoique, d’un autre côté, une connaissance solide du langage dans lequel on transmet une information est un atout majeur et représente un travail constant. Mais cela peut prendre beaucoup de temps, voire des années, afin d’élever notre langage au niveau désiré.

Plus rapidement, que peut-on faire dans ce cas ?

On peut simplement prendre quelques instants pour bien réfléchir au message que l’on veut transmettre. En partant, la SIMPLICITÉ est toujours de mise. Elle est également synonyme de CLARTÉ.

Qu’entend-on par simplicité ? Le choix des mots, bien sûr. Des mots qui frappent l’imaginaire, qui sont directs, qui vont droit au but. Mais attention ! C’est ici que réside une vaste partie du problème à communiquer efficacement. Les mots que nous choisissons sont « teintés » et parfois portent à confusion.

La langue est en fait une traître maîtresse car nous pensons la posséder mais c’est elle en fait qui nous possède. Le poète Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) a merveilleusement décrit cette ambiguïté dans sa célèbre phrase : « Je est un autre. » Ce qu’il veut dire ici est que le choix des mots que nous faisons est basé sur nos propres perceptions des choses et qui ont elles-mêmes aidé à façonner notre expérience de vie. En d’autres termes, un mot peut ne pas avoir exactement la même signification chez une personne ou une autre, à moins que les expériences de vie soient similaires, et encore ! De plus, lorsque nous décrivons une situation, nous avons tendance à la modifier, ne serait-ce qu'en y ajoutant des adjectifs, donc on apporte une nuance, une vision biaisée de la réalité, et ce, bien malgré nous.

Prenons un exemple pour illustrer ce fait :

Fluette raconte sa promenade à son ami : 

"La marche n'était pas agréable. il ventait à écorner les bœufs ! J'avais toutes les difficultés du monde à avancer!"

D'après ses dires, on pourrait croire que Fluette est parti marcher dans un début de tornade ou d'ouragan. Alors que dans la réalité, lorsque Fluette est parti prendre sa marche, il y a eu des bourrasques de vents de l'ordre de trente kilomètres/heure. Lorsqu'il raconte son histoire, il la "teinte", lui donne une autre proportion, au point où il déforme la réalité.

Par conséquent, lorsque nous encodons un message, il est toujours prudent d'éviter les allégories, les hyperboles (exagérations), bref les figures de style, et tout ce qui risque d'embrouiller la clarté de notre message.

Par exemple, il serait plus efficace de dire :

« Il est interdit de toucher à ceci sous peine de renvoi. »

Que

« Nous aimerions que vous évitiez de toucher à ceci. Cela pourrait épargner à tous de désagréables conséquences. »

Même si le deuxième message a l’avantage d’être beaucoup plus « politiquement correct », sa netteté donc son efficacité, est quelque peu entachée. En effet, lorsqu’on « souhaite éviter » quelque chose, l’impact n’est pas aussi fort que de l’« interdire ». En fait, « souhaiter éviter » peut vouloir dire que je peux tout de même le faire, ne serait-ce que par accident.

Tandis que dans le premier cas, il est clair que je ferai tout en mon pouvoir afin de me tenir loin de cet objet, allant même jusqu’à vouloir prévenir tout accident. En plus de ceci, dans cet exemple, le message est bref, donc les possibilités d’interprétation sont limitées.

Plus vous pouvez formuler correctement votre pensée de façon concise et précise, plus il sera facile à votre auditoire, votre interlocuteur, de comprendre exactement la teneur de vos propos.

Prenons un autre exemple :

Crevette écrit à sa collègue Langoustine :

« Bonjour,

Je suis désolée pour le retard concernant ma réponse pour le dossier de M. Crabe. Je suis présentement submergée de travail et j’ai peine à me maintenir la tête hors de l’eau. Je te reviens là-dessus probablement d’ici la fin de la semaine. J’espère que ta journée se déroulera mieux que la mienne. »

Observons un peu le choix des mots de ce message et tentons d’en dégager une impression générale.

Désolée : Dès le départ, Crevette se met en position d’infériorité (on est désolé, on s’excuse, car on a l’impression de ne pas avoir fait une chose ou simplement de ne pas avoir été « correct »)

Retard : Le terme en dit long. Crevette manque d’organisation ou elle n’est pas en mesure de respecter ses échéanciers.

Submergée : Le terme est fort. Il indique qu’il y a une perte partielle ou totale de contrôle sur les tâches quotidiennes.

J’ ai peine à me maintenir la tête hors de l’eau: En effet, pauvre Crevette … Elle semble dépassée et met beaucoup d’énergies dans ses tâches.

Probablement : Crevette créé un doute car ce n’est certainement pas une certitude. Il n’y a donc rien d’affirmatif. Elle vient également d’annuler toute efficacité/utilité de son message.

Bref, vous avez compris. L’impression générale que donne ce message est que Crevette est sur le point de « péter au frette ». Sérieusement, soit qu’elle ne sait pas s’organiser efficacement, ou soit qu’elle devrait changer de travail et avoir moins de responsabilités. Crevette est peut-être due pour des vacances. Toute personne soumise à une période de temps plus ou moins prolongée à un tel régime pave la voie à l’épuisement professionnel.

Reprenons le même exemple, et choisissons d’autres mots pour exprimer la même situation :

Bonjour Langoustine,

En réponse à ton message, je suis fortement occupée ces jours-ci mais je n’ai pas oublié le dossier de M. Crabe. Je vais te redonner des nouvelles d’ici la fin de la semaine. Bonne journée.

Essentiellement, ce message dit la même chose. Mais l’impression qu’on en retire est bien meilleure.  Pourquoi ? Simplement parce qu’on a pris le temps de bien choisir ses mots.

En réponse : C’est affirmatif. On ne part pas en « déficit » On a même l’impression que le tout était calculé, donc planifié et organisé.

Fortement occupée : Crevette a beau avoir beaucoup d’ouvrage mais on la sent en contrôle des choses.

Je n’ai pas oublié : C’est tellement rassurant. On sent le professionnalisme de Crevette, qu’elle a le sens des priorités et qu’elle est, encore une fois, bien organisée.

Je vais te redonner : C’est déjà plus certain, sinon positif, que « je te redonnerai ». En utilisant le futur proche Crevette fait sentir qu’elle sait quand elle le fera, qu’elle a planifié cette action et que l’impression générale qu’on en retire est beaucoup plus rassurante que si elle avait utilisé le futur de l’indicatif comme c’était le cas dans le premier exemple.

Même si ces exemples peuvent sembler quelque peu (si peu, en réalité) exagérés, il n’en demeure pas moins qu’ils nous font voir l’importance du choix des mots que nous utilisons. L’encodage d’un message, quel qu’il soit, est ce qu’il y a de plus important dans l’efficacité de la communication.  Si vous encodez bien vos messages, il y a fort à parier que vous dégagez une forte image professionnelle car c’est avec ce moyen que nous abordons toujours notre auditoire, que nous représentons qui nous sommes.  

Prenez quelques instants pour analyser votre encodage. Quelle image de vous-même communiquez ou projetez-vous ?  

Bientôt, l’envers de la médaille ; le décodage.

  

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Louis Carle

Directeur

Formation Linguistique L.C.