Communication 1.3: Interferences: DECODING

Communication 1.3 : Interferences

DECODING

The function of DECODING is unique to the receiver, just as ENCODING is unique to the sender. The person receiving a message has the responsibility, if not the duty, to "decode" appropriately what he/she receives, either it is verbally or written, in order to understand exactly the goal and/or the scope of the said message that is sent. Here is where the epitome of communication comes into play and everything that was said in articles 1, 2, and 3 of the Interferences series lead toward influencing the success of this ultimate goal.

Of course, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to elaborate on DECODING without taking into account

those elements. Therefore, if sometimes things may seem repetitive, we must keep in mind that we are observing the communication process (What is communication?) from the RECEIVER's viewpoint, so, right from the start, under a different angle or perspective than what we saw when taking about the SENDER. 

First of all, in order to appropriately decode a message, we must remove factors that affect our perception of things.We must be able to identify these factors and set them aside. It could be simply something like making a mental list so we can bring them toward the elimination process. It is, without a doubt, one of the most important steps of DECODING. 

1. The action of DECODING is influenced by our general disposition, whether it is emotional or psychological. In a perfect world,  we are always in a good mood and well inclined to receive what people offer or send us. However, in every-day life, it is not always the case. When that happens, I strongly suggest to postpone decoding to a more favourable/suitable moment, when we will be able to look at things more rationally with a good measure of good old common sense.

Let's not kid ourselves here and tell things as they are. If we are under the shock of a terrible news we could perceive a trivial message as a disaster just like, if we are overwhelmed by a sensational event,  we could very well downsize the importance or the gravity of a fact. It is easy to see here that postponing the decoding of a message to later is a wise and well thought position that can eliminate a good deal of undesirable situations.

For example:

We are Friday morning and Phlegmatic learned that he has just lost all his shares in stock exchange, and therefore, all his savings and his retirement plan. He is practically ruined. Contrary to his usual habits, he is shattered and has a lot of difficulty to concentrate. Once he arrives at work and opens his emails, he finds the following message coming from his boss, Narcissus:

"Good morning, Plegmatic. I would like you to present a report concerning the financial perspectives of your department to the administrative board; Friday next week would be ideal. Everybody has already been summoned. Send me a resumé of your presentation next Monday or Tuesday."

In the actual state of things, Phlegmatic could interpret, in other words decode, this message in the following way:

• The Company is already aware of his misfortune;
• The presentation is a trap to see if, indeed, his financial skills are adequate;
• His job is on the line and all this is a disguised introduction for his employment termination;
• Etc.

However, if we look at this with a different perspective, there is nothing in the message sent by Narcissus that is remotely threatening or revealing of whatsoever. There is nothing there that would let us suppose that people have doubts regarding Phlegmatic's skills. Actually, if we look at this cooly, we might even think that:

• The Company's trust is such that it mandates him for a financial projection;
• If the report is favourable, he might even be in charge of all the projects of his department for the upcoming years;
• This situation could even be an opportunity for an extraordinary promotion.

In short, the moral of this story is when we are experiencing the shock of an emotion or a traumatic news, it is better to refrain ourselves from answering too quickly or impulsively for as long as we have not taken some time to re-postion the situation in its rightful perspective. It is extremely difficult to appropriately decode a message if we are under a physical or psychological strain.

To postpone things to a later time also mean that we can use strategies that will make us gain some time. In this situation, Phlegmatic could send a reply with something like:

"I have indeed received your request and assure you that I will follow it through as soon as I can. We could talk about this further at the beginning of the week, preferably on Tuesday."

This strategy would have the advantage, at least in the eyes of Phlegmatic's boss, that his employee confirms the reception of his request and that he will probably take a few days to come up with a good presentation. On Phlegmatic's side, this will allow him not only to preserve or maintain his professional image but also to gain precious and necessary time to be able to put things in a different an more appropriate light.

Other factors can also influence our interpretation, therefore our own decoding, of messages that we receive.

2. If we know the sender of the message well, if we have already established some kind of connection or relation with this person, we already know how he/she prefers to announce, or comment, things.  His/her language is already familiar to us and we are in a much better position as to what to expect from this person. It is much easier to decode messages from people from our immediate environment than it is from perfect strangers. 

If this relation is good/strong enough, we may even be able to "read between the lines", so to go beyond the message itself to find its true meaning. Seriously, this is quite an exercise and no small feat if we think about it. 

Our relation to the sender is a decisive factor in the adequate decoding of a message.

Of course, there are still many things to be said regarding decoding and trying to do so here would soon become pretty laborious. For this reason, I will stop here and continue this in another part where I am going to speak about beliefs and prejudice, personality. education level, and social status.

See you soon,

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Louis Carle

Executive President

Formation Linguistique L.C.