Communication 1.3 : Interférences : DÉCODAGE

COMMUNICATION 1.3 : INTERFÉRENCES (4ème PARTIE)

                 Le DÉCODAGE                       

La fonction de DÉCODAGE est unique au récepteur, tout comme l’est l’ENCODAGE pour l’émetteur. La personne recevant le message a la responsabilité, sinon le devoir, de bien « décoder » ce qu’elle reçoit, de façon orale, écrite, ou autre, afin de comprendre exactement le but et la portée dudit message qu’on lui envoie. C’est ici que se joue l’epitome de la communication et tout ce qui fut mentionné dans les articles 1, 2 et 3 de la série Interférences, convergent de façon à influencer la réussite de ce but ultime.

  

Bien sûr, il serait difficile, voire impossible, d’élaborer sur le sujet du DÉCODAGE sans tenir compte de ces éléments. Par conséquent, si parfois le tout peut sembler répétitif, il faut toutefois garder à l’esprit que nous observons le processus de la communication (Qu’est-ce que la communication?) sous l’angle du RÉCEPTEUR, donc dès le départ, sous un autre angle et dans une autre perspective que ce que nous avons fait pour l’ÉMETTEUR.

En premier lieu, pour bien pouvoir décoder un message, il faut parvenir à faire abstraction des facteurs pouvant affecter notre interprétation des choses. On doit identifier ces facteurs et parvenir à les mettre de côté. Il peut simplement s’agir d’une énumération mentale de ceux-ci afin de les acheminer vers le processus d’élimination. C’est sans aucun doute, l’une des étapes les plus importantes du DÉCODAGE.

1.      L’action de décodage est influencée par notre disposition générale, qu’elle soit émotive ou psychologique. Dans un monde parfait, nous sommes toujours de bonne humeur et bien disposés à recevoir ce que les gens nous offrent ou nous envoient. Par contre, dans la réalité quotidienne, ce n’est pas toujours le cas. Lorsque cela se produit, je suggère fortement de reporter le décodage à un moment plus propice, où nous pourrons regarder les choses plus rationnellement et avec une bonne dose de « gros bons sens ». 

Qu’on se le dise, si nous sommes sous le choc d’une terrible nouvelle, nous pouvons percevoir un message banal comme étant une catastrophe tout comme, dans le cas contraire, si nous sommes renversés par un événement sensationnel, nous pouvons avoir tendance à minimiser la gravité ou l’importance d’un fait. Il est facile ici de voir que reporter notre décodage à plus tard est une position sage et réfléchie pouvant éliminer bon nombre de situations indésirables.

Par exemple :

Nous sommes vendredi matin et Flegme vient d’apprendre qu’il a perdu toutes ses actions en bourse et, par conséquent, toutes ses économies et son plan de retraite. Il est pratiquement ruiné. Contrairement à ses habitudes, il est abattu et éprouve beaucoup de difficulté à se concentrer. Une fois rendu au travail, lorsqu’il ouvre ses courriels, il y trouve le message suivant, provenant de Narcisse, le grand patron de l’établissement pour lequel il travaille.

« Bonjour Flegme, J’aimerais que tu présentes au comité d’administration un rapport des perspectives financières de ton département ; vendredi la semaine prochaine serait idéal. Tout le monde est déjà convoqué.  Envoie-moi un résumé de ta présentation lundi ou mardi prochain. »

Dans l’état actuel des choses, Flegme pourrait interpréter, donc décoder, ce message de la façon suivante :

• ·         L’entreprise est déjà au courant de ses déboires ;
• ·        La présentation est un piège pour voir si effectivement ses compétences financières sont adéquates ;
• ·        Sa position est en jeu, tout ceci peut être une forme déguisée d’introduction à son renvoi de la compagnie ;
• ·         Etc.

Pourtant, si on regarde les choses sous un autre angle, il n’y a rien dans ce message qui soit accusateur ou révélateur de quoi que ce soit.  Il n’y a rien non plus qui laisserait supposer qu’on doute des compétences de Flegme. En fait, si on regarde les choses froidement, on pourrait même croire que :

• ·       la confiance de la compagnie est telle qu’elle le mandate pour produire une projection           financière ;
• ·         si le rapport est favorable, il pourrait être en charge de tous les projets de son département pour les prochaines années ;
• ·        Ce type de situation pourrait même devenir une opportunité pour une promotion extraordinaire.

Bref, la morale est ici lorsqu’on est sous le choc d’une émotion, d’une nouvelle, mieux vaut s’abstenir de répondre impulsivement et/ou immédiatement tant et aussi longtemps que nous ne prenons pas quelques instants AFIN DE RECADRER la situation dans sa juste perspective. Il est extrêmement difficile de bien décoder un message lorsque nous sommes sous le coup d’une « perturbation physique ou psychologique ».

Reporter à plus tard signifie également pouvoir utiliser des stratégies qui nous feront gagner du temps. Dans ce cas-ci, Flegme pourrait répondre quelque chose comme :

« J’ai bien reçu votre demande et vous assure que j’y donnerai suite dès que je le pourrai. Nous pourrons en reparler en début de semaine prochaine, préférablement mardi. »

Cette stratégie aurait au moins l’avantage, aux yeux du patron de Flegme, que son employé confirme l’accusé de réception de sa demande et qu’il va sans doute se donner quelques jours pour élaborer la présentation. Du côté de Flegme, cela lui permettra de non seulement préserver son image professionnelle mais également de gagner un temps précieux et primordial qui lui permettra de faire la part des choses.

D’autres facteurs viennent également influencer l’interprétation, donc notre propre décodage, des messages que nous recevons.

2.      Si nous connaissons bien l’émetteur du message, si nous avons déjà établi des liens ou une relation quelconque avec cette personne, nous savons d’ores et déjà comment celle-ci préfère annoncer, commenter ou dire les choses. Son langage nous est familier et nous savons beaucoup plus à quoi nous attendre. Il est beaucoup plus facile de décoder les messages des gens faisant partie de notre environnement immédiat que de le faire pour un parfait inconnu.

Si cette relation est suffisamment bonne nous pourrions même « lire entre les lignes », donc aller au-delà du message pour y retrouver son sens propre. Sérieusement, c’est là tout un exercice lorsqu’on y réfléchit bien mais qui est bien vain si nous ignorons qui est l’émetteur.

Notre relation à l’émetteur est un facteur déterminant dans le décodage adéquat d’un message.

Certes, il y a encore beaucoup de choses à dire au niveau du décodage et tenter de le faire ici deviendrait assez laborieux. Pour cette raison, je vais arrêter mes propos et poursuivre dans une autre partie où j’aborderai les thèmes des croyances et préjugés, de la personnalité, du niveau d’éducation et du statut du décodeur.

 À bientôt,

Suivez-nous sur Facebook ! Inscrivez-vous à l’info-lettre (à gauche sur la page FB, juste en dessous des onglets « Communauté/Publicité ») ! Visitez notre site ! Lisez nos blogues sur la formation !

Louis Carle

Directeur

Formation Linguistique L.C.

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,

Follow us on Facebook! Subscrbe to our Newsletter (on the left-hand side of the FB page, right below the Communauté/Publicité tabs.) Visit our site! Read our blogs on training!

Louis Carle

Executive President

Formation Linguistique L.C.

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,

Follow us on Facebook! Suscribe to the Newsletter ! (On the left-hand side of the FB page, right below the "Communauté/Publicité" tabs)! Visit our site! Read our blogs on training!

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.

Follow us on Facebook! Subscribe to our Newsletter (on the left-hand side, right below the Communauté/Publicity tabs). Visit our site!  Read our blogs on training!

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. ☺

Follow us on Facebook! Suscribe to our Newsletter (on the left-hand side of the Facebook page, right below the "Communauté" tab). Visit our site!

Louis Carle
Director
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.

Don't forget to visit us on our Facebook page! Subscribe to our Newsletter!

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.