Noise, Communication and missing meaning
Noise, Communication and missing meaning
In other words. Noise could be why communication is so hard to get right.
Hi,
I hope you are all safe and well. It’s been crazy busy here at Lambert Towers. As many of you know, I am the co-host of a stationery podcast. Odd I know. But the downloads of it have been crazy and so we’re buckling down to get more of this done. Exciting times. Have no fear; The Manager is here to stay.
Today’s Newsletter
Editorial Schedule for The Manager
Noise and Communication
Interesting Links
In today’s edition I’ll introduce the concept of noise in communication, but before that, a little update on the editorial schedule for The Manager newsletter.
Editorial Schedule
Please don’t be alarmed by a move next year to a subscription model for some parts of this newsletter. Let me explain. And I do hope this resonates with you - this has been a labour of love for over 6 years now!
The newsletter will come out every Wednesday as promised.
Week 1 will be straight out Management, HR, Work goodness. The usual business of helping you by sharing what I know about management and building good workplaces.
Week 2 will be communication, creativity, critical thinking, self-cultivation type stuff. Like today’s. Nuggets and deep dives of wisdom about leading a good (work) life. The kind of help for your career, developing communication skills etc.
Week 3 will again, be straight management type stuff.
Week 4 will be, in the short-term, another creativity, communication related topic. After Christmas though, I will launch a members only Ask Me Anything kind of podcast / video.
I’m open to suggestions on those considering supporting my work, as to whether a podcast or video is better. It will be private and I will deep dive into a subject, or answer any questions.
I also hope to host a members only virtual seminar once a year.
The Week 2 newsletter will also be only for subscribers.
So, this means Week 1 and 3 will be free forever. Week 2 and 4 will be subscription only from Jan 23 onwards.
I’m going for a low subscription price - likely around $5 a month, but I’ll see what the options are in substack nearer the time.
It was a hard decision coming up with a subscription as I’ve always be proud of just how much work I give away for free (books, videos, newsletters) but I feel I’m capable of even more value for those looking to support this. And the subscription model will help to cover the server costs.
Let me know what you think.
Noise and Communication
As you may know from my communication course and many of my videos/posts - communication is something the other person does. They receive and interpret your messages that arrives via a medium or channel. They decode the message and they do something with that message (i.e. something with the meaning).
Communicating sounds simple but in this seemingly simple interaction a lot can go wrong. And when it does, I always like to say, it’s your fault. Not in a mean way but because communication is hard, and it requires practice, learning and clarity -and that is something we can all get better at.
Noise is a technical term that essentially relates to anything that can intefer with the message, or the meaning contained in the message. Knowing more about noise and the different forms it can take, can really help you to alter your message (or choose a different medium), to ensure you’re more effective at communicating.
Remember, communication is about being effective first, then efficient.
Noise typically comes in four distinct forms.
PHYSIOLOGICAL - This is about the sender and receiver (people) and their own physiology.
Think speech impediments, hearing challenges, articulation, clarity of speech, volume.
These elements can clearly affect communication and care should be taken to understand the sender / receiver and cater accordingly. And of course, your own physiology and how you can adapt to communicate as effectively as you can.
PHYSICAL - This is about those very obvious (and sometimes less obvious) physical forms of noise.
Think spam overload in your inbox where important messages are missed.
Or information overload - like social media where there is so much content it’s often hard to find anything of use.
Physical barriers between people when communicating (other people, desks, monitors, no camera on video calls)
Noisy office making it hard to hear anything.
Shady computer connections where the message is garbled.
PSYCHOLOGICAL - This is about how we feel and how we are as people. This is very important indeed. For example:
Are we a task focused individual (D on DISC) interacting with people who want to chat and socialise?
Are we working with task focused people who aren’t listening, or too keen to “crack on” even though it’s not clear what problems we’re trying to solve?
How do we perceive ourselves? Do we feel confident? If so, our communication will be different to if we don’t feel good.
Are we tired and bored and not in the mood for listening?
Are our emotions getting the better of us and we’re letting it affect us?
Are we speaking with someone who we perceive to be higher power or more important than us? Nobody is ever more important than anyone else, but our brains don't always acknowledge this.
Speaking to the COE may bring out challenges in our communication we don’t see when speaking to peers.
SEMANTIC - This is all about the meaning of the words we use.
Are we choosing the right words? There are some people who use long words to sound clever but people have no idea what they are talking about.
Are we communicating in a language that is not our native one?
What do our words mean and could they be intepreted incorrectly?
Are we using jargon (a technical language belonging to a specific sub-group) when communicating with people who don’t know those jargon terms?
As you can see, there’s a lot to think about when communicating. There’s also a lot of potential for noise to come in and affect the message or the meaning within the message.
It’s on us to choose the right mediums, the right words and the right delivery. Sure, the listener/receiver shares some responsibility for good communication to happen, but the emphasis should be on us to be do our utmost to be successful in our communication.
Good communication is hard. It takes time. And it takes practice. And noise is an important element to understand.
Next time you’re communicating and it doesn’t land as you expect - is noise at play? What can you learn from this? How can you adapt? What can you do differently next time?
Could you shift the environment to reduce noise?
Could you simplify the message, language and delivery?
Are you using the right medium?
Are you trying to reach too many different types of audiences? Narrow them down.
Are you, in yourself, in a good place to communicate? Is the listener/receiver? Maybe you should postpone this interaction if you can?
Communication is hard but understanding a little about noise could really help you avoid it, mitigate against it or circumvent it, and make your chances of effective communication much greater.
Interesting Links
Building remote working routines can be a good way to be more effective in your home setting. Of course, investing in a nice working area is also helpful. Some good advice in this article here from Buffer.
If you’re applying for jobs the chances are you will encounter an ATS - an applicant tracking system. Here’s some advice on how to beat them - and increase your chances of your CV getting to a human. So much wrong with using an ATS….I’ll save that for another newsletter.
Long read but worth it; nurturing a personal library. I’m sort of torn with personal libraries. On the one hand I’m living a simpler life and want to get rid of stuff. On the other hand I read LOADS of books. The Kindle is a saviour here but over the last few years I’ve lost the love of reading because I like the tactile nature of books….
Simplicity is often the goal when we’re building software but sometimes, in making something simple in appearance, we make it hard to use.
Loved this little ditty on Cal Newports website about method writing - and how the settings for creative work make a big difference. Totally agree.
A Twitter thread on the art of storytelling and why it’s so important - fascinating.
Thanks for reading
Until next week
Rob..