The One Tip for Separating the Signal from the Noise
The duty to reduce noise belongs to the sender
Has it ever seemed like you were on different ‘wavelengths’ when communicating with your boss? Or maybe communicating with your boss’s boss? Maybe even with connecting with another department at work? If so, there is a good chance that your signal-to-noise ratio is out of balance.
The signal-to-noise ratio is a measure of how much useful information there is in a system, such as the Internet, as a proportion of the entire contents. Noise is simply defined as irregular fluctuations that accompany a transmitted electrical signal but are not part of it and tend to obscure it. The signal can be an electrical impulse, a gesture, action, or sound that is used to convey information or instructions.
If this sounds a little like something that happens to you when you have a poor satellite or cable TV reception, it is. The term ‘being on the same wavelength’ is about understanding a person’s ideas and way of thinking as it affects their ability to communicate with others. ‘Being on the same wavelength’ is rooted in the same concept of signal and noise in electrical transmission.
Remember, too, the lesson from bad satellite or TV reception — the burden of effective communication is on the sender, not the receiver. It is your responsibility as the communicator to maximize signal and minimize noise for the receiver.
A Helpful Communications Framework
One way to look at potential noise is through considering that information is either communicated perceptively or interpretively. Normal, daily communication usually occurs within one of these two classifications. Within the interpretive classification, there are two major sub-classifications.
Perceptual Communication
Perceptual communication occurs through the five senses — visual, audible, olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), and taste. Much of the lay public communicates perceptively. There is a balancing act when it comes to communicating any form of technical or specialty information perceptually. On one hand, simplification makes the information more instinctively understandable. On the other hand, the loss of technical definition often creates poor understanding or misunderstanding. And you often lose the support of technical specialists when trying to play to the non-technical participants in a mixed audience of technical and non-technical people.
Perceptual communication is the communication of the masses. Reaching the masses is necessary for effective communications. Perceptual communication also tends to dull the signal and to introduce noise.
Interpretive Communication
Interpretive communication is the other classification communication within this framework. Two major subdivisions within interpretive communication are symbolic communication and verbal/conceptual communication. For example, engineers communicate interpretively and symbolically, using mathematics and diagrams. Other professionals, such as lawyers and policymakers, also communicate interpretively but typically chose to communicate verbally or conceptually.
For many technical professionals, noise is defined as too much slick talk, too many philosophical concepts, and too few numbers. On the other hand, noise to lawyers and policymakers consists of too many statistics, too many numeric models, and too much detail from any one perspective.
The Challenge
Getting on the same wavelength as others is a challenge. The concept of three groups of people — one that thinks perceptually, one that thinks interpretative and symbolically, and one that thinks interpretively and descriptively — frames our challenge as effective communicators. Being understood by the receiver of information is as much about the way the receiver thinks as it is about the quality and quantity of the signals.
One interesting example comes from comments related to environmental rulemaking. Comments from the general public usually discuss any proposed topic in terms of how it impacts them and their families. From lawyers and environmental think tanks, the comments related to needed action are usually all descriptive and conceptual — with few numbers. Of course, from scientists and engineers, the comments all come rich with numbers, figures, and graphs but with limited information about the impact on the average person or the general welfare of society.
Another interesting example comes from public presentations to units of local government. The local Town Council is always a mix of perceptual and interpretative communicators. The be effective, a presenter must strike the right blend of all three types of thinking. There must be enough data and graphs to show that the right amount of analysis has been done but not too much to produce noise. There must be enough discussion of the community-wide benefits, both long-term and short-term, but not too much to create the impression of impractical dreams. And third, the communication must show what the issue means to the typical citizen. Too much of any one aspect creates noise and an ineffective presentation.
Summary
The signal-to-noise ratio is a measure of how much useful information there is in a system as a proportion of the entire contents. A helpful way to look view maximizing signal and reducing noise is by considering that information is either communicated perceptively or interpretively. Getting on the same wavelength is as much about how the receiver thinks as it is about the quality or quantity of the information. As always, the burden of effective communication is on the sender and not the receiver.
Learn more about communicating with FINESSE at https://www.jdsolomoninc.com
