True or false: errors or problems that occur in the encoding of a message are examples of noise.

Conveying a message to other people clearly might sound simple, but it's a process that is often fraught with error.

Many people struggle to communicate effectively – verbally and in writing. They impart thoughts and ideas that don't reflect their intended meaning, and that their recipients misinterpret or misunderstand.

This can result in confusion, frustration, wasted effort, and missed opportunities. Communication breaks down, causing collaboration and progress to become impossible.

Research shows that good communication is one of the top "soft" skills that managers look for in employees. But communication will only ever be successful when both the person sending the message and the person receiving it understand the key messages being put across.

In this article and in the video below, we look at how to make your communications foolproof using a seven-step framework known as the Communications Process.

Are you struggling to get your meaning across?

How Do We Communicate?

Did you know that any time that you communicate with another person, you are using the Communications Process (see figure 1, below)?

It stands to reason then that understanding this process will help you to become more aware of what is happening as you communicate, and the things you can do to ensure that your message gets received "loud and clear."

To be an effective communicator, you need to make sure that your messages are clear, concise, accurate, and well planned. This will avoid misunderstanding and ensure that they get through each stage of the Communications Process without a hitch.

Let's take a look at the seven stages of the process in more detail:

1. Source

The "source" is the sender of the message – in other words, you! And the "message" refers to the information and ideas that you want to deliver.

You need to be clear about what message you want to communicate, and why it's important – what's its main purpose? And, moreover, why should anyone care? You also need to be confident that the information that you impart is useful and accurate.

2. Encoding

This stage involves putting your message into a format that you can send, and that the receiver will be able to easily understand or "decode." Your success will depend on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, and to eliminate areas of confusion.

For example, be aware of any cultural mismatch between you and your recipient. Also, avoid making assumptions about the receiver's existing knowledge of the subject. You might know the "ins and outs" of what you're talking about, but he or she probably won't. Lastly, steer clear of gaps in the information that require a "mental leap."

A key part of being a successful encoder is knowing your audience. Failure to understand and respect who it includes will likely result in your message "falling flat," and being misunderstood, dismissed or even ignored.

3. Channel

There are countless different channels that you can use to send your message.

Verbal communications channels include face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing. While written communications include letters, reports, emails, instant messaging (IM), and social media posts. You might also want to include videos, photos, illustrations, or charts and graphs in your message to emphasize your main points.

Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, it's not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, and you'll be better off delivering sensitive feedback in person, rather than via email.

So, choose the channel that you use carefully. Our article, Tune Your Communication, can help you to do this.

4. Decoding

Successfully decoding a message is as much a skill as encoding it is. To accurately decode a message, you need to take the time to read through it carefully, or to listen actively to it.

Confusion will most likely occur at this stage of the Communications Process, though that doesn't mean it will always be the decoders fault. He might lack sufficient background knowledge to understand the message, or he might not understand the specific jargon or technical language that you are using. It's therefore essential that you tackle issues like these at the encoding stage.

5. Receiver

No doubt, you'll want your audience members to react in a certain way or take a specific action in response to your message. Remember, though, that each person is different, and will interpret it subjectively.

Every receiver who enters into the Communication Process brings with them their own ideas and feelings that influence their understanding of your message, and their response to it.

That means it's your job, as the sender, to take these ideas and feelings into consideration when drawing up your message. To do this effectively, brush up on your emotional intelligence and empathy skills.

6. Feedback

Your audience will likely give you feedback as soon as it's seen or heard your message. This might include verbal or nonverbal reactions. Pay close attention to these, as they will reveal whether your audience truly understood your message.

If you find that there has been a misunderstanding, try to adapt the message. For instance, if you're talking about a complex subject, find a simpler way to communicate it. Could you break it down into steps, or remove technical jargon? This will make it easier for everyone in your audience to grasp the subject matter, no matter their background knowledge.

7. Context

The "context" is the situation in which you deliver your message. This may include the current political and social environment, or the broader culture (for instance, the corporate culture or the national culture.)

For further tips on how to organize and present your messages clearly and accurately, see our article, The Communication Cycle.

How to Remove Barriers From the Communication Process

Barriers to communication can pop up at any stage of the process. So, to deliver your messages effectively, you must break these down.

Let's begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or is full of jargon or errors, it'll likely be misunderstood and misinterpreted – it might even make your recipient confused or angry! Using poor verbal or body language can also muddle the message that you're trying to send.

Contextual barriers tend to stem from offering too much information, too fast. So, remember that often "less is more." Be mindful of the demands on other people's time, especially given today's ultra-busy society.

Finally, put your message into context. Make sure that you know your audience's culture. This will help you to converse with and to deliver your message to people that have different backgrounds and cultures than you.

The ability to communicate clearly and effectively has become an increasingly sought-after skill in the workplace. Despite this, it's one that many people struggle with.

You can become a more capable communicator by gaining a better understanding of the Communications Process – that is the process we go through each time that we communicate with someone. It includes seven stages:

1. Source.
2. Encoding.
3. Channel.
4. Decoding.
5. Receiver.
6. Feedback.
7. Context.

Encoding and decoding are used in many forms of communications, including computing, data communications, programming, digital electronics and human communications. These two processes involve changing the format of content for optimal transmission or storage.

In computers, encoding is the process of putting a sequence of characters (letters, numbers, punctuation, and certain symbols) into a specialized format for efficient transmission or storage. Decoding is the opposite process -- the conversion of an encoded format back into the original sequence of characters.

These terms should not be confused with encryption and decryption, which focus on hiding and securing data. (We can encrypt data without changing the code or encode data without deliberately concealing the content.)

What is encoding and decoding in data communications?

Encoding and decoding processes for data communications have interesting origins. For example, Morse code emerged in 1838 when Samuel Morse created standardized sequences of two signal durations, called dots and dashes, for use with the telegraph. Today's amateur radio operators still use Q-signals, which evolved from codes the British Postmaster General created in the early 1900s to ease communication among British ships and coast stations.

Manchester encoding was developed for storing data on magnetic drums of the Manchester Mark 1 computer, built in 1949. In that encoding model, each binary digit, or bit, is encoded low then high, or high then low, for equal time. Also known as phase encoding, the Manchester process of encoding is used in consumer infrared protocols, radio frequency identification and near-field communication.

What is encoding and decoding in programming?

Internet access relies on encoding. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the address of a webpage, can only be sent over the internet using the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), which is the code used for text files in computing.

In an ASCII file, a 7-bit binary number represents each character, which can be uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks and other common symbols. However, URLs cannot contain spaces and often have characters that aren't in the ASCII character set. URL encoding, also called percent encoding, addresses this through the conversion of spaces -- to a + sign or with %20 -- and non-ASCII characters into a valid ASCII format.

Other commonly used codes in programming include BinHex, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, Unicode and Uuencode.

Some ways encoding and decoding are used in various programming languages include the following.

In Java

Encoding and decoding in Java is a method of representing data in a different format to efficiently transfer information through a network or the web. The encoder converts data into a web representation. Once received, the decoder converts the web representation data into its original format.

In Python

In the Python programming language, encoding represents a Unicode string as a string of bytes. This commonly occurs when you transfer an instance over a network or save it to a disk file. Decoding transforms a string of bytes into a Unicode string. This happens when you receive a string of bytes from a disk file or the network.

In Swift

In the Apple Swift programming language, encoding and decoding models typically represent a serialization of object data from a JavaScript Object Notation string format. In this case, encoding represents serialization, while decoding signifies deserialization. Whenever you serialize data, you convert it into an easily transportable format. Once transported, it converts back into its original format. This approach standardizes the protocol and enables interoperability between different programming languages and platforms.

What is encoding and decoding in digital electronics?

In electronics, the terms encoding and decoding reference analog-to-digital conversion and digital-to-analog conversion. These terms can apply to any form of data, including text, images, audio, video, multimedia and software, and to signals in sensors, telemetry and control systems.

What is encoding and decoding in human communication?

People don't think about it as an encoding or decoding process, but human communication begins when a sender formulates (encodes) a message. They choose the message they will convey and a communication channel. People do this every day with little thought to the encoding process.

The receiver must make sense of (decode) the message by deducing the meaning of words and phrases to interpret the message correctly. They then can provide feedback to the sender.

Both the sender and receiver in any communication process must deal with noise that can get in the way of the communication process. Noise involves the various ways that messages get disrupted, distorted or delayed. These can include actual physiological noise, technical problems or semantic, psychological and cultural issues that get in the way of communication.

These processes occur almost instantly in any of these three models:

1. Transmission model. This model of communication is a linear process where a sender transmits a message to a receiver.
2. Interaction model. In this model, participants take turns as senders and receivers.
3. Transaction model. Here, communicators generate social realities within cultural, relational and social contexts. They communicate to create a relationship, engage with communities and form intercultural alliances. In this model, participants are labeled as communicators, not senders and receivers.

Decoding messages in your native tongue feels effortless. When the language is unfamiliar, however, the receiver may need a translator or tools like Google Translate for decoding the message.

Beyond the basics of encoding and decoding, machine translation capabilities have made significant progress of late. Find out more about machine translation technology and tools.