Decoding is the process of converting a message from its original format into a format that is meaningful to the receiver.This process requires individuals to receive, interpret, analyze, and understand messages for communication to be successful.Decoding is the reverse process of encoding, where the sender uses symbols to transform an idea or concept into a coded message for receiving communication. These symbols can take the form of words, gestures, or language to ensure that the message is understood by the receiver.
To better understand decoding and its relationship to encoding, imagine you want to explain the direction of a conference room to a colleague.You’ll start by picturing the layout of the third floor in your mind and identifying prominent landmarks, such as verdant indoor ferns, elevators, and lunch rooms.You’ll then choose the best words to describe the route so your coworkers can get to the meeting on time. The process we outlined above is encoding, in which you translate an idea or mental image of a route into spoken language to convey the message. In decoding, a colleague receives the message, thinks about it, and then transfers the instructions back to their mind . On their way to the meeting room, their mental road map will remind them to look for the landmarks you mentioned. If they attend the meeting on time, they have interpreted the information correctly and the communication has been successful
Factors affecting the decoding process
Some factors that affect decoding and thus successful communication – are listed below:
Communication channel proficiency
Communication is more successful when both the sender and receiver are able to use the same channel skillfully.
psychology
These are internal representations of the external world that allow individuals to visualize the relationships between elements.
Communication will suffer if one person in the discussion has a different or less detailed psychological model compared to another.
noise
All forms of noise—whether physical, physiological, psychological, or cultural—can affect a person’s ability to interpret information.
Subject matter knowledge or experience – If the receiver knows less about a subject than the sender, they may not be able to decode the message.
They may be less familiar with symbols, idioms, terminology, gestures, or other information that would only be known to someone with more expertise or familiarity with the topic.
Referenc:Encoding/decoding model of communication – Wikipedia
